Before you head to the airport don’t forget to....

I shut off the main water valve.

Make a copy of two of back and front of your credit cards and driver's license. Make a copy of the necessary pages in your passport. Call your credit card copy and tell them you will be traveling. Ask for the foreign transaction rate. I typically use my card with the lowest rate, which just happens to be zero. Make sure all your electronics are charged and make sure you have all necessary cords for charging. Stop your mail and papers. Ask a neighbor to watch your house for package deliveries or campaign brochures and any other fliers that might be left at your front door that say, "Rob me, I'm not home."

Ask someone to pick up your mail and water your plants/flowers?
Ensure you're not missing any bill payment dates
Make a photocopy of your passport to make things easier if you lose it
Review your travel insurance

Stop your newspaper; ask a neighbor to watch for packages; ask someone to bring in your mail (or stop your mail). Put some lights on timers. If you will be gone more than two weeks, arrange to have lawn mowed, or other "front yard" care done. Arrange someone to water your plants (inside and out, if necessary). Some folks lower the temp on hot water heater. Leave a copy of your detailed itinerary with hotel contact info, flights, etc. (in case your phone isn't on) with one or two close family members, in case of family emergency.

I have put my bills on autopay so that I don’t need to worry that there will be a bill I forgot to pay before I left home. My mail is delivered to a locked mailbox, which is checked and emptied weekly by my daughter, but I like to know what I’m receiving on a regular basis. So I signed up for informed delivery with the post office. They scan everybody’s first class mail somehow in the regular delivery process. So if you sign up for informed delivery they will send you a daily email with a photo of all the first class mail due to be delivered that day. Helps me keep current in case I forgot to put a bill on autopay.

I unplug my electrical devices and shut off water to the washer. Also make arrangements for lawn care while I’m gone.

Put a hold on mail delivery.
Suspend newspaper delivery (and any other deliveries like meal prep kits and so on).
Contact ALL credit and debit card issuers to let them know where and when I am traveling so they don't cut me off.
Make sure I have lined up lawn care I can trust if I will be gone an extended time.
Make sure no food items are laying around that might go bad during an extended absence: milk, bread, fresh fruit or veggies.
Line up pet care: feeding, walking, emptying the cat box, whatever. Or drop them at the kennel.
Make sure all dirty dishes are at least rinsed and put in the dish washer.
Leave a few lights on.
Turn down the water heater (except in winter).
Unplug all electrical devices I can.
Let a trusted neighbor or friend know I will be gone so they might at least drive by and see if the house still looks intact (especially on long vacations.

Headed out of town? We can hold your mail safely at your local Post Office™ until you return.
Sign up for USPS Hold Mail Service in two simple steps. Schedule Hold Mail Service. You can notify us up to 30 days in advance or as early as the next scheduled delivery day.

USPS Hold Mail Service

I have a list on the dining room table of things I have to do in the morning before I leave (5:45 AM). It is a short list: eyeglasses and eyedrops packed? If winter, water off? Not on list: Watch for taxi. Lock door. Alarm house. Everything else is taken care of and confirmed the day before I leave. All confirmed on my list...

The day before I leave: I reserve a taxi, check in online, clean the bathrooms (I want no strange things growing while I'm gone), set lights to come on and off appropriately, unplug appliances, make sure stove and iron are off (my nightmares), move luggage down stairs, double check to make sure I have Rx meds, PP, CC, ATM card in appropriate purse/PI or clothing so they can't be forgotten (this last I probably check three times during the day even though I have crossed it off of my list already). Take my Emergen-C. Try to sleep...

Although this sounds quite anal, before I leave for any trip a week or longer in length, I always create an Excel spreadsheet, listing all the things I need to do and things I want to bring with me, and check them off, so I know I didn't miss anything. I also put as many of these items in a box where I will be packing to save time, so I won't be rushing at the last minute. I have found over the years, organization is key.

Bets I emailed you our most recent last week before travel list. It’s not too relevant for the general traveler because it involves prep for a sister in law traveling with us, a house sitter for a week and an exchange family with a 3 year old for 2 weeks! What my last thought as we pull away from our neighborhood in the dark each time we fly is “did we put the garage door down?”. We’re usually so excited and distracted that it is a nagging feeling each time. We’ve recently talked about taping into our home’s pay per month “smart system” that allows you to manage your home remotely. Have we come to that?

