What do you do before a trip... to make it easier when you get back..

[LovesTimone]

I was talking to a friend the other day, and she was talking about how she hated to come home to all the housework, laundry( not just from the trip), having to go the grocery store right away as there is nothing to eat, and doing all this while trying to go back to work in the next day or so...and extra cash that you put out when you get back...

So I shared with her what I do to get ready for before a trip... so that when we get back its not a chaos and we can enjoy the vacation bubble a little bit longer, and not break the bank...

Please post your tips

Here's my list in short form with my reasoning behind it... my real list is very detail as its curved to our life.

Clean the house - when I was working I would do one task every night so that I could get everything done, and not try to kill myself on the night before we would heading out.

Laundry - all of it needs to be done before we leave...except for the towels for showering the day we leave... and they are hung up to dry... When my kids were at home, and I worked outside of the house, I would do laundry every night a week or so before we would be leaving.
*** Go through the house room by room looking for stray laundry... towels hanging out by the pool, in the guest bathroom, the pile in the teenagers room who said everything is clean( this will help with another point)

Change the sheets the night before we leave so that clean sheets are on the bed when you return... I make the bed the morning we leave.... there is just something about coming home to all the beds being made that just makes you feel good...

Drop off and pick up any dry cleaning... so that you don't have to when you return.

Clothing....A couple of months/weeks before figure out what you are taking... go through the kids clothing, checking out what fits, everything is working order all the buttons, zippers that zip....even when they are teenagers... really especially if they are teenager... our youngest ( she was 13) once thought 9 shirts and 1 pair of shorts was enough for the whole trip... and asked her why only 1 pair of shorts she said those were the only one that still fit her...her mom had not bought her any shorts yet...and her Dad and I had repeated asked her and her mom if there was anything that she might need... so I was at Wal-mart at midnight buying some shorts...Thank goodness she's wasn't as picky as oldest DD... This will save you a lot of aggravation and late night trips to the store, and extra cost that you weren't expecting and you haven't even left the house yet...

Clean the kitchen the night before, run the dishwasher, put everything away....using paper products, as the dish washer had been emptied and we are not turning it on again... or you can wash and dry the dishes and put them away....

Meals before you hit the road.... what are you doing for dinner the night before... and breakfast on the day you leave... For us Chinese take out for dinner, and breakfast... a bowl of cereal, finish up the milk, muffins and fruit to finishing up the bananas...coffee, and finish up the juice. - When you return will you need lunch or dinner, the next day, breakfast, lunch, dinner.... Normally we get back home after the dinner hour... I will have some snack stuff, unopened chips & crackers, dip, pop corn.... then I will take out the frozen bagel for breakfast the next day, also take out the frozen red sauce for dinner the next day...put in the frig to thaw and your good to go... make sure to have unopened coffee creamer, cream cheese,

If you are heading back to work and school the next day... lay out your clothes, kids clothes with socks and shoes... backpacks ready to go... I would make the kids clean out their backpacks the night or so before we would leave and repack them, this way if they needed anything we weren't running around at 7:00 am hunting all over for it... Also any kind of sports bag, gym bag...clean them out... I was always surprised by the stuff I would find in them... gross and stinky..... For our kids the school backpack was for school then we had travel backpacks for traveling( cheaper version)... for the just in case, something got left behind or stolen it wasn't the school backpack( the expensive version)

While some of this seems like I can do it when we get back.. Any time you travel you could have a flight delay, miss a connections, someone gets to sick to travel, flat tire, god forbid some type of accident... You just never know.

Please share your tips...

 

[holden]

Pretty much the same as you:

Clean the entire house.

Do all laundry.

Change sheets.

Arrange for neighbor feeding our pets to leave the mail in the mud room so it’s there when we return.

Pick a return flight that lands before rush hour so we aren’t stuck in a ton of traffic heading home.

Eat on paper plates/cups the day of departure.

I love coming home to a clean, organized house!

 

[loves to dive]

I try to get the laundry done and that's it. We load the dishwasher as we dirty dishes so that's not an issue, we will run it before we leave if we haven't already. I have a cleaning person who comes every other week and she has a key so if it's her week to come while we are gone that is taken care of. Otherwise it is what it is. Our little dog is potty pad trained so I do make sure if she has used any of the pads they are picked up and fresh ones put down but that is about all I do. I'm not cooking when I get home anyway so I don't care if there is food in the house, I try to make my bed every day but if I don't, the world doesn't end so if it's not made before we leave it's not a problem. If both of us are going to be gone together for more than 3 or 4 days, we will tell our next door neighbor but that is just because the nosy old man is going to watch the house anyway so it gives him something to do. Honey and I rarely travel together because he hates to travel and I love it so he stays home most of the time. Back when we did used to travel a lot on dive trips, we did have a couple of automatic timers on a couple of lights in the house that were set to different times so lights did come on and off in different rooms so it sort of looked like someone was home. Otherwise, I don't sweat the small stuff, life is too short.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

I do pretty much the same also. The only other thing is that unless we are coming home early in the day, I pay the petsitter for another day and have her come on the day we are expected to get back. That way she can handle any messes and the litter boxes are clean, everyone is already fed and walked, etc.

 

[ajwolfe]

Pretty much the same here. Except for I make sure bills are paid up so there's less mail to deal with when we get back and any lawn mowing/maintenance is done a day or so before we leave.

 

[jozette]

I clean the house as well, and I always change the sheets so we have some nice, clean sheets when we get home.

Another thing I did after a recent trip was get one of those meal delivery services setup for the week we return. It's great not having to worry about meal prepping or planning for that initial week back, as we usually arrive home on a Sat/Sun. Not the cheapest option, but I only really do it for weeks like that where it's helpful.

 

[amcnj]

Water/bag houseplants, and depending on the time of year, cut the lawn, water outside plants and mulch them, and hope there is no drought period while away!

 

[QueenIsabella]

I do pretty much the same thing. I also try to have a quickie dinner in the freezer--chicken strips, a frozen lasagna, frozen pizza--just so we're not desperate when we walk through the door.

Another thing I do is laundry on vacation. This isn't as hideous as it sounds--we're a family of 6, and usually rent a house or condo that has a washer/dryer in the unit. 2-3 loads throughout the week is easy enough, and it means we're not bringing home piles of dirty clothes. We can pack less, too. And the one resort we go to, every summer, has a nearby laundry that picks up your laundry and cleans it for ~$1.00/pound--about what you'd pay at your local "Fluff and Fold". It's really my only splurge when we visit there--I'd much rather have someone else do the laundry than get a couple of fancy drinks for the same money. You could do something similar, bringing home your dirty laundry and dropping it off locally. It's not exactly budget on a regular basis, but to me, it's a nice vacation extra.

 

[HHMcG]

I usually just run the dishwasher as we're leaving, take out the trash and adjust the heat/AC. We usually have an early flight so I don't bother making any beds before we leave. If I have time I'll try to straighten the house, especially the Entry Hall before we leave, so when we return lugging in suitcases they don't get set on backpacks, sports equipment, etc. If we do have an evening flight (something we try occasionally now) I may spend a few extra minutes trying to clean.

 

[Judique]

The big things for me are clean the kitchen and fresh sheets for my return. These are musts, but most of the other things mentioned get done also.

 

[MickeyMouseCD524]

We do the same as you the only thing we do additionally is unplug EVERYTHING in the house, but the fridge. Just in the off chance there's a power surge.

We also make sure there's someone to get the mail and throw out our newspapers. I've moved to a building with a doorman so no one can get to the apt without going through him.

We also take all jewelry and drop it off to get cleaned. So that way if we do God forbid get robbed its safely tucked away else where getting cleaned and on someone else's head.

 

[barkley]

pretty much the same with the additions of-

set out laundry baskets on the table in the garage (attached to house at laundry room) so when we return the suitcases get opened out THERE-and each category of dirty clothing goes into a separate basket for faster laundering (that's if I don't get accommodations w/a washer & dryer which is my preference).

check all prescription meds to see if will need to be refilled right as we get back-write down the numbers/pharmacy number to call in a day or two before we return.

if it's winter make sure to have a neighbor drive into/out of the driveway and walk around the house (nothings says 'I'm on vacation-break into my home' like pristine untouched snow.

 

[PennyInPink]

I like to have a cleaned out fridge before we leave, so I give $20 or so with anyone left behind (son, good friend) who has a key, to pick up fresh milk, orange juice and bread.
I have a favorite comfort food casserole in the freezer so we have dinner when we get home exhausted.

 

[grumpy28]

Book another trip It helps with the post Disney blues.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I clean the house and do all of the laundry. The morning we leave it's like a regular work day. We make beds, etc. I always take off the day before we leave and the day after we get back so I can hit the grocery store and finish up vacation laundry. It just makes life easier.

This next trip it's just DD and myself so the boys will be home. I plan on doing a grocery run the night before so they'll have food while we are away. I'm sure there will be pizza orders and MIL cooking for them. lol The house will be good when I get home. My SO is pretty good at keeping things clean and orderly.

 

[smiths02]

We usually plan at least one day of no work before and one day of no work after.

We generally drive and eat dinner on the road. I do buy some shelf stable milk so the kids can have cereal the next morning.

 

[Minnesota!]

Most of that is stuff I do every day, even if vacation isn't looming. I just make sure the fridge is cleaned out and anything, like bread or fruit, is tossed in the fridge or freezer, so it doesn't spoil when we are gone. And I stop the mail.

The only thing I MAKE SURE is done is that all the laundry is put away, and that we have a gift card for pizza waiting for our return. I don't want to cook, and I don't want to spend "more money".

 

[Tikitoi]

Pretty much the same; completely clean the house, laundry done, bills paid and freeze a pasta & sauce dish. But still have the next day off from work . And stop the mail.

 

[DisneyHardin]

I like to make sure the house is fairly clean before we leave.

When we travel home from Disney, I don't do laundry on the trip, so we have a lot when we get home, but when we are at the beach in the summer at a condo with a washer, I do laundry there and we bring everything home clean.

One thing I do that I didn't see mentioned above is always ask a neighbor to put our trash by the curb on trash day and then bring the can back up so that we don't come home to garbage that has been festering in the sun because of a missed trash day.

 

[Amanda999]

I also clean the house before we leave.
DH returns from Disney at least a day before us (me and the kids), and sometimes departs a day+ after us - which makes it much easier for me. He drops off and picks up the dog at boarding, drives us to/from the airport, does the locking up the house (and seeing if burglered or burned down or water leak while gone). DH's job doesn't let him take off as many days as I can, so it just worked out this way - but its really made vacations calmer for us.