9 Things To Do Before Vacation That Don’t Involve Packing
So it’s the eve of your departure – the day before you’re set to leave on that long-overdue vacation you’ve been anticipating for the last few months. Your anxiety is building as you’re making sure all the “little” things are packed and ready to go. You begin to cross items off of your list.
Passport
Mask
Travel pillow and blanket
Headphones
Snacks
Charger
But there are still some “not so little” items that are commonly forgotten that need to be on your to-do list before you head out.
Below are the 9 Things To Do Before Vacation That Don’t Involve Packing
1. Alert Your Credit Card Company
To ensure your credit card works while you’re traveling, your credit card company needs to know your travel plans. Otherwise, for your protection, your card will be declined when attempting to make foreign transactions. With advancements in mobile banking, this notification often times can be done through your app without a phone call.
2. Contact Your Cell Phone Company
Traveling abroad? Make sure you call your service provider and let them know so that they can help you find the most affordable plan for making calls, sending text messages and accessing the internet from your smartphone. Many cell phone companies offer affordable day passes to U.S. customers for International talk, text, and data plans. Speaking from experience, those roaming calls are NOT cheap.
3. Confirm ALL reservations
Double-check all of your reservations – flight, hotel, car rental, restaurants, and any attractions you may have had planned. The last thing you want is a surprise at the check-in counter.
If you have access to a printer, it wouldn’t be the worst idea to print out all of your confirmations so that you have them readily available. Alternatively, take screenshots of your reservation confirmations so that you can easily access them if you’re without a printer and without wifi.
4. Check the weather
While this may seem like an obvious one, I’ve seen many instances in which the weather wasn’t researched beforehand, forcing travelers to purchase the proper attire at their destination – a waste of both time and money. Just because you’re going to a beach destination, don’t assume it will be warm and sunny the entire time.
5. Eat or throw out any perishable foods
I tend to meal prep my meals on a weekly basis but when I know I’ll be traveling, I strategically plan how much I cook so that I don’t come home to a smelly (or moldy) fridge. It’s also not a bad idea to run the dishwasher, take out the trash and clean out the sink and drain before you go. You don’t want to return home to little critters as roommates.
6. Leave an itinerary with a friend or family member
You can never be too careful. Emergencies happen, so it’s a good idea that someone knows where you’re at.. For apple users, I would also suggest sharing your location with that person from your smartphone.
7. Place a hold on your mail delivery
If you’re going to be gone a while, this is a smart move as intruders can see that the mail is beginning to pile up and realize no one is home. Alternatively, you could arrange for a neighbor or friend to collect your mail for you until you return.
8. Make sure all bills are paid or are on autopay
The last thing you will be thinking about while you’re on vacation are bills, so if you don’t want to come back to pesky little late fees, make sure all bills are up to date on payment.
9. Triple Check Covid Restrictions
With the on-going “pandemic,” rules and regulations for leisure travel are always changing. So make sure you know the most up to date travel requirements of your destination. I use Sherpa as my go to website to find the latest travel and health restrictions for my excursions.