Include your toothbrush, credit cards from two different firms (no foreign transaction fee versions, of course) and similarly for debit/ATM cards. Relax after boarding your plane, assuming it departs somewhat on time.

Enter your passport and Global Entry/Trusted Traveler numbers on your flight booking if you haven't already.

Do online "check-in" for all flights you can, and print out the boarding "cards". Don't forget many Intra-European airlines let you check-in up to 30 days in advance, so you can do check-in before you leave home. You will need to enter your passport numbers on the website before they will let you check-in.

If you have any "print-at-home" rail tickets, make sure you have printed them out.

Put copies of all the boarding cards and tickets on your phone, so you have a back up "just in case".

Do you have the full address of all your hotels written on paper? Needed to show to a taxi driver (who will not understand your mangled pronunciation), and if asking for directions.

If you have fire sprinklers in your home I highly recommend you DO NOT shut off the main water valve. Any new construction in the past 10-15 years should have this feature.

Put anything expensive in the safe. If you don't have one use the safe deposit box. If you don't have anything of value ignore this.

Make sure your cameras, and other home surveillance systems, are working on the cloud so you can monitor them from elsewhere.

Make sure your phone carrier has you set up for calls where you're going.

Make sure people know your itinerary, but DO NOT post it on Facebook or other social media.

Make sure your insurance companies have you covered where you're traveling.

Important, I am enrolled with the U.S. State Department, SMART traveler program. I enter the requested information to let them know when and where I'll be. I will be emailed any alerts and should something happen, they have a general idea of how to find me.

Lots of good advice here!

We have house sitters when we go for an extended trip (www.TrustedHousesitters.com). Something you have to think about rather in advance, but as the house sitters are relative strangers and do not know our family, I write an email to close family members, (siblings, son) and copy the house sitters. In it, I introduce them to one another and detail our itinerary with lodgings, so if we go incommunicado, there are people who can reach out to one another and try to track us down.

I also email my son with a reminder of who our attorney is, where we have bank and investment accounts, etc. Not to be macabre, but just in case since we will be gone for the better part of two months.

If you leave your pets in someone's care, give them a letter authorizing them to have your pet treated by a veterinarian if needed.

Definitely shut off your water., especially to your washing machine and dishwasher.

Don't forget to....BRING your passport with you! :-)

1)Shut off your water at the main shutoff, not just the HW heater and washer.
2)Turn off power at the meter to stove (2 friends both had ovens that turned themselves on)
3)unplug small appliances like coffee pot
4)set timers on lamps in multiple rooms
5)Set up mail hold at post office
6)Give at least 2 neighbors your emergency numbers and your itinerary (we got a call on day 1 of our road trip that our roof was blowing off in a monsoon storm)
7)Check all the toilets to be sure your hubby flushed, it really stinks if he didn’t
8)Freeze a cup of water, put a quarter on top, put it back in the freezer; check the freezer when you get home; if the quarter sank the power was out and you need to throw out frozen food
9)Set a/c higher or heat lower to save energy
10)Find a babysitter for your houseplants and critters
11)Throw out food in the refrigerator that will spoil.

I think everyone has said it all. Remember to close and lock the door when you walk out (hubby’s cousin left the front door wide open for a week.)

In addition to turning off the water supply at the meter, turn on a faucet or two inside the house to take the pressure of the lines.

Empty the trash. Wash the dirty clothes. Wash the dishes. Make sure that the house is as clean as possible.

Go through the refrig and find all perishables, eat or pitch. If you are gone for more than 2 weeks, dump anything that will mold.

Hmmm, well, lots of stuff has been covered, so I'll add to clean out your purse - if your home purse is your travel purse! If you have a travel purse instead, get it out and start loading it with your travel documents.

-Get a ziplock bag for your purse 3-1-1 if you are not doing carry on. Gather your chapstick/lipstick, hand lotion, eyedrops, etc, and add small toothpaste and travel toothbrush, etc.

-Take out your irrelevant credit and other cards.

-I also add a ziplock bag that I call Jewelry of the Day - into which I load my watch, FitBit, bracelets, belt, anything that might alarm going thru TSA security. I put that in the night before and don't even don that stuff when I get dressed in the AM.

-I also do a big ziplock for my phone, iPad Mini and charger cords. I've had an experience where they needed to be out of my carry-on and just now do this routinely so that everything can stay together.

