What’s that feeling when you’re driving away from people and they recede on the plain until you see their specks dispersing? It’s the too-huge world vaulting us, and it’s goodbye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies.
-Jack Kerouac, On the Road
There is no truer feeling than being able to just get up and go. Unfortunately for Keruoac, the act of leaving was the very thing trapping him in. He had to go for there was nothing satisfying in where he had been. Then emptiness would set in and he would vault himself to the next destination. For those who don’t leave it all behind, traveling becomes this sort of gratifying second job. I can’t just up and leave my students. My husband refuses to leave a job unfinished. We prepare for our travels. We wrap up all deadlines, prepare the substitute teacher, and let friends, families and coworkers know in advance of our impending adventures.
Travel is more than just the recession of people in the distance. It is the planning beforehand that helps us appreciate every vault we take and every speck that waves us goodbye.
A Clean House
Jetlag is much easier to handle when a house is clean. I swear by this. Returning to a home that smells like a stuffy fart is not a pleasant way to end a vacation. But, coming home to no chores and being able to rest is a great feeling. Our home also smells a lot nicer; kind of like a mix of Febreeze, Jasmine flowers and the soft scent of down pillows.
Hold Mail Service
We put a vacation hold on our mail, which is probably the second best service USPS provides (right after Priority Mail, I mean come on, free boxes are awesome).
Bills
There’s a lot of peace of mind in paying the rent or mortgage before heading off on a trip.We also pay the utilities so we don’t end up coming back to a dark house with an unflushable toilet.
PDFs
We scan our passports, credit cards and IDs and email it to ourselves just in case the real ones get lost or stolen. This has not happened yet on our travels because countries are relatively safe. But, it’s nice to have these for faster replacement just in case.
Packing
Packing doesn’t take weeks for us. Instead, we have several packing lists (in the Kayak Pro app) for different travel occasions. It takes a couple of hours the night before and we’re done. Coordinating outfits that can be mixed and matched a few times before hand washing reduces the amount of clothes we bring. We also try not to pack white clothing because those can get dingy.
Dog-sitter
Yup, we have to find a dog-sitter, preferably someone who likes this guy:
RupertBut, he’s easy to love and is practically catatonic. Rupert doesn’t fetch, barely plays and won’t chew on a squeaky toy since the Great Squeak Toy Vomit incident of 2010 (swallowed an entire squeaky teddy bear and squeak-burped until it all came up).
The hardest part of saying goodbye is seeing Rupert in every other other animal we see on our travels. Like that time we saw a stingray at the SEA Aquarium and said: “awww, he looks just like Rupert!” I’d imagine Rupert would be slippery to hug if he looked like a stingray.
Family
Our family and friends often ask about our plans. My grandma will write down our exact daily itinerary so we can talk about it when we return (Grandmas are great!). Talking to our loved ones about our trip is useful just in case something does happen abroad.
Light Timer
We set a light timer to turn on/off nightly within a range of time which gives the illusion that someone is home. A timer helps save money and electricity. It also helps us feel a little safer about leaving our home uninhabited while on our trips.
Automatic Plant Feeder
Frank sets up the automatic plant watering system for his bonsais so they stay healthy while we travel.
Financial Institution
We call our banks and credit card companies to let them know about our impending travels.
Refrigerator Prep
Any perishable food gets eaten before we leave on our trip. Meats, vegetables and fruits –which are also the most expensive grocery store items –are eaten so that nothing is left.
How do you prepare to get the hell out of Dodge?
Subscribe and get new content via email. Join us on our adventures! Go Nuts!
You can also follow this blog on Bloglovin and Facebook!
10 responses