Easy Guide For Holiday Preparation

There always seems to be something that you’ve forgotten or something that plays on your mind the whole time you’re on holiday. Chances are your not going to live a real life home-alone moment where you leave you eight year old to fend for themselves, in reality, it’s probably just going to be something simple like forgetting to book your seats on the plane or forgetting that you checked the back door numerous times before you left. Pre-holiday stress is a real thing, and many of us do forget things because of this reason. 

So, if your flying off somewhere nice soon, have a look at this handy guide to make sure you have everything ticked off. Then all you need to worry about is checking in and starting that holiday feeling! 

Complete Passport Checks

It might seem like something straightforward to include on the list, but it’s at the top for an excellent reason. Issues with passports are one of the most significant mishaps when it comes to a holiday and the more people you have travelling, the more likely you’re to experience difficulties. You should be pulling out your passport as early as when you book the holiday and perform checks such as making sure they are in good condition and date. The last thing you want is to pull it out the day before you fly to find it been out of time for months. Let’s face it; you won’t be getting on that plane if it’s outdated. Bear in mind that there are also some countries that require your passport to be valid for a particular period from your date of arrival. For example, Kenya and Turkey all need a minimum period of six months to be left on your passport from your time of entry, don’t fall into this mistake as your holiday could be over before you know it. Make sure you speak to your travel advisor or do the relevant research yourself.

TOP TIP: Although having passport wallets is excellent and is seen as fashionable. When going through any part of the airport, they won’t accept it in the cover it needs to be removed so they can see the colour and standard of the passport. 

Documents

Even though the world is now moving into a more digital way of travel, there is still documentation that you require for any trip. You should make sure you have things such as: 

• Your boarding pass
• Passport
• Hotel information
• Tickets
• Any transfer information
• Visas 
• Travel insurance documents
• Emergency photocopy of passports or numbers is written down. 

Try putting them all together in a plastic wallet, this way, when you are at each stage of your journey, and you know you have what you need to hand. You could always get a family travel wallet too, which holds your documents and passports altogether. It’s also a good idea to take a list of useful numbers, for example, emergency contact details if your mobile phone or debit or credit card is lost or stolen. 

Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels

Know Your Allowances

There is nothing worse than being stuck behind someone who’s luggage is too heavy, and then they start unpacking it in front of you to try and solve it. Oh wait, there is, and that’s if the person is you! Over-packing and being stuck at the check-in desk with luggage that’s overweight can start your holiday off on the wrong foot. Get some scales at home where you can weigh the contents plus your case to make sure this doesn’t happen to you. If you find yourself in this situation, you’ll either have to try and get rid of some of the weight by putting it into your hand luggage or pay extra (not a great start). If, when packing you decide you are going to need to take additional baggage, pre-book it in online in advance. It will work out much cheaper than paying at the airport. 

TOP TIP: Every airline has different policies regarding luggage, so make sure you familiarise yourself with these. 

Secure Your Home 

You shouldn’t get too worked up about your home security that much that you’re sat in the airport stressing about it being looked after, you need to make sure you have the steps in place for it to be successfully secured. Nothing will bring you back to reality and make your holiday blues kick in like coming home to discover you’ve been broken into. But there are methods of helping prevent it. You could try asking a family member or a trusted neighbour to regularly check on the house and remove any mail from behind your front door and adding light timers around your home can be an excellent deterrent to any potential thieves. Create yourself a checklist and complete it just before you leave to ensure you haven’t missed any doors or windows and the timer has been set. Print two so both you and someone else can check too. 

TOP TIP: Don’t post all over social media that you’re planning a trip, are at the airport or holidays pictures while you are away. This only advertises the fact that your property is empty if you want to show off your holiday, wait until your return home and then post them. 

Photo by Jodie DS from Pexels

Think About Your Pets

Chances are, you’re probably not taking your pets on holiday with you so in that case you need to make sure you have booked the friendliest dog boarding services or comfy cat home for your time away. Think about it being a holiday for them too. You should make sure you find somewhere that you know they will be comfy and well looked after so it’s not something you’re worried about when away. If you have any other kinds of pets such as goldfish or hamsters, then you can often move these to other peoples homes, or particular foods last for a week or two weeks at a time which can be used. Bear in mind though that you need to ensure they have a good water supply, so recruiting your neighbours to help with the care may be a good idea. 

These are just a few things that you should be thinking about before going away on holidays. There are many others. Do you have anything that should be included on this list? Please share them in the comments section below. 

Featured post