Nothing ruins a holiday like having to head home early to fix a surprise maintenance issue or address a security breach, so before you hit the road for a well deserved break – double check that you’ve packed your toothbrush and run through this checklist!
1. Neighbourhood watch
If you have a good relationship with your neighbours, let them know you’re going away and when you expect to be back. Provide any emergency contact details in case something happens to your home whilst you’re away and if possible, leave a spare set of keys with family or friends.
2. Do a little gardening before you go
Doing some gardening jobs like mowing the lawn and pruning will ensure your yard doesn’t become too overgrown while you’re away. If you’re going away for an extended period, ask somebody to maintain the front yard so it looks like somebody is home.
3. Repurpose your wallet for travelling
Take out items from your wallet you won’t be using during your travels. If you do happen to lose your wallet, you don’t have the hassle of cancelling and replacing all that plastic.
Likewise, it’s a good idea to update your phone banking apps before you go and, if your bank allows, temporarily pause transactions on cards you won’t be using while you’re away.
4. Lock spare keys away
If you are leaving a car at home, lock the keys in a safe, if you have one or somewhere secure.
If the house is broken into, the last thing you want to do is allow the burglar easy access to your car by leaving the car keys hanging on the key hook or sitting on the kitchen bench.
5. Turn off the water supply
Nobody wants to come home to a house that has been flooded due to a burst pipe under the bathroom sink upstairs or anywhere in the house for that matter. Not a great scenario to come home to if a pipe blows on day one of your two-week holiday and the burst pipe goes undetected.
6. Turn the hot water off
Save money on your energy bill by turning your gas or electric hot water heater down to low or off. You don’t need the hot water system working away whilst you’re on holidays. Just remember to turn it back on as soon as you walk in the door to allow time for the hot water system to warm up again.
7. Purchase travel insurance
Although overseas travel remains off the cards for, when holidays abroad resume, it’s important to ensure you’ve purchased adequate travel insurance. Injury, accidents or illness can strike at any time and overseas doctor visits or worse, hospitalisation costs can be extremely costly. Travel insurance polices can range from $65- $200, but it’s a small price to pay if you find yourself in trouble overseas.
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