After a vacation, getting back into your routine can be rough. Make your return to reality a little easier by getting basic cleaning done before you head out the door.
A thorough cleaning would be great, of course, but to-do lists tend to get long right before a trip. To allow yourself to be more relaxed upon your return, here are a few key tasks to tackle.
Put on fresh sheets and make your bed. Climbing into bed between clean sheets — especially after enduring a layover or long car ride — will make you happy to be home.
Load and run your dishwasher. Take a minute to go around your home and collect dishes that have wandered to side and coffee tables. Take them to the dishwasher and load 'er up; you'll have clean plates and bowls to use upon your return.
Take out the trash. Because who wants to be greeted by the smell of garbage?
Wipe down countertops. Get your kitchen and bath looking cleaner quickly by removing crumbs, water spots, etc., from these big swathes of space.
Give quick order to clutter. If you're cleaning truly last minute and have a lot to put away (ahem), give yourself a head start on a deeper clean by making small piles in the appropriate room. It might not work for everyone, but if I'm really short on time, this method keeps me from feeling more overwhelmed when I get home.
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So happy to see this post so I can show my husband I'm not nuts. I clean the house from top to bottom when we go on vacation (run everything through the dishwasher and put away, get all the laundry done, take out the trash, dust and vacuum, wash the floor, change the sheets etc... Whenever we get home from vacation we walk into a spotless house and it feels even better to be back home.
I do all this except #1. Our cat spends our vacations at home under the covers on the bed. I guess I could shut the bedroom door, but I don't have the heart. It's her safe space for when the murderous, evil cat sitter comes by to feed and pet her.
Clean litterbox! But my kitty is old and gets lonely so we take her with on shorter trips. She's a great traveler,
For longer trips we try to schedule cleaners to come a couple of days before we get back, so nice to walk into a freshly cleaned home!
If you won't be gone long enough to require someone else to do this: water all your plants!
dont forget to clean ther perishables out of the fridge
unplug all your electric items in case of lightning storm.
put some food in the freezer for the first day.
With summertime thunderstorms, electricty often goes out. Put all items in the freezer in a large plastic garbage bag. If the freezer defrosts there will be ice in the bottom of the bag and the whole mess can be tossed. If not, look through everything whe you put thing back in place a few days later, and toss what is out of date or mysterious. I always do before I evacuate for hurricanes in FL and it has saved my bacon!
My MIL used to make my siblings-in-law spend the whole day before they left on vacation cleaning the house. I used to think she was crazy to do this right before a period of relaxation, then I came home from vacation to a messy house and realized the whole point. Now I too spend a day cleaning before going out of town.
It's such a great feeling to come back to a clean home. I always do these too because I know when I come back I'll have to unpack, put things away, and also clean my dirty laundry from my vacation. It's nice to not worry about extra chores. Besides all that, we usually also keep the blinds half shut and a couple lamps on for safety reasons.
Stock the pantry with some staples and tasty non-perishables for your return (pasta, jarred sauces, artichokes in olive oil, etc). And some wine. I like @Bonniegirl's suggestion to get a cleaner in too.
@Red YES! We were gone from our apt for 2 weeks over Christmas and came home to SOMETHING in the fridge. We never figured out exactly what it was but we had to throw away everything that was in there and wash out the inside with hot soapy water to get rid of the smell.
Right now I'm trying to keep my house "going on vacation clean" while I wait to go into labor... it's kind of exhausting.
Don't forget the yard. If you normally mow the lawn but are gone for a length of time, just hire someone to cut it while you are away. The last thing I want to do after a relaxing–or not–trip is to get out the mower!
There is nothing worse than coming home from a clean hotel to a messy house! I do all of these things but the most important piece for me is to pack early! Otherwise any headway I've made cleaning the few days before a vacation is completely neutralized by hectic packing!
Ick. Don't load up your dishwasher and turn it on as you leave... if you can't open it after the cycle finishes, the water/trapped 'bits' go disgusting and it smells by the time you return.
If it's a small trip I do give the house a clean, but if I'm going away for a while I just spend the cash to have someone come in... makes a world of difference, especially if I have jet lag!!
I agree with others saying to leave a meal in the freezer... including breakfast (breakfast burritos are good!). I also put fresh milk in the freezer, and keep small UHT cartons in the cupboard. That way, if it's been a big trip or I get in really late, I can have a cup of tea, and know I can sleep in because breakfast is sorted!
It took me awhile to realize how important taking the time to clean the house is before you set off for a trip. It makes coming home that much harder with all that unpacking and laundry to do. I definitely try my best to do this. And I turn down or off utilities depending on season and how long we'll be gone.
Just keep your home clean and organized all the time and you wouldn't have to do such things before a vacation.
Thank for this article! It couldn't have come at a better time, my husband has been making fun of me every time we leave for a trip and thinks that it's ridiculous that I don't one one single dirty dish or piece of dirty laundry in the house before we take trips. I can't relax if I know that there's even a towel that needs to be washed. The problem is that if we leave early in the morning for our trip, if anyone takes a shower...instant laundry is created. When we get home, there's always lots of laundry to be done...it's always nice to come home to a clean house with only the load of laundry that you just created on your trip. On longer family trips I even do laundry the night before we come home (most hotels have laundry rooms) so that when we come back I can just chill and enjoy the clean house for a few moments. :)
All I do is take out the trash and leave the radio on. ;)