Well... I'd find a local person to clean your weekend place for you, and maybe they could pick up groceries for you too. Talk to neighbors or locals they may know the perfect person to do this for you. She maybe able to have a prepared meal for you set in the fridge for when you arrive. All depends on what you'd like to have done when you get there for the weekend! Enjoy!

I agree with NHRecycler. I had the same situation for many years. A housekeeper came every week to both places--checked the fridge to make sure nothing spoiled, did the laundry, etc. I had a grocery list that I would email a few days before if I knew I was coming and they would shop it. And I paid them very, very well and they deserved every penny--go for the best, not the cheapest, and someone you can trust with several references. Be very clear about what you will need before you hire. It makes going back and forth much less stressful.

As someone who uses a cottage as a weekend home, here are the two things that have helped with my somewhat similar situation:

- bulk foods in glass jars allow you to keep a variety of foods without a worry about packages spilling, etc. and a freezer is your best friend. Stock up every two months or so and you will then only have to bring a cooler or so full of fresh foods when you head out for the weekend.

- On Sunday, before you head out, spend one hour cleaning. Dust, vacuum/sweep, etc. Since you've only spent two days or so there, this should be more than enough time to get the place sparkling, and then it's ready when you get back.

We have a house we live in full time and a lake house. I pay a cleaning lady (not a service) to come to our main house once a week. With a person, not a company, I can ask for things like "pick up all these toys and change the sheets and put fresh towels in the bathroom". It makes me less irritated about cleaning the lake place, which I do on Sundays before we leave.

In your situation, I might flip flop and clean my own condo, but have a cleaning person clean the weekend house on Thursdays, and buy and stock half&half, bread, whatever you normally need to get through your morning.

I do drive food back and forth in a cooler bag. It's a two hour drive, and it's been fine for most things. I do keep a decent amount of dry goods and freezer items around the weekend place. I specifically have it stocked so that there is always something I can make for Saturday morning breakfast and coffee. Usually english muffins in the freezer and shelf-stable dairy for the coffee. I use Kcups at the lake place, since they stay fresh reasonably long.

If you like to cook and intend to move food back and forth, I recommend donating ALL of your food storage containers and buying identical sets with identical lids for both places.

We have a second home in another country, which we visit several times a year. It's a different situation but some of our strategies might work for you.

Have you looked into online services? We order groceries online before we go and have them delivered soon after we arrive. We keep UHT milk, tea, coffee, pasta, cereal, and pasta sauce as emergency rations until the groceries arrive.

I also have online contacts for housekeeping, gardening, handyman/contractor etc. services so I can arrange online for things to happen. We have someone who has keys and can let in people and supervise them, if we aren't there.

Jeeze, it seems the answer is "hire someone". If that's your perfect home in the photo, I assume you already have maid service, no? My advice is to pick your favorite child (you already have) and concentrate on that. Keep your condo as spare as you can stand to. Treat it like a hotel. That way it doesn't occupy your mind.

If you are the sole occupant of your house, you might consider taking a quiet boarder in a spare room, for security and daily oversight of the property. Rent can be adjusted against tasks like grocery shopping, watering plants, taking out the garbage cans, etc. it's not a huge expense to create a separate, keyed entry to a downstairs room. I know lots of people who have managed part-time properties in this way.

#firstworldproblems

lol, my thoughts exactly.

lol, right on.

I clean constantly during the week. If I wanted to, I could easily compress all of that into one day. A day of cleaning per week seems sufficient if you are tidy.

You are at the weekend house 8+ days per month, so one day per month should be adequate for cleaning. Just get it all out of the way, then relax.

I spent a year living in two places (renovating a condo, but mainly living in an apartment), and now find myself doing it again (just bought a house, and haven't given up the apartment yet...) It was/is generally a week at one place, a week at the other place kind of thing.

Mainly, you just have to have two of everything. I have dishes/toilet paper/shampoo/cleaning supplies/etc at both. I keep both pantries stocked with dry goods - rice, pasta, canned foods. Try to plan your meals and buy the fresh stuff (dairy, vegetables, meat) on your way there the first night, or keep it in the freezer. I also take anything that might expire, or food I already cooked, with me, which usually fits in two grocery bags, so it's not too hard to transport. A cooler in the trunk would work if it's a longer distance.

I have a weekend cabin. I keep a large shopping bag in my bedroom and whenever I think of something I need to bring down I throw it in the bag. (i.e. toilet paper, books, DVDs, art supplies, candles...)

I have a cooler and fill it from my house before I go down; that way I'm not double grocery shopping and food doesn't go bad while I'm away. I keep only a few staples (salt, pepper, oil, sugar, tea) and a few canned goods at the cabin.

My only cleaning products are vinegar, Dr. Bronner's liquid soap, and Bon Ami cleanser. I have a small canister vacuum at the cabin. A few microfiber cleaning cloths and that's all I need to keep a house clean.

Whenever I'm thinking of getting rid of something from my main house, I consider it for use at the cabin. I've been able to pretty much fill it up with stuff from my main house (dishes, glasses, lamps, clocks, etc.)

Plug-in emergency flashlights (that can double as nightlights) are a real lifesaver - have two at each place.