There’s something uniquely stressful about the period before a summer getaway… it’s as if events conspire to make the leading-up-to period as frenetic and wearying as possible. Work pressures can ratchet up dramatically, as you attempt to accomplish as much as you can, in the hope that things don’t fall apart in your absence. You wake in a blind panic at 3am, suddenly convinced that your passport’s expiry date could be just around the corner. And you’ve barely even started any kind of holiday to-do list, let alone checked whether you need vaccinations or a tourist visa. There’s somehow no getting away from it – and, bizarrely, it’s no less agitating an experience when you’re only going to Cornwall or France. There’s just always too much to do and too much to think of. But rather than being tyrannised by these feelings, you can take charge and restore a sense of calm with various forms of good practice, including note-keeping and lists. One of the more fretful aspects of going away is the thought of your home being empty and vulnerable in your absence. It can almost bring a chill to the blood. So we’ve taken a closer look at what you can do to prepare it for your going away. Some of these steps have the added benefit of making your home much easier to return to which can help ward off a post-holiday slump that sometimes sends people into a rather stolid and depressed state when they leave their holiday idyll and return with a bump to real life.
Contents
- What to Do in the House Before Going on Holiday
- How to Prepare Before Setting Off on a Holiday Away From Home
- How to Prepare for Summer Holidays
- What Are Five Things You Need to do to Prepare For a Holiday
What to Do in The House Before Going on Holiday
Your heart will undoubtedly sink if you come home to a grimy, untidy dump. That’s why CLEANING is a great first step. The last thing you want is for your morale to be obliterated when you jet back from sunny climes only to find litter, dust, odours and even mould. A thorough clean in the 48 hours before your departure is the way to ensure this fate doesn’t befall you. Ideally, it should also include a fridge clean. And while you’re doing that, take an informal inventory of the fridge contents and work out what you can a) eat before your holiday b) freeze) and c) throw away. That way, you won’t come home to find spoiled, rotting and inedible goods. With LAUNDRY consider doing a final wash two days before you go. This not only means you won’t come home to laundry baskets heaving with dirty clothes, but it also gives you time to wash and dry anything you might want to take with you. Also, remember to check your washing machine and tumble dryer before you head to the airport, so that you don’t make the mistake of leaving a bundle of wet clothes in either machine which then slowly fester in your absence.
How To Prepare Before Setting Off on a Holiday Away From Home
One of the things many people worry about is FIRE RISKS. While the chances of that happening are reassuringly low, you can still put your mind at ease by unplugging anything and everything that doesn’t need to stay on. Of course, the fridge and freezer cannot be included in that category, but what you can do is turn your fridge onto a gentler setting since, for the week or two that you’re away, you won’t be affecting its internal temperature by opening the fridge door. As for SECURITY, let at least one trusted neighbour know that you’re going away and for how long. Ideally, this is the same neighbour who keeps a spare set of your keys. Perhaps you even have a mutual agreement to check on each other’s places while you’re on holiday. If you haven’t already done so, consider upgrading your lights so that they turn on and off in your absence. The old-school way of doing this was with outlet timers, but now we can have even more control with smart bulbs and AI hubs (e.g. HomePod) which have the advantage of letting you tinker with the settings when you’re thousands of miles away. You can therefore have your lights turn on and off at completely random times. You can also avail yourself of smart tech in the form of external and internal, movement-sensitive cameras.
How to Prepare for Summer Holidays
Another easily-overlooked part of preparation is to compile a list of any regular by-mail subscriptions you have (for example, perhaps you subscribe to a vegetable box or an ingredients-by-post service like HelloFresh) and make sure you either pause or cancel as necessary. PAUSING ALL DELIVERIES for the entire duration of your trip means you’ll avoid unnecessary and sometimes costly mistakes. You can also make sure there’s no danger of WATER DAMAGE while you’re away by turning off water at the mains. For most of us, that’s just an easy manoeuvre with the stopcock beneath the kitchen basin. Depending on your home’s tendencies, you may also want to take steps to lessen the likelihood of MOULD. If you live somewhere that is vulnerable to humidity and damp, then leave a dehumidifier in at least one room. These can generally be programmed to turn on and off during the day/night. And if you find that stale smell of an uninhabited home depressing to come back to, simply put out some bowls of pot pourri before you depart for the airport, or leave a couple of reed diffusers in key places.
What Are Five Things You Need to do to Prepare For a Holiday
- Take out the bins. While you might get away with leaving your recycling bin untended, your main refuse, bathroom refuse and food refuse could start creating horrible odours while you’re on holiday. So, last thing before you leave, empty all the bins and take them outside. If it’s not a collection day, then take the contents to your nearest communal bins, dumps or recycling centres.
- Check your coffee machine. You don’t want to come back to festering, mouldy coffee grounds not only creating unpleasant smells but possibly causing damage to your machine.
- Check fruit bowls. Refrigerate what you can, eat what you can and, if you have to, chuck, the rest. Otherwise, you could return to find several families of fruit flies buzzing around your kitchen.
- Clean and refresh your kitchen sink including, if necessary, dropping some drain-cleaning liquid or tab down the plughole. The kitchen sink can, if insufficiently looked after, start causing bad smells.
- Give your indoor plants a final once-over, including watering. Consider their placement while you’re away (e.g. will it potentially get too hot for them by that window?) Unless you’ve arranged for neighbours to water for you, set up some HydroSpikes or similar products. These will give the plants some hydration and keep them healthy until you return.
