There’s a lot to organize before you go away for a holiday, especially if the holiday is lasting a few weeks, months or even years. It’s easy to forget to take care of the little things and then realise when you’re on the plane that you forgot to do something fairly crucial. As I’ve traveled so often, I kind of have a quick go-to-list of things to organize before I head away. Preparing for travel is important as it will allow you to properly enjoy your trip without worrying, while knowing everything will be OK at home.
1) Organizing Home and Contents Insurance
Anything can happen while you’re away: when I was in India, there was a massive earthquake in my home town that killed a number of people, destroyed houses and cost billions in damages. Thankfully I didn’t have a home base in Christchurch at that stage, so I had nothing to worry about personally but I know a lot of my friends lost a lot of things because they didn’t purchase home and contents insurance. Just because you’re on holiday or traveling the world doesn’t mean you’re invincible from natural disasters, burglaries, or even damage to your property from fire or extreme weather. Give yourself the peace of mind that everything will be properly insured before you step out the door. If you already have home and contents insurance check your payments are all up to date.
2) Make Sure Your Pets are Looked After
There are lots of different options for making sure your pets are properly cared for while you’re lounging on a beautiful beach or exploring an exciting new country. You can ask a neighbor, family member or friend to swing by to tend to your animals. You can ask someone to say in your house and tend to them while you’re away. You can even look at getting a house sitter who will stay in your house and maintain it while you enjoy your holiday, stress free. There are a number of options, but it’s important you get this organized well in advance. For short term trips you can always put your pets into a cattery or kennels, but this can often become quite expensive.
3) Ask Someone to Check Your Mail
I’ve managed to get most of my statements and bills sent to me electronically; it saves paper and means no matter where I am in the world, I can be up-to-date with any bills. That way I rarely come home to a nasty surprise in the form of an overdue bill. Of course, you’ll have to choose someone you trust to check your mail, or alternatively you can get it sent it a mail scanning service that will open, scan and forward your mail to your email.
4) Organize Travel Insurance
Unless you’re traveling within your own country or region, getting travel insurance is absolutely essential. I’ve read way too many horror stories about travelers who have decided to save a few pennies by avoiding travel insurance, only to end up in some foreign hospital with a hospital bill so large it’s disabling. A fellow New Zealander was involved in a motorcycle crash that was not his fault and wound up with a $100,000 medical bill and was being refused treatment because he had no way to pay. When you’re sick, injured or inconvenienced while traveling the last thing you want to have to worry about is how to pay for it. Travel insurance is a safety net that can literally save your life.
These are the top three little things you should always try to mentally make sure are checked off before you go away on a trip. Is there anything else you do before you leave for your trip to make sure everything’s taken care of? Share in the comments below:
