Are you staying around for the holidays? Many of us are leaving town -- visiting family, going skiing or to someplace tropical -- and taking advantage of the week long stretch before the New Year when many businesses shut down. But before you get up and go, think about taking care of a few of these things so your coming home is as restful as your time away...
Things To Do Before Leaving For The Holidays
- Stop your mail or ask a trusted friend or neighbor to take it in for you. Stopping it can be taken care of with a few clicks of your mouse by going to USPS and filling in the form. You can even opt to have your held mail delivered to you on the next business day after you come back.
- Bring your bills up to date. You don't want to worry about your credit card being rejected while you're on vacation.
- Empty your refrigerator and toss out all the perishables. The week before we leave on a vacation usually finds us getting creative in the kitchen, using up all the foods we have left.
- Empty all your trash cans and take our your garbage.
- Change your bed linens and catch up on your laundry. We love coming home to a freshly made bed and knowing that all we have to do to prepare for jumping back into our "real life" is a quick small load of laundry
- Do a quick clean up of the house. Ditto the above, it's great to come into a clean home that all we have to do is flop down after fighting the crowds at the airport or a tough slog through traffic. Make sure you clean your toilets. We leave a little extra toilet cleaner in ours so that the bathroom smells great when we get home (especially since one of the first things we do on returning is take a bath!)
- Unplug your electronics.
- Turn off the air conditioner and/or the heat.
- Lock all your doors and close all your windows.
- Water your plants and cover them with plastic bags for a mini greenhouse. Or, check out some of the great self-watering products we've blogged.
- Put your lights on a timer so that your home doesn't look completely deserted. Some people also like to do this with a radio.
What do you like to take care of before you leave on vacation so that your home welcomes you with open arms when you come back?
[Image: Living etc.]
Comments (11)
Daily Email
Top Tours
- Moses and Jamie's Whimsical Modern
- Bryan's Fashionable Statement
- Alysia's Treehouse by the Lake
- A Mid-Century Modern Musicians' Loft
- Eric and Christine's Spacious Pad
Top Posts
Today in Marketplace
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
I like to have all my dishes washed and put away before I go. I don't usually make my bed every day so I do that as well. Besides dumping my trash, I spray it with lysol just in case something fell out of the liner. That way, when I get back, there are no "mystery smells".
view Aiekan's profile
Don't turn of your heat....
I think it would be worse to come back to your place when the pipes have frozen and burst then paying a little extra to keep it a moderate temperature while away.
Turn it down to 55 or so, but don't turn it off....
view jmorey's profile
off, not of.
view jmorey's profile
the first vacation I took as a newly single woman was a dream...a whole month in the south of France! Before I left, I cleaned the apartment, changed all the linens, so that when I got home, everything would be clean, clean, clean! Except, when I got home, the apartment above had had a flood in the bathroom, and my bathroom ceiling was on the floor. Not so clean, clean, clean. So what do I take care of before I leave on vacation now? I give my super a set of keys in case of emergency.
view littlecat's profile
I tell the building manager that I'm going to be gone - that way all the mail and any packages that arrive he can put up in my apartment for me while I'm gone.
view bepsf's profile
My husband once spent a whole day making a shutter for the back door as we thought it might be vulnerable to a break in. We left for a month's holiday .... and forgot to lock the door.
view hrhprincessfiona's profile
If you have any of those plug in air freshners, be sure to unplug them before locking up and heading out. They may be small but theyr are an appliance that is "on" when plugged in.
view Seaside's profile
I unplug things that won't be used (microwave, bedroom clock, etc.) Often when I get back from a trip (traveling for work or visiting my mother) I'm wound up and stressed out. So I leave something nice (and non-perishable) for myself when I return. A great book, some lovely bath salts, a bottle of wine...
Also, I have lots of single friends who travel and I try to leave them a "welcome home" message while they are in the air traveling home. It's nice to be reminded that you are missed and that you're friends are glad to have you back.
view nikkicole's profile
jmorey- pipes don't freeze in Los Angeles. In fact, I haven't had to turn my heat on yet. Probably next weekend.
I've never considered unplugging electronics. I don't have many electronics that need unplugging, but I guess at least turning off the power strip my computer is connected to is a good idea. And definitely take out the trash- especially if you have cats that get mad you're gone and tip over trash cans to get even. My friends stop by once a day to feed and scoop them, but they shouldn't feel obligated to clean my cats' temper tantrums too.
view Risaplata's profile
I'm really glad jmorey commented on the "turn off the heat" suggestion...I was just about to post myself about how it could lead to burst pipes. It happened to some friends in college, not fun!
view kgenesius's profile
EXCELLENT REMINDER TO US ALL... just one more to add
Unplug alarm clocks. You will avoid a floor of angry neighbors upon your return. Some in my apt. building are still seething over an event that happened one year ago. (Luckily I didn't live here or I might have tried to compel management to enter and unplug the clock.)
view dcaries's profile