Vacation Checklist

How to Put Together a Vacation Checklist

When it is time to finally leave on your dream vacation, you will want to be sure you are as prepared as possible, and one method of doing this is to put together a vacation checklist. Having your hotel and airline reservations in place is only a small part of being ready for your dream vacation. If you should forget to bring something, or forget to take care of something at home, it could ruin your trip in a big way.

Imagine arriving the first night, exhausted from your flight, you fall into bed, but you wake up in the middle of the night anxious that you forgot to lock a door or turn off the coffee pot. The best way to avoid these types of problems is to make sure that you have a vacation checklist.

Part of the fun of going on vacation is planning your vacation, including researching your destination and making reservation. While you are doing all of this, make sure you have created a vacation checklist too.

If you are going to be traveling to an international destination, you will need to ensure that you have all of the proper documentation prior to your departure. This may include certified birth certificates, visas and passports. You will also want to check and see if there will be any immunizations required to travel to your destination. If you are taking a child with you, it may be necessary to get a notarized letter from the other parent that gives you permission to travel with the child, if that parent will not also be traveling with you.

Arrange for someone to care for your pets while you are gone. This may include a pet boarder, or someone coming by frequently to look in on your pets, as well as give them food and water.

You will also need a house sitter; this will include having someone come to your home to mow and water your lawn. You will also want them to water your houseplants, as well as bring in your newspaper and mail. Be sure that you give your house sitter emergency contact information so that they can get in touch with you if something goes wrong; they will also need a key to your house. If you cannot get someone to pickup your mail and newspaper, you will at least want to contact the paper carrier and post office to put a temporary stop on delivery. This will also include any milk delivery that you might have coming to your house.

Prior to leaving on your trip you’ll want to add new clothing and shoes to your vacation checklist. If you do buy new shoes, make sure that you wear them for a couple of weeks before your vacation so that you can break them in; there is nothing worse then being on vacation and having sore feet because your shoes don’t fit as well as you thought they did.

Another important thing to add to your vacation checklist is insurance; you will want to purchase some vacation insurance before you leave. You will also need to find out if your health insurance will cover any medical problems that you might encounter while you are away.

If you are taking a road trip, ensure that your car is in good working order. If you are flying, arrange travel to the airport.

Only take the number of credit cards that you will need. You will also want to carry a small amount of cash, but to be on the safe side make sure that a lot of the money you need will be in traveler’s checks.

Research the weather in the location you are traveling to, and pack accordingly.

Clean out your refrigerator of any items that will go bad.

Just before you walk out the door, double check all doors, windows, and appliances, plus you will want to turn on your home alarm system. To ensure that you don’t miss anything, add each of these to your vacation checklist and have it in hand as you are checking them.