So here’s the thing.
You know those moments when you suddenly realize you’ve got 48 hours before you’re heading out the door for a trip? Maybe it’s a last-minute flight deal you couldn’t pass up, or your boss just approved that vacation request you filed three months ago. Whatever it is, you’re leaving. Soon.
And then it hits you – your house isn’t ready.
I’ve been there more times than I want to admit.
Once I literally remembered I hadn’t turned off the water to the washing machine while I was sitting at the airport gate. Not fun.
So over the years, I’ve figured out what actually matters when you’re scrambling to get your home ready before you disappear for a week or more.
This isn’t about being perfect. It’s about being smart with the time you’ve got.
8 Ways To Prep Your Home For A Surprise Getaway During 48 Hours Lockdown
Look, some of these are obvious. But you’d be surprised what slips your mind when you’re excited about a trip and trying to pack at the same time.
I’m going to walk you through what I do every single time now, and honestly? It’s saved me from coming home to disasters more than once.
Shut Off and Secure Your Main Water Supply
This one sounds extreme, right? But hear me out.
A few years back, my neighbor went on a two-week trip to Europe.
Beautiful trip, amazing photos. Came home to a flooded basement because a pipe connection failed while they were gone.
The insurance situation was a nightmare, and their basement was basically ruined.
Now, you don’t necessarily need to shut off your main water line every time you leave for the weekend. But if you’re going to be gone for more than a few days? Yeah, consider it.
Especially if you live in an older house or you’ve had plumbing issues before.
The main shutoff valve is usually near where the water line enters your house – basement, crawl space, or sometimes in a utility closet. Turn it clockwise until it stops. That’s it.
But here’s what a lot of people don’t think about – after you shut off the main, you want to open up a faucet or two to drain any remaining pressure in the lines.
I usually just turn on the kitchen sink for a minute until the water stops flowing.
One more thing. If it’s winter and you’re shutting off the water, you might want to drain your pipes completely or at least make sure your heat is set high enough that nothing freezes.
Frozen pipes are their own special kind of expensive disaster.
Oh, and those washing machine hoses I mentioned? Even if you don’t shut off your main water, flip those little valves behind your washer.
Red one, blue one. Just turn them off. Takes five seconds and could save you from a flooded laundry room.
Unplug Non-Essential Electrical Devices
I used to think this was overkill. Then I looked at my electric bill after a two-week trip where I left everything plugged in and… yeah.
Your TV, computer, coffee maker, