Every year, about 60 percent of Americans go on vacation. From trips across their respective states to trips across the world, they travel to get away from the hustle and bustle that they face when they’re at home.
If you want to plan to take a trip soon, there are so many amazing family vacations that you can go on. But before you leave, it’s a good idea to prepare your home for when you’re gone on vacation.
By making the proper preparations, you can avoid coming home to a house that’s a total mess for one reason or another. Here are 7 tips that will help you get your home ready for your next vacation.
1. Take Out the Trash
You would be surprised how many people go away for a week or two and completely forget to take out their trash. They come back to a home that reeks because trash has been sitting unattended for days and days at a time.
Walk around inside of your home before going on vacation and collect any trash that has accumulated inside of it. This goes for everything from trash in your kitchen to trash in your home office.
You’ll prevent foul odors from building up in your home by taking out the trash. You’ll also avoid returning home to a major pest problem.
Find out more info about cleaning up trash and clutter in your home as part of your vacation preparations and get to work on it today.
2. Open Up All Your Closet Doors
If you’ve ever opened up a closet door that has been closed for a while, you know what it’s like to get hit in the face with the musty smells that can build up inside of a closet. Those smells develop when air from the closet isn’t allowed to circulate.
When you’re at home day in and day out, you likely open and close most of the closets in your home. This allows the air from your closets to escape and prevents musty smells from setting in.
But when you go on vacation, you obviously won’t be going in and out of your closets regularly. As a result, it won’t be long before musty smells get trapped in your closets.
You can prevent them by leaving your closet doors open so that air can circulate throughout your home.
3. Program Your Thermostat
Since you aren’t going to be home for about a week or so, you don’t have to worry too much about keeping your home comfortable. You can turn your thermostat up or down accordingly, depending on what time of the year it is.
But if it’s the wintertime, you should not turn your thermostat off altogether. Even though you won’t be at home to enjoy the warm air that it helps to produce, you need to continue running your furnace in the winter to stop your plumbing pipes from freezing and bursting.
The last thing you want to do is come home after a vacation to a basement filled with water. You can avoid this scenario by programming your thermostat so that it continues to heat your home when you’re not there.
4. Unplug Appliances That Don’t Need to Be On
There are some appliances in your home that you should keep on even though you won’t be there. For example, your refrigerator/freezer should be left on at all times.
But there are also lots of small appliances, like your coffee maker, that don’t need to be turned on when you’re not home. You should shut them off to stop them from wasting electricity unnecessarily.
Even something as simple as a cell phone charger can waste energy when it’s plugged in, regardless of whether you’re using it or not. Unplug it before you leave to cut your energy costs at the end of the month.
5. Consider Whether or Not to Leave Lights On
There are a number of things you can do to make it look like you’re home when you’re away on vacation. By making it look like your home is occupied, you can prevent it from becoming a target for burglars.
To give others the impression that you’re home, you can:
- Ask a family member or friend to come and collect your mail every day
- Put your newspaper delivery on hold
- Leave a few lights on inside of your home
You might want to think twice about how you’re going to do that last one, though. It’s not a bad idea to leave some lights on in your home, but if you leave the same lights on all day and all night, it’s going to look suspicious.
You might want to put your lights on a timer and have them come on at night when you’re normally home. You might also want to ask a neighbor to stop by your home to turn lights on and off to make it appear more random.
6. Lock Your Windows
You’ll likely remember to shut all your windows before you leave your home. But make sure you lock them, too!
A window that isn’t closed and locked will serve as a perfect place for someone to break in. So double check your windows to ensure they’re all locked before you leave.
7. Let Your Neighbors Know You’re Leaving
Provided you trust your neighbors, you should always let them know before you leave to go on vacation. They can keep a close watch on your home and call you to let you know if there’s anything you need to worry about.
Get Your Home Ready For When You’re Gone on Vacation
Do you want to make sure you have a fantastic time on your next trip?
Work your way through the tips listed here and prepare your home for when you’re gone on vacation. You’ll have a much better time when you know that everything is good to go at home.
Make sure you don’t leave anything at home, either! Read our blog to learn some smart packing hacks that’ll help you pack everything you need for your trip.