Your hotel has been booked, you requested time off of work, and it seems like everything is in order before you head out on your relaxing vacation. Then, right after you’ve left the house, it hits you—you’ve forgotten to take care of something extremely important. To avoid this stomach-plummeting experience, consult this guide on things you shouldn’t forget to do before leaving on a vacation.
Lock Down Your Property
Homes are much more vulnerable to burglaries when people leave on vacation. To avoid spending your relaxing holiday worrying about whether someone is sneaking into your property, make sure to thoroughly lock it down. After locking your doors, windows, and garage, make sure that you don’t leave any spare keys hidden outside—especially in common hiding spaces like under doormats or in potted plants.
Pay Those Bills
Another one of the most important things you shouldn’t forget before leaving on a vacation is paying your bills. If all of your bills are scheduled for automatic payments, you can skip this tip. However, if your bills aren’t automatically paid, you will definitely need to make sure those are taken care of before you leave. Thinking about all the late fees that you’ll have to pay when you get home can definitely put a damper on your vacation.
Make Sure Someone Takes Care of Your Pets
If you have any pets, it’s extremely important not to forget to make plans on how they will be cared for while you’re away. If you don’t have a friend or neighbor who can pop in a few times a day to look after your pet, a quick google search of pet sitters in your area should provide you with a variety of options. For those that don’t like the idea of a stranger coming into and out of their house while they are away, you could also consider having your cat or dog boarded instead.
Take Out the Trash and Clear Out Your Fridge
To avoid coming home from your relaxing vacation to a house that smells like rotting food and other unpleasant scents, take out the trash and clean out your fridge before you leave. In addition to making your home smell foul, trash that is left out for too long can start to attract pests, and rotting food can likewise breed mold, which could infect the other food in your fridge. As such, when cleaning out your fridge, make sure to remove all perishable foods such as eggs, lunch meats, fruits, and veggies—unless you expect to return before they expire.