-Yet another ziplock for snacks as they seem to be testing them now too!

-I guess a ziplock for the zip-locks, hahahaha!!

8)Freeze a cup of water, put a quarter on top, put it back in the freezer; check the freezer when you get home; if the quarter sank the power was out and you need to throw out frozen food

This is excellent!

Great idea, but wouldn't a penny or a nickel be cheaper?

Don't forget to have dreams that you've forgotten to take the dog to the kennel, or can't find the airport, or have lost your husband.

Turn off power to water heater, especially if you turn off the main water valve.

I know this sounds ultra-obvious, but always count your bags at each step of your travels.

We're experienced travelers, but we once went off to the airport minus one piece of luggage. My husband had moved it out of the way and we just didn't see it when we packed the car. Luckily this was one of those times when we were staying overnight at the airport for an early morning flight. We discovered the discrepancy at the airport hotel and had to drive home and retrieve the bag.

Lesson learned!

My husband and I have long checklists of the things that need to be done in the days and weeks before a plane trip. What has tripped us up more than once is the literally "before you head to the airport" stuff. Apparently, for us, nothing is too obvious or unforgettable to forget.

Like, "take the airplane snacks out of the fridge," "wash the breakfast dishes and run the garbage disposal," and at least five times so far "take the darn Swiss army knife out of your pocket."

...have long checklists of the things that need to be done...

We also have a checklist that has been developed over the years. It's on the computer so we just print out a copy for each trip. Changes are made from time to time, but after a while it becomes pretty much "etched in stone". Which is good because I'm not sure what I had for lunch yesterday. It's like a pilots checklist, and so far it's served us well. We do a very similar thing for our packing list.

Thanks Bets for starting this topic, so many great ideas that I can going to borrow. I have only one to add and that is about verifying your seat assignments, especially if you booked them awhile back. Airlines can change planes (happened to us on our last trip to Italy). I would recommend checking a week prior and if they changed the plane and your seats, get it rectified early. Sometimes they change the day prior to the site, so check in as early as possible online so that you can rectify any seat issues.

Have a great trip,
Sandy

Make sure you put your Passport, IDP and all the correct debit and credit cards you will need (e.g. the one's you used to purchase tickets) in your travel wallet (a neck wallet for me).

Put your travel plans/reservations/contact info into your calendar in your smart phone so you know who, what, where without needing any additional paperwork. Take photos of everything in your travel wallet, so you have copies in your phone. Download any apps you may need on your trip while you're at home using your home WiFi.

Don't walk out the door without your wallet and phone.

Other than that, everything else can be worked around relatively easily - including forgetting a bag or something you normally include in it.

I already do a lot of these things; but have also learned a few more here!
I love the coin in the freezer trick.
Thanks everyone!
What a great community. :)
And the last thing is: don't forget to take a deep breath, clear your head, and relax and enjoy your trip!

Great googly moogly, that's a lot of good advice ... but a vacation is definitely in order after that to-do list!

We are leaving for 3.5 weeks (Austria, Germany, Italy) on Sunday and I am glad I came across this thread....I believe I have everything on the posted links covered.

I would suggest that, as much as you want to share your adventure, DO NOT post on social media. Who knows who will see your posts and you are just advertising that you are not home. If you must, at least set private settings so your pictures aren't being shared all over town.

Oh, I did prepare 2 week's worth of meals and popped them in the freezer..... something to eat after the fridge is cleaned out and no hectic trips to the grocery store when I get home!!

Two weeks worth of meals! OMG. You get the organization prize.

And thank you everyone for the lists. You helped me get off my duff and organized. Hope this helps others, too

Just wanted to say thanks for the amazing thread. I'm leaving next week and I think I've got most of this covered, but it's a great reminder to double check everything and there were a couple things I hadn't thought of. I'm at that stage of trip planning where I'm having nightmares about forgetting something/doing something stupid like not taking out the garbage before I leave, so it's fantastic to let all of you travel experts remind me of the things I may have forgotten.

I did have to laugh at "putting the AC at 80" though. I keep mine at 80-82 while I'm at home. No way I'm leaving it that low when I'm gone. :) Definitely a matter of personal preference though, so I'm not judging, it just made me smile.

And Libby I’m a little bit concerned about your 2 weeks of frozen food. Don’t forget to put a frozen container of water in your freezer with a coin on top so you’ll be able to see if your freezer stayed ON during your absence.

