15 Things You Need to Do Before Leaving on Vacation

Going on vacation is always a ton of fun, however, there are some things you should do before you leave your house for vacation!

As someone who loves to travel and tries to do it as often as possible, I’m going to share with you the 15 things you should always do before you leave and go on vacation!

These tips will help you stay stress-free, worry-free and ready for an awesome vacation!

1. Clean Your House

Nothing is worse than traveling for several hours only to get home to a messy house.

It just feels a bit chaotic and is honestly the last thing you want to come home to. I always clean my house before I go on vacation.

Even if it’s just picking up miscellaneous things and putting them away.

Traveling can take a lot out of you, so make your life easier and clean before you leave. Your future self will thank you.

2. Pay Your Bills

You should pay your bills for that month so you don’t have to worry about it while you are enjoying your vacation.

It’s one less thing to worry about and you won’t have to stress about if you paid it or not or remembering to do so when you get home!

3. Make a Copy

As you probably already know, shit happens. So, protect yourself and make a photocopy of your passport and your license and keep one copy locked away in your house and the other locked in the hotel safe.

Just in case something bad happens and you lose your ID or it gets stolen, making photocopies will help avoid a massive headache in getting home.

You probably won’t need it, and fingers crossed you don’t, but if you do you will be glad you brought a copy!

4. Make a List and Pack Early

I always recommend making a packing checklist before you start packing.

I don’t know about you but when I pack its sort of like going to the store without my grocery list, I always forget something!

So, make a list of what you want to pack and then pack your bag early.

One of the biggest things that stress me out when I go on vacation is packing last minute.

I get so stressed running around my house trying to find everything I need right before I have to leave for the airport and it’s no fun. So, pack early what you will need and follow your list.

5. Check-In for Your Flight

Often times airlines will let you check-in for your flight a set amount of hours ahead of time. Doing this will often save you time and even money at the airport!

Typically you can print out your boarding passes at home and go in a different line at the airport, which is usually shorter, and drop off your bags.

Also, depending on the airline, often times when checking-in ahead of time you’ll be able to pick your seat, a.k.a. first dibs on the window seat!

6. Get a Good Night of Sleep

I personally don’t love the actual getting to my destination part of traveling. I rather just be there, and I think most people also feel that way.

So, before you travel, get a really good night of sleep in. You’ll be glad you did. Traveling can be stressful and having a good night of rest can make a world of a difference in your mood and how stressed you might feel.

7. Plan Your Trip

I am big on planners. I love them! I hate going on vacation and wasting time trying to decide what I want to do. Or searching through my bag to try and find hotel reservations I stuck in a random pocket.

Traveling is stressful and planning out what I want to do, even if it’s a loose plan, makes it a lot easier to relax and have fun. I created this planner for that reason. Click here to check it out!

8. Hide/Lock Up Valuables

Before you leave your house, hide and lock up any valuables. Like computers, money, important documents, etc. I always do this just in case of a break-in. It’s super unlikely anything will happen, but it’s better safe than sorry!

9. Little Things

Take care of the little things. This includes making sure your doors and windows are locked, blinds are shut, everything is turned off, plants are watered, etc.

Just taking time to take care of the little miscellaneous things will not only give you peace of mind but will also help keep your home in order while you’re away.

10. Snap a Picture

Whether it be of your stove or something else you know you’ll be worried you didn’t turn off. I am always paranoid I didn’t shut my garage door.

I don’t know why, but I always forget if I shut it or not and get paranoid it was left open while I’m out of town.

So, if you have something you know you will be worried about that was either left on, not shut, unlocked, etc. snap a picture! This will help you remember that you took a picture of it shut so that you know it’s shut.

And, if you forget later, you can check and remember that you have picture proof it’s taken care of!

11. Set a Timer

So, if you don’t know, you can buy timers to plug a lamp into. They’re cheap and easy and something I always use when I leave town. You can set it to turn your lamp on during a set time period.

This makes it look like you’re home so your house doesn’t sit dark for multiple nights, making it obvious you aren’t home.

12. Tell the Post Office to Hold Your Mail/Packages

Again, you don’t want people to know that you’re not home unless it’s a trusted neighbor or family member. Basically, you don’t want your house to be an obvious target to get burglarized it someone knows you aren’t home.

And what’s more obvious that you aren’t home than a porch full of packages and a mailbox stuffed full of mail?

So, before you head out on your amazing vacation, tell your post office to hold any mail or packages for you until you return or ask a neighbor to collect any mail while you’re away!

13. Make Sure Someone Knows Where You’ll Be

This is a smart thing to do in terms of safety. Even if you aren’t going on a solo trip, you should still let someone in your life know where you will be what days.

Because if they don’t hear from you or something happens to you while away, they can alert authorities, make arrangements, etc.

Basically, it’s always a good idea to let someone know where you will be, just in case of an emergency.

14. Bring Cash

If you’re like me and never have cash on you, you might want to take some out of the bank and bring it with you on vacation. I’ve found that I am often in situations that require me to use cash when on vacation.

Whether it’s tipping the airport shuttle driver or going somewhere that only takes cash. Also, by bringing cash, you can avoid ATM fees!

15. Let Your Bank & Credit Card Company Know You’re Traveling Abroad

Some banks and credit card companies want you to let them know if you’re leaving the state, but most need to know if you are traveling abroad.

You don’t want to have a lock put on your account and be unable to access your funds when you’re on vacation! A quick phone call to let them know will prevent any issues and any headaches.

Traveling is always so fun, so avoid stress by doing these 15 things before you leave your house and head out on your next vacation! Happy traveling!

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