Forwarding Mail/Snowbird

I can't imagine having to design a trip around the location of post offices.

This may not work for some but we tell the post office to hold our mail. We pay bills on line and don't worry about the mail. We are never gone for more then 3 months. When we "get away" we are gone, and there isn't much in the mail except bills anyway.

I use Escapees Mail Service, when on the road I have the USPS temporarily forward all mail from my house to them, and call Escapees when ever and where ever I want my mail sent. Works great and doesn't inconvenience anyone.

USPS temp change of address been using it for 10 years and never a problem. One has to read and understand how to use the service .Once you understand how it works there will be no problem.

I tired the USPS mail forward to a private mail service once and discovered that they didn't forward the junk mail. That was OK since I also had a neighbor picking up anything left in my mailbox at home. BUT I also discovered that some of my bills that were sent FIrst Class didn't get forwarded. It appeared to me that any envelope that had advertising displayed on the outside was not considered First Class and wasn't forwarded.

Also, undoing the mail forward was a real problem when I got home. I was able to convince the mailman who runs my route that I was home, but the USPS had a glitch in their system and for some reason didn't disable the forwarding flag in their automatic sorting equipment.

Here's what I have done the last 2 years while snow birding, and it has worked fine for me.

Called UPS store at my destination a couple weeks before leaving home and setup a mailbox. Can't finalize or pay for it until I arrive and show ID's per law, but I get my box number.

Go online and setup temporary forwarding to UPS Store box # with US Post Office. Make effective date 2 days before leaving to make sure nothing is arriving at home.

Arrive at destination and finalize setting up box with UPS Store. It always takes about 7 days before first mail from home starts arriving.

I should add my CG doesn't accept any mail for campers. I'm lucky because this UPS Store is 5 minutes from my CG. If I recall the total cost for the box was about $120 for 6 months. No cost for US Postal forwarding.

The store accepts packages too big for the box without charge and sends an email.

If you will be moving around it will be a pain.

We just file a temporary forwarding address with the US Post Office. Works like a charm if you are staying in one place.. You can set it up on line and you can change the dates on line if your plans change. Stick with the simple solution. You can do it for up to 6 months.

We have all our mail forward to a family member. We stay in touch by phone and when something important arrives, we have it sent to the CG where we are staying. If this doesn't work for you, there are several mail forwarding services. I am sure someone will list them.