Turn off the ice maker, take out the trash, relax. I’m always a ball of nerves till we take off.

Where we live we can notify the police dept. that we will be away, and they will do drive by checks. They also have a form to fill out listing pet sitters, family, etc. that can be expected to be checking on the house. Don't know if this is everywhere.

The comment about "do not post on social media" is really sensible. I have gotten into the habit of posting a trip diary AFTER I return. That way, I can keep friends up to date on travels, but not in a current time, thus not advertising my "missing from home" status.

I’ve nearly forgotten this one before as I’m not taking my wallet with all my cards with me if traveling overseas...

If you’re driving to the airport and parking, take your AAA card with you or have access to your member number. Flat tires, dead batteries. You never know when they’ll strike!

In the week or so before departure I start setting my alarm clock a bit earlier which seems to help lessen fatigue on travel day (early departure from West coast of Canada to Paris) as well as jet leg.

Double check where your pets are.

My husband's son and his family left recently for a 10 day beach vacation. They told us they had left a huge bowl of water and huge bowl of food for the cat. They asked that we look in on the cat halfway through their trip.

We knew they had left in a hurry, a flurry of kids, bags packed at the last minute, etc. So we went over the day after they left. Called kitty, couldn't find kitty. Looked in all the closets (closet doors were all closed.) Found kitty in the back of the walk-in closet, asleep on some shoes.

In their hurry to get to the airport, the family had failed to notice the cat had gone into the closet. I hate to think what would have happened if we had waited 4 more days to check on kitty.

Sounds silly to say, but make sure pets are not trapped in a closet before you leave. Dogs, seems impossible. Cats, very possible they would take a nap in an unexpected location.

If you have a large lower dresser drawer pulled out while packing, it's even possible a cat would go exploring and get in there. Then you might hurriedly close the drawer and leave for two weeks.

A pet sitter who comes occasionally to put out food would never find the cat. They assume the cat is hiding, not trapped somewhere. They assume the cat is somewhere in the house so they don't worry about it.

So do a "pet check" one last time before you leave. Where are they?

Great advice, Rebecca! My cat does tend to hide in unusual places when packing is happening in my house. The dog, not so much-he gives new meaning to the expression "dogging my footsteps".

Oh my word Rebecca! How lucky you all went by to check on things. I had a friend who was moving in to a new house and that evening could not find her cat. She had had a drawer in a bathroom cabinet open to start placing items in when, as best she could figure, the cat jumped in and the motion and weight caused the drawer to close. Yikes - I could see that happening for someone getting ready for a departure as well!

I always stick a note with a list of reminders on (the inside of) my frontdoor like: coffee machine unplugged, gaz off, all windows and doors closed / locked, etc. Reading this list is the last thing I do before closing the door behind me, keep the list for the next trip and add new things if needed.

It always feels good entering a clean house at the end of a trip.

In addition to a copy of my passport I now also make a copy of my driver's license front & back.
Recently heard you also need that if you lose your passport.

Yes, Rebecca, this happened to my neighbor's cat. She asked me to come in and let him out in the morning and in in the evening. I went over on Friday night of the day they left and called and called him, no cat. Finally, I went inside, thinking they may have forgotten to let him out. Well, lo and behold, after looking all through the house upstairs and down, I found him in a bedroom closet. He had been in there all day and just sauntered out as calm and collected as you please! Then the rest of the time, I knew where he was and things went smoothly.

I want to be an empty nester sooo bad...but we always seem to have one of our 5 kids living with us, so going on a trip is no big deal on the home front as someone will be at the house. So for me it is more about a 72 hour countdown, checking in online, make sure we have name tags on our bags (Name, email and cell number only) , printing boarding passes, making meal reservations, doing a "what I needed printed" check" etc. We drive 2 hours to the airport so the day before we make sure the car is gassed up, but not clean on the outside, we don't want it to be the shiny car in the parking structure.

I am a super organized person, lists galore, check and re-check...BUT I always feel like I am missing something and I never am. Just the "going on a trip" jitters/excitement/anticipation/months of planning feeling.

All the above posts are excellent advice and I already do most of the ones that are relevant to me. One thing that I always do, no matter what time I have to leave for the airport, is change the sheets on my bed. I LOVE coming home and getting into my own bed with clean sheets. It's just a nice treat at the end of a long travel day.