7 Tips to Prepare Your Home Before Leaving for Vacation

Written by Ian Joseph | Nov 23, 2021 8:50:00 AM

It’s the holidays! Your vacation is just around the corner and there are so many things that need to happen before your trip. One of these tasks should be prepping your home for vacation—this way you can focus on other fun activities like relaxing with friends and family instead of dealing with an emergency at your home while you’re out of town.

Prepare well in advance to avoid last-minute scrambling and stress. We have put together a list of 7 items to help you as you get ready.

Set Your Thermostat

If you want to prevent condensation, frozen pipes, or other potentially damaging effects while away from your home in the summer heat (or winter cold), set the thermostat to maintain a stable temperature. For best results keep it no cooler than 54 degrees and warmer than 80 degrees. You should still have a neighbor or friend check in occasionally since if your furnace breaks while you’re gone, then damage can still happen.

Suspend Mail and Package Deliveries

The postal service allows customers to suspend their services while on vacation. This means that mail will be held at the post office, and then delivered when you get back from your trip! It’s a great way of avoiding losing valuable correspondence – this applies to packages and any newspapers you get delivered as well.

Clean your Dishes

Pests and vermin can smell your dirty dishes left in a vacant house. Not only are they unsightly, but these food scraps make it very easy for pests to find their next meal! Make sure you give everything at home an appropriate cleaning before you leave on vacation, including cleaning out your garbage disposal.

Take Out the Trash

Pests and vermin can also smell trash left in a garage. Make sure to plan and do this the trash day before you leave so you can also bring in your trash bins and avoid having to ask a neighbor or possibly get a violation notice or fine if you live in a community with rules and regulations regarding how long your trash bins can be left outside.

Do Not Announce it on Social Media

When you are away on vacation, don’t let the world know that your home is vacant. Hold off on sharing those photos until after you return and do not post any travel plans! When it comes down to protecting our homes from unwanted visitors or criminals looking for an easy target. Make sure they can’t find out when you’re leaving and will be back from vacation by holding off posting about upcoming trips online.

Arrange for Pet Care in Advance

Boarding is an option if you’re going away on vacation- just make sure to check that there are vacancies well in advance since other people are too! Another solution would be having someone come over every day while doing other things around your home (bring in mail, etc.).

Have a Friend of Neighbor Check On Your Home

Even if you don’t have pets or plants for someone to check on, if you’re going to be gone for an extended period, it’s still a good idea to have someone check your home. Things can still happen even with all the preparation and it’s better to know sooner rather than later to mitigate any damage. The holidays and vacations are supposed to be a time of relaxation and fun and not a time to stress and worry. Being prepared and doing what you can to minimize the odds of coming home to a break-in or other issue can be the difference between a great vacation or one you wish you hadn’t taken.

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