You might plan to trot around the globe for at least a month without anyone to guard your home. However, you might come back to a space that’s covered in dust, or worse, ransacked. Sadly, even if we lock our doors and clean our homes before leaving, the risks of dirt and burglary will persist.
While all we want to do before traveling is to relax, accomplishing things beforehand is essential. Taking your home’s cleanliness and security for granted can make us learn things the hard way, so let’s not wait for a disaster to happen before practicing caution.
Below is a to-do list you can adopt before your long-awaited departure day:
1. Major Cleanup
On the days that your home is uninhabited, every item will collect dust, and the food in your fridge might spoil. Do a major cleanup before your departure, and get rid of the food items nearing their expiry dates.
And since there’s no one to guard your empty home, hire trustworthy house cleaning services that’ll regularly come over to freshen up your space. Provide them a spare key or grant them access via your smart lock. If you’re worried about your abode’s security, update a friend or family member whenever the cleaning crew is scheduled to come.
Regular cleanups are necessary because even if you deep-clean before traveling, dirt will immediately return once the vacuuming, scrubbing, and mopping stop. Plus, the daily activity in your home can deter anyone who plans to break into your property.
2. Hide Valuables
It won’t hurt to hide your valuables in locked storage, even if your cleaners and neighbors are trustworthy. Invest in a safe to keep larger and pricier possessions in. Hide the safe itself in a closet or anywhere out of plain sight. A smart safe is ideal for globetrotters like you because it’ll alert you when someone is attempting to crack your code.
Fool potential thieves by hiding smaller valuables in fake electric sockets, air vents, feminine hygiene boxes, or anything that looks uninteresting. But if you already have a safe, it may be wiser to keep everything in it.
3. Eliminate Fire Hazards
If you have a habit of leaving your cords plugged at night and when you’re out at work, it’s time to unlearn that before the worst happens. Practice unplugging all your electronics before going to sleep and leaving, so that you won’t forget it on the day of your departure. Doing this also reduces energy costs, allowing you to come home without hefty bills awaiting.
4. Keep Some Lights On and Some Curtains Drawn
Most people think drawing the curtains close at night is safer, but it encourages burglars more since it makes it evident that there’s no one home. Hence, have a trustworthy friend open some of your curtains at night. Ask them to turn on some lights, too, if you don’t have smart bulbs yet.
5. Hire a House-sitter
A house-sitter will help in keeping up with appearances. They will be responsible for mowing your lawn, watering the plants, collecting mail, and picking up newspapers. And if you have a pet, they’re required.
If their services are too costly for you, ask to stop newspaper deliveries to your place so that they won’t pile. Or call a friend again to pick them up for you. However, you have to find someone who will be willing to do house-sitter tasks as well, and that can be difficult.
Your home’s safety and security are an investment, hence budgeting for those before traveling is crucial. It’s best to entrust heavier cleaning and security tasks to pros, as your friends can only do so much.
