How and what do you do to prep your house to hit the road? I am more and more excited to take a long road trip. But we have a house, we have cable, we have indoor and outdoor plants, we have a yard, we have mail (lots of mail), we have a pool, we have cars, etc etc.The good news, we live in a moderate climate so no worry about snow or other problems. We also plan to take our longer trips in the fall and spring although down the road, who knows. Do you contact the cable folks and have it turned off? Do you hire a service? What do you do at home?Some things will be the same as leaving for a week on vacation, I'm starting a list, but I'm afraid we will miss something very obvious as we pull out of the driveway. ;)

What do you consider a 'long' trip?What time of year?

For us a long trip will be 6 weeks plus. Our first will be in the fall leaving September or October.

Find a neighbor to water your inside plants. Hire a service to mow the grass. Turn off the water heater, lock the door and go. Get the kids to pick jp the mail qnd sort it. Give them a call every couple of weeks for a list of bills dueand pay them online. Either that or set them all up online.

Here is our prep:Turn on alarm with online access and text alerts.Set thermostat to desired temp for the season to reduce costs.Turn off water and water heater.Set up as many bills as possible to pay online.Have yard mowing service.Have relative or neighbor check house and pick up mail.We do not turn off cable or other services. Haven't really thought about it.One thing we hate is on Springtime trips, we come back to a yard full of weeds so it would be nice if the lawn service took care of that.Plants will also be dead unless someone waters them.

Most importantly is to turn off the water to the house AND turn off the water heater! We have a lockable mailbox and a neighbor with a key that checks on bills we have to pay and emails us the results.

Preparing to hit the road | Good Sam Community

georgelesley
Explorer
Apr 05, 2014
Good advice above. We also turn off the water and water heater. sometimes suspend tv service on longer trips, put all bills on autopay and make sure the amount is above what the bill will be. A help is to put utilities that vary on a 12 month even amount that most utilities offer.
Dick_B
Explorer
Apr 05, 2014
Most importantly is to turn off the water to the house AND turn off the water heater! We have a lockable mailbox and a neighbor with a key that checks on bills we have to pay and emails us the results.
dan-nickie
Explorer
Apr 05, 2014
Here is our prep:

Turn on alarm with online access and text alerts.
Set thermostat to desired temp for the season to reduce costs.
Turn off water and water heater.
Set up as many bills as possible to pay online.
Have yard mowing service.
Have relative or neighbor check house and pick up mail.

We do not turn off cable or other services. Haven't really thought about it.

One thing we hate is on Springtime trips, we come back to a yard full of weeds so it would be nice if the lawn service took care of that.
Plants will also be dead unless someone waters them.
donn0128
Explorer II
Apr 05, 2014
Find a neighbor to water your inside plants. Hire a service to mow the grass. Turn off the water heater, lock the door and go. Get the kids to pick jp the mail qnd sort it. Give them a call every couple of weeks for a list of bills dueand pay them online. Either that or set them all up online.
charming
Explorer
Apr 05, 2014
For us a long trip will be 6 weeks plus. Our first will be in the fall leaving September or October.
dan-nickie
Explorer
Apr 05, 2014
What do you consider a 'long' trip?
What time of year?

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