As your departure day quickly approaches, here are some helpful tips for preparing for your next vacation!

 

Preparing Your Work:

  • Tie up loose ends at work so you can better avoid calls while you are on vacation.
  • Set your voicemail and email to alert colleagues and customers of your days away from the office.

 

Preparing Your Home:

  • Ask a friend or neighbor to pick up your daily mail and news flyers and hold them for your return.
  • Ask a friend or neighbor to water your lawn, if needed.
  • For winter months, ask them to plow your driveway if it snows and drive up your driveway to create tire marks in the snow.
  • If you are kenneling your animals, remember most boarding services require up to date health care for your dogs and cats.
  • Set timers on lights in your house. For exterior lights, use automatic lights around entrances.
  • Adjust the air or heat. No need to pay a big bill for an empty house!

 

Preparing Your Wallet:

  • Alert financial institutions that you will be traveling. Keep the numbers of your bank and credit cards with you. If your wallet is lost or stolen, this helps you make the necessary arrangements as quickly as possible.
  • Take a photo of your i.d. or passport with your smart phone.

 

Preparing Your Smartphone:

  • Change the image on your lock screen to include an alternate way to reach you should your phone become lost. A phone number or email address of a friend or family member traveling with you will help get your lost phone back to you faster if it falls in safe hands. Simply type or write contact information, take a photo and save it as your lock screen photo!
  • Enable a “locate your phone” app on your phone so you can find it using gps.
  • Social Media:

    • Avoid announcing your absence from your home. Create a private group in your social media account, like Facebook. You will be able to post daily photos of your adventures that only trusted friends and family will be able to see.

     

    Once You Arrive at Your Destination:

    • The first things to unpack are your travel documents, passports, electronics, jewelry, and medications. If possible, stow anything you won’t be needing during the day in a room safe. If items are too large for the safe, do not leave them out in the open in your room. The front desk may have a safe you can store larger items in.
    • Get familiar with the resort and the layout as it may be dark when you return to your room.

     

    Daily Adventures:

    • Many young children do not know their parents as anyone other than “Mommy and Daddy.” If they have not yet learned your first and last names, find a convenient way to “attach” your name and number somewhere on them. There are companies you can find on Amazon or Etsy that create temporary tattoos for this. You can also make a small note, place it in a small baggie to make it waterproof, and attach it inside a pocket with a safety pin.
    • Take a photo of your family each morning so you can remember what everyone is wearing and so you can share the photo with anyone helping you locate a child (or parent!) who has wandered off.

    Crossing these all off your list can keep you from worrying and instead, help you sit back, relax, and enjoy the time away.