When December rolls around, we find ourselves smack dab in the middle of the holiday season. It’s a wonderful time to be with friends and family – perhaps even the best time of the year! Some of us want nothing more than to get back home for this festive season. But before that happens there are a few things we can all do to prepare our apartment for a trip home or away so that we can experience a hassle-free holiday travel season.
We’ll start with the big and important things first:
Clean out your refrigerator – Anything that is expired or will expire while you are gone should be thrown away. Nobody wants to come back and open the fridge to find a terrible-smelling surprise of spoiled foods. So, make sure to always double-check and if you think something is questionable to leave, just throw that away. No need to chance it.
Take out the trash – If trash is not removed, especially if it’s after you’ve cleaned out the fridge. That would just defeat the purpose of cleaning it out in the first place. It also could easily attract unwanted pests and create an unpleasant smell. No one wants to return to an offensive-smelling home!
Keep your heat running – By that, we don’t mean that your heat has to be running on high or anything like that, but we do live in the Midwest, so nights and even days can get terribly cold. To avoid any damage to your apartment due to the cold weather, it’s best to keep your heat running at a moderate temperature. Your heat can run at a little lower temperature than usual to keep the bills down when you’re not there but be sure to keep it on.
Turn off and unplug all of your unnecessarily running electronics – When you're traveling you don’t need the headache of thinking about if you left something running. It's easy to forget that devices continue to use electricity when they're turned off, but by turning them off and unplugging them you'll save money on your electric bill while preventing power surges, overheating, and potential electrical fires.
Make sure to close and lock all windows and doors – This one is pretty self-explanatory. Be sure to keep your apartment and belongings secure by closing and locking everything up. Closing your blinds is also a good precaution when being away for a long period of time.
Leave a light on – If you know you’ll be returning late in the evening, no one wants to come home to a dark apartment after traveling. Maybe think of placing a lamp on a timer, through an Alexa, Google Nest, or just a simple walk plug timer. This also helps with security giving the appearance that someone is home.
In the end, getting your apartment set up for a trip away will take some time, but it’s worth every minute that you invest. Not only will it help to make your holiday travel season even more enjoyable, but it will give you a quiet place to return to after the hectic holiday season is over.
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