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16 Tips for How to Leave on Vacation With Your House Still Feeling Like Home

By Paula Farris

I once read a story about a family who had gone on a vacation. They had failed to let their neighbors know they were leaving and in the process of preparing to leave they had rushed around their home leaving clothing, toys and other stuff in their wake.

After a few days of not seeing the family, the neighbors got worried. They went next door and rung the bell. No answer!

They peeked through the windows, and seeing nothing but a chaotic mess as far as they could see inside, they suspected foul play, called the police, and filed a report.

The family came home while the police cars were in their driveway and were quite panicked to find that something had happened to their home in their absence.

That is until they had to explain to the officers that the mess had been left by them and they hadn’t thought to let anyone know they were leaving or how they could be reached in an emergency.

While this might make for a funny story, this scenario could make the most enjoyable of vacations less than relaxing. Who wants to be floating in the hotel pool and suddenly remember they forgot to arrange for someone to feed their goldfish or any number of possibly forgotten details?

And, of course, returning home to a mess, tired, and with 12 loads of laundry to do certainly makes another vacation sound enjoyable--a permanent vacation!

In this article I will give you 16 tips on how to leave your house feeling like a home. I will also let you in on some secrets that will ease you into your return home so that refreshed feeling you picked up in Paris will continue for several more days or even weeks.

  • Make a list of everything that needs to be done prior to your departure--things like arrange for a pet sitter, arrange for someone to pick up your mail, water your plants, etc.


  • Let a trusted neighbor know when you are leaving and when you will return, where you will be and how they can reach you in case of an emergency. It is also a good idea to leave a house key with them in case of an emergency where they would need to enter your home.


  • If you will be away for longer than two weeks you might consider having a friend or relative stay at your home for at least part of the time. This will foil the plans of any would be thieves who may be watching your home.


  • Close your curtains, blinds or shades before you leave, but make sure that someone will be coming in to your home several times to rearrange things (turn the lights and a television or radio on for a while, open some of the window coverings and then close them again after a while, park in the drive way, etc.) Or you could set a few of these things on timers, but the physical presence of someone in the home is better.


  • Have one of your neighbors park one of their vehicles in your driveway.


  • If you own an alarm system don’t forget to set it and let your monitoring service know that you will be gone.


  • The fewer people you tell that you will not be home the safer your home will be. Try to make arrangements that don’t involve telling but a few people your plans.


  • If you have a pet, consider leaving them at home and hiring a pet sitter for them while you are gone. Make sure your pet knows the caretaker to avoid any unfriendly behavior. Also, have the pet sitter play with your animal for a short time every day. This will prevent your pet from getting bored and lonely. A barking dog is a HUGE deterrent for thieves, but one that barks incessantly may be a signal that no one is home.


  • Make sure family members know where they can reach you.


  • Begin your packing a week or so ahead of your departure date. This will cut down on the last minute messes.


  • If you are traveling with young children and need to pack for everyone, consider taking the day before you are leaving off of work so that you will be less rushed and less likely to forget things that need to be packed or that need to be done.


  • Either finish packing all but the last minute toiletry items the night before you leave or plan for an afternoon departure.


  • Assign someone to go through the house to do all the last minute jobs: water the plants, flush the toilets, clean the refrigerator, wash any dishes, run the garbage disposal, check all the door and window locks, etc.


  • If possible, before you head home, rearrange your suitcases so that all the dirty clothing is in one bag and the other items are in another bag. This will make it easier to unpack by taking the dirty laundry suitcase to the laundry room and putting everything else where it belongs.


  • Arrange to arrive home at least one full day before you have to return to work to allow time for unpacking, doing laundry, going through your mail, returning phone messages, etc.


  • Set aside some quiet time in the weeks and months ahead to work on scrapbooks chronicling your trip, to watch videos of your travels or just to be together as a family. Vacations are hard work; don’t let the closeness you fostered while you were away slip away in to the busyness of life. Take time to keep your house feeling like home.


While leaving your home in order when you travel is important, leaving your office in order is just as important. Knowing you left things in disarray on job will hardly help you to acheive the relaxation you hope to experience on your family vacation. This article will give you some pointers on how to Prepare Your Office for Your Departure.

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Paula @ StressFreeFamilyTravel.com