The Ultimate Pre-Vacation Travel Checklist

You deserve a vacation! Taking a unravel from your day-to-day life is vital to your sense of well-being, your relationships, and your productivity. 

According to a University of New York study, taking the occasional vacay could plane help you live longer. Whether your travel plans include escaping to an island getaway, enjoying some international travel virtually a European municipality for two, finally taking that unconfined American road trip, or enjoying a simple staycationunplugging and unwinding might be just what the doctor ordered. 

But we get it: In wing to printing off your boarding pass, packing your carry-on bag, and annotating your guidebooks,  everything you need to do to pack up and leave home can create its own stress. Were here to help put your mind at ease with some homeowner travel tips. 

Weve compiled a pre-travel checklist to ensure that your home is as secure and organized as possible surpassing you go. 

Contact your home security company 

If you have a home security system, let your provider know the dates youll be out of town. Be sure to requite them the names of the neighbor or house sitter who might be in your home to take superintendency of plants, pets, or your mail. If the security visitor has their names on record, and the watchtower goes off by mistake, the issue can be resolved increasingly quickly.  

Lock up your valuables

Invest in a quality unscratched to alimony precious valuables and documents out of harms way. For example, this SentrySafe is fire and waterproof, and has over 5,000 5-star reviews on Amazon. 

Whats important unbearable to lock up? Youll probably want to alimony the pursuit things safe:

• Jewelry, gold, or loose stones 
• Birth certificates
• Extra credit cards and debit cards
• Photocopy of your driver’s license
• Social security card 
• Deed to your property
• Car title
• Medical documents 
• Passports (if youre not traveling abroad, of course) 

Consider your homeowners insurance

Before you leave, it might be a good opportunity to review your homeowners insurance, and make sure that you have sufficient coverage for your home and your valuables, in specimen of theft or natural disaster. 

Did you know your homeowners insurance moreover covers your valuables while youre traveling? Take a closer squint at your dwelling coverage, personal property coverage, and scheduled personal property coverage (which we undeniability Extra Coverage here at Lemonade). Adjust accordingly, and enjoy some much deserved peace of mind. We’ve moreover created this guide to wordplay “what is homeowners insurance?” to help you understand the nuts and vastitude of homeowners insurance.

Arrange a pet sitter

If youre not taking your fur fam with you on vacation (and lets be honest, cats just cant fathom the majesty of Prague), theyll need some TLC while youre away. Dogs can travel to a friends house, hang with a dog sitter, or live it up at a kenneljust make sure theyre up-to-date on their vaccinations. 

Cats, on the other hand, are highly territorial so tend not to like stuff in a new environment. If youre only yonder for a week or so, consider arranging a daily visitor to feed your cats, transpiration their water, wipe the litter box, and scratch overdue their ears. If youre yonder for a longer period of time, you might want to unify for a house sitter (see below), who would unquestionably stay at your place. 

Arranging a house sitter? Make sure theyre set up for success 

If you ask someone to stay in your home to squint without your pets, plants, and more, leave them a checklist on the superintendency and keeping of your home. Since theyre taking superintendency of your most precious asset, you’ll get major pixie points for small, generous touches: Stocking the fridge; leaving out a fresh toothbrush, toothpaste, and toiletries; and letting  them infringe your Netflix password. 

Cover your bases by outlining where you alimony essentials,and leave them a list of emergency numbers to undeniability just in case. 

Phone a friend

Even if you dont rent a house sitter, it’s smart to have some when up. Designate a friend, family member, or neighbor to be your emergency point of contact. Make them a spare key, and send them printable travel documents and travel insurance details. In specimen your flight is delayed, you have a trustworthy person who can track your flight and make sure you get in okay. 

In the event that your luggage is lost and you need your travel insurance, or if you take a tumble and need to use your travel health insurance (knock on wood), that friend can alimony your policy details hands on hand, so they can send them over or undeniability the hospital if you’re in a pickle. This is expressly important if youre travelling alone. 

Water your plants

Theres nothing increasingly depressing than coming home from a relaxing vacation to see all of your plants wilted and dead. Requite your plants plenty of water surpassing you throne to the airport (but not too much!), and if you’re not hiring a house sitter, ask a friend or rent the neighbor’s kid to come by every couple of days to requite your thirsty plant babiesa good watering. But make sure your plant watcher locks up without themselves; if they dont, your insurance wouldnt imbricate you versus theft! 

Clear your yard 

The yard and patio act as an extension of the home, so it makes sense that gardening tools, toys, furniture, and other odds and ends populate your yard. Pick up and put yonder those gardening tools, toys, and expensive patio chairs and be sure to store it all in your garage or somewhere else safe. You dont want your things to get ruined in the rain or picked off by thieves. 

If you live in a condo, you might have a shared outdoor space, so you want to make sure the yard is cleared of your stuff surpassing you throne off. You dont want someone stepping on a rake and hurting themselves. 

Throw yonder old supplies & take out the trash

Weve all been there. You know youre leaving for vacation in a few days, so you skip grocery stopping and try to use up the supplies in your fridge with some eclectic culinary choices (BBQ chicken, tofu, and kimchi sandwich, anybody?)

But if you dont go through every bit of perishable food, be sure to toss it surpassing you leaveotherwise, youll come home to tupperware filled with moldy leftovers. 

Be sure to moreover empty all garbage cans in your house, including in the washroom and bedroom. Your future selfplane-weary and jet-laggedwill fathom returning to a fresh-smelling home. 

Unplug electronic devices

Energy vampires are electronics that yank a small value of energy plane if theyre not stuff used. Typically vampiric devices include lamina phone chargers, toasters, coffee makers, and video game consoles. Unplug all of these devices surpassing you leave to reduce your overall energy consumption, and alimony your devices unscratched in the event of an electrical storm. This is an easy, untried trick you might as well prefer plane when youre not yonder on vacation. 

Do your laundry 

Sorry to play mom here, but those sweaty workout gown at the marrow of your laundry basket arent going to smell any largest once you get when from vacation. Do one last-minute load surpassing you leave to alimony the laundry pile at a minimum when you return. 

Just be sure you dont unwittingly leave a load in the washer surpassing you jet set away. Mildew-y gown are a real bummer. 

Lock your windows, tropical the blinds, yank the curtains 

Its not only your front door that needs to be locked. Secure every window versus invaders, whether theyre of the animal, insect, or human variety. 

Closing your blinds and drawing your taps will help regulate the temperature inside of your home, and alimony the sun from fading your furniture.

Pack the essentials

Even while you’re away, there are some items you should alimony on hand (or conveniently saved on your smartphone), just in case:

• Proof of insurance, like your homeowners insurance declarations page
• Your usernames and passwords
• A photocopy of your passport
• Plenty of sunscreen!

Before you fly off….

Taking steps to protect and secure your home surpassing you throne out on a dream vacay will help you take wholesomeness of every relaxing moment and every heady venture that lies ahead. 

Youll still want to make sure you have the right homeowners insurance to help alimony you covered, no matter what happens. With Lemonade Insurance, you can imbricate your home from theft, damage, and morefor as little as $25/mo. Bon voyage! 

The post The Ultimate Pre-Vacation Travel Checklist appeared first on Lemonade Blog.