Have you ever been out and away from home and think to yourself, “Did I remember to lock the back door?” or, “Did I feed the dogs?” I know for a fact that this has happened to me multiple times in one day. What you don’t want is to have one of these types of questions when you won’t be able to fix it until you get home from a whole week of vacation. Vacation time is one of the best times of the year, but if you forget to do some pretty important tasks before leaving, you could end up coming back home with a stressful load of work. Here is a checklist to look at that can help you enjoy your vacation free from the stressful distraction or worrying if you forgot to do something before you left.

• Throw away all the garbage you have in the house. Food can really stink up a place after a long time of just sitting around.
• If You have an alarm company, let them know you will be gone.
• If you are traveling via airplane, make sure to check in online. If you would rather have your ticket on paper rather than on your phone, make sure to print it out as well.
• Confirming hotel reservations before you leave can save some time after your flight.
• You should ask one of your neighbors to pick up your newspaper for you while you are gone. Nothing says “Come rob my house” like a mountain of newspapers.
• Pay any bills that have a deadline when you will be away
• Put some lamps on a timer that will turn the lamp on and off to make it look like someone is still living there.
• Set up an automatic email response that will let anyone who emails you know that you will get back to them after you get back from your vacation. Because who wants to Respond to emails when they are trying to get away from work?!
• If you have pets, arrange for someone to look after your animals while you are gone.
• Download and music, movies, or books you want to have while you are traveling
• Get your laundry done and change your bed sheets because there is nothing like coming home and laying in a clean and refreshing bed. You will thank yourself later.
• Double check you have your Wallet, Phone, and ID.

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2015/06/11/39-things-to-do-before-leaving-on-vacation-a-handy-dandy-checklist/ was used as a reference