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Prepare For Your Trip Like a Pro!

September 6, 2008 by Jeff · Leave a Comment 

Although, traveling to Japan for 20 days isn't considered an extended period of time. I thought I'd share

some tips, thoughts and recommendations on traveling when you are leaving for an extended period of time. These tips are based on experiences that we've had from traveling for extended periods of time (more then 2 weeks).

Hopefully these tips will ensure that you have a stress free and more relaxing trip not worrying about things 'at home'.

House

  • Have someone check in or live in your house. Make sure they know to check around the house looking for anything strange. As well, they should always check on the hot water tank and furnace.
  • Have someone bring in the mail and newspapers. Nothing alerts people your gone faster then a build up of papers.
  • Many house insurance companies have a clause that someone must enter your house every 4 days (or something like that). Check your insurance forms to ensure that you'll be compliant with the insurance policies.

Electrical in the House

  • Make sure that you unplug everything unnecessary and electrical in your house. I'm an electrical engineer and I know the chances of an electrical fire are low and maybe call me paranoid. However, I always unplug everything! The only thing I leave plugged in is a lamp that would turn off and on (and/or a radio). Comptuers, toasters, coffee maker, vhs, tv, etc.... Reduce the risk of anything happening.

Bills

Are all your bills going to be paid while you're gone? Make sure you either have a pre-paid bill payment or automatic bill payment setup. This includes car payments, insurance payments, utility, internet, phone, etc....

Money

Do you have enough money in the bank or room on your credit card? Make sure that you have a source of cash available to you if you need to get out of a bind.

Email List or Blog

Many people like to email or blog while on their trip. Make sure you have your email list setup so that you can access it easily and you don't have to add names one by one. Similarly, make sure you have your blog setup so that you can post to it easily (or email to it). In the next post I'll discuss how to setup a blog for travel.

Contact Information

Remember that you should always leave your contact information with a few close friends or family. You should leave the places you are traveling (or planning on traveling), the places your staying, the dates, health information, insurance information and passport numbers. These things are all necessary in case anything is stolen or lost (which hopefully doesn't happen).

Remember the more prepared you are before you leave the less likely you'll have any sort of problems while your gone.

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