So you’re preparing to go on a vacation. Clothes are scattered everywhere on the floor, you struggle to find your passport and you’re having second thoughts about whether to get that extra pair of shoes or not. You’re looking forward to your trip and the last thing on your mind is doing your household chores. It doesn’t matter if you do them before or after your vacation, right? Wrong. Let’s see why.
There’s nothing better than going on a vacation, we can agree on that. You unwind from work, everyday stress and you can finally get those eight hours of sleep. You can nap whenever you want (unless you’re going hiking of course). You’ll go about your day without worrying what’s for dinner and who’s going to do the dishes. But time passes and you have to get back home. You don’t want to. Understandable, you had so much fun (hopefully) and you’re overwhelmed with emotions from the new experience.
So here comes the dreaded end of the trip. Getting back home from a vacation might be something you’re not looking forward to if you’ve left some chores for after the trip. You can make returning to your place way more pleasant if you get all your household tasks done before your vacation. I’ll be thankful to yourself later.
Wash the dishes.
Scrub off hardened dry food off plates isn’t exactly the most pleasant thing you could do. Leaving plates with leftovers can attract pests. Go around your house and collect everything that has been used – cups, plates, everything. Wash them by hand or load your dishwasher and run it. It would be nice if you make time to unload it before you go. But you can also leave the dishes in and deal with them after you come back.
Empty your fridge from everything that might get spoiled.
Make sure there’s nothing opened in your fridge that might get spoiled. Eat the cooked food, feed it to the dog or just throw it out. Spoiled food can make your whole fridge stink and this opens up more work for you. You can put some of the things in the fridge to save them for when you come back. Keep in mind it won’t work for everything.
Take out the trash.
I guess you don’t want to come back home to a cockroach infestation. One way to prevent it is to take all of the trash out before you leave. Go around the house and collect it. You might want to wait to take it out just before you leave because there’s always this one last little thing that needs to go in the trash. Prepare your garbage near the door so you don’t forget it. It’s not worth risking leaving it in, especially if there’s organic trash in there.
Get all the laundry done.
After your trip, you’ll have a whole suitcase full of clothes that need a wash. Probably, they’re the ones you wear the most. If you don’t want to end up without anything to wear – again, go around your house, collect all used clothes and get them in your washing machine. Don’t load your laundry without washing it! It’ll make your washer stink and that’s a whole another ordeal to deal with. Don’t get yourself into this. Another thing that can make the washer stink is leaving the washed clothes in it. That’s how you get a mouldy washer. So make sure you get out your clothes to dry them.
Change the sheets.
There’s nothing. Nothing. More pleasant than taking a shower after a long trip and laying in your crisp and clean bed sheets. Even the smell of them can make you fall asleep faster. Changing the sheets might be a chore in your book but your future self will be thankful you did it on time. You can go straight to bed after a quick shower when you come back home.
Dust and vacuum.
But won’t the shelves collect dust during the time you’re away? You’ll get surprised by how little dust there is if nobody’s at home. That’s because most of it is actually dead human skin (I know, gross).
Wash the floor.
If you want to get a little extra, you can wash the floor. You might skip this step if your neighbourhood is generally clean or if the weather outside is good. But if there are possible drink spills or food splashes – go ahead and do it. It prevents cockroaches and ants infest your home.
All-in-all the cleaner your home is, the better you’ll feel when you come back. If you really aren’t this type of person or is you really can’t find time for this, you can hire a housemaid to clean your home. It’s the best take busy people get. Harmony, peace and a rested mind is the perfect combination. Good luck and have fun on this trip!