Planning a family vacation is exciting. Flights get booked, vacation rentals are searched, and group chats quickly fill with ideas about what everyone wants to see and do.
With so much focus on planning the trip itself, it is easy to forget about preparing the home you are leaving behind. A full mailbox, unpaid bills, or an empty house without regular check-ins can quickly turn a relaxing getaway into a stressful situation.
Taking a little time to prepare your home before leaving helps everything run smoothly while you are away. When the details at home are handled ahead of time, families can relax and enjoy their time together without worrying about what is happening back home.
Here’s what you’ll learn:
- Why Multi-Month Trips Lead to Chaos At Home
- Virtual Mailbox + Address Services = Simple Solution
- Keeping Up with Mail Before Leaving
- Bills, Finances, & Setting Up Automatic Payments
- Locking Down Security Systems Before Leaving
- Who to Contact Before Leaving on Vacation
Quick Home Prep Checklist Before an Extended Family Getaway
Before leaving on a long family vacation, take a few minutes to make sure these basics are handled:
- Hold or manage your mail so it does not pile up
- Set up automatic payments for recurring bills
- Pause deliveries and subscription boxes
- Adjust your thermostat and check utilities
- Ask a neighbor or house sitter to check on the home
- Confirm your security cameras or alarms are working
Taking care of these simple tasks early helps prevent problems while you are away.
Why Multi-Month Trips Lead to Chaos At Home
Family vacations are at a record-high. 92% of parents say they’ll travel with their kids at least once in the next 12 months — and 47% of those trips will include multiple generations.
We’re talking weeks and even months at a time without anyone home. And the longer your home sits empty, the bigger the potential risks. So what kind of chaos are we talking about?
- Stuffed mailboxes attract thieves who think your home is wide open
- Important mail like bank statements and documents gets overlooked for weeks
- Time sensitive financial documents get missed and cause account problems
- Too much mail left outside invites unwanted attention from insurers
The good news? Each and every one of these problems is preventable with some prep work before you leave.
Virtual Mailbox + Address Services = Simple Solution
If you’ve made it this far, you’re probably asking yourself:
Where do I even start?
And here’s where most families traveling for extended periods get tripped up.
Instead of redirecting mail to a relative’s address or hoping for the best, take advantage of virtual mailbox and address services. When it comes to managing digital mail remotely, these services let homeowners set up a secure virtual address that all mail gets forwarded to and scanned. That scanned mail gets stored securely online where you can:
- Access it from anywhere. Maui. Madrid. Doesn’t matter.
- Open and read each piece of mail instantly from your phone
- Forward on, shred, or archive anything coming to your virtual address
Some families also choose to use virtual mailbox services to manage important mail while traveling. No overflowing mailbox to return home to. No missed bills or financial statements. No packages left to sit unattended on your front porch.
Keeping Up with Mail Before Leaving
Signing up for a virtual mailbox service is just step 1. There are a few other mail topics to take care of before you depart as well.
Hold or forward ALL mail. Setting up a mail hold through the post office is perfectly acceptable for vacations less than 2 weeks. Anything longer than that and you’ll want to subscribe to a virtual mailbox + address service.
Couple other things to consider:
- Pause recurring boxes or deliveries (Netflix, Loot Crate, etc.)
- Forward key contacts — banks, insurers, mailgrams — about your new virtual address
- Keep an eye out for time-sensitive mail that may arrive before you leave and request digital delivery if possible
Here’s something else to think about…
Did you know mail theft is super common? In 2024 alone there were 1.1 million identity theft complaints filed with the FTC. An overflowing mailbox with weeks worth of mail is a sitting duck.
A virtual mailbox service can help reduce the risk of mail theft while you are away.
Bills, Finances, & Automatic Payments
No one wants to come home to a pile of overdue notices and threats to shut off utilities.
The solution? automatic payments. Set-up auto pay for all recurring bills before leaving for your trip. 9 times out of 10 your bank and billers make this really easy to do online.
Accounts to setup auto-pay on:
- Mortgage/Rent
- Utilities (electric, gas, water, etc)
- Insurance policies
- Credit cards (minimum payment)
- Streaming services and subscriptions
While you’re at it, enable transaction alerts for all bank accounts and credit cards. You’ll be notified of any suspicious activity immediately. Even if you’re on the other side of the world.
Can you set this all up? Yep. Should you? Absolutely. It’ll take you about an hour. But that hour can save you days of headaches when you get back.
Locking Down Security Systems Before Leaving
An unoccupied house is a target. Physically and digitally.
First, the obvious stuff:
- Use smart plugs and light timers to make it appear like someone’s home
- Pause paper newspaper delivery and other home delivery services
- Ask a neighbor to park in your driveway once in a while
- Double check all doors and windows are locked
Smart home cameras and doorbell cameras are highly recommended for extended trips away. They connect directly to a phone so the property can be monitored from anywhere on the trip.
Ok, now the less obvious stuff. Adjust your thermostat so your home isn’t cooking itself while you’re gone. If you’re going to be gone for multiple months, shut your home’s main water valve off. You don’t want to come home to mega water bills from a dripping faucet.
Who to Contact Before Leaving on An Extended Family Getaway
Last but not least, who are the key contacts to loop in before the trip?
Neighbor or house-sitter. If there’s someone checking-in on your home while you’re gone, give them a spare key and walk-through. They’ll appreciate being properly briefed.
People and services to contact before leaving on vacation:
- Neighbour / house sitter. Someone who can stop by every other day to check on the house.
- Non-emergency police line. Many police departments have a vacation watch program.
- Property manager if renting out your home
- Home insurance provider. Double check you’re covered during an extended vacation
- Your bank. Let them know you’ll be traveling internationally and avoid frozen bank cards.
Last Stop: Before the Suitcase Before Leaving
Vacations are what you make of them. Spending a little time planning for what’s at home will let you relax and enjoy every minute away.
Before you leave, make sure to:
- Use virtual mailbox services to handle mail while you’re gone.
- Set all bills to automatic payment months before leaving.
- Invest in smart-home technology that you can monitor on your phone
- Contact all relevant service providers beforehand
- Don’t leave clues that your home is empty when you leave
With a little preparation, you can leave home feeling relaxed and ready to enjoy your trip.
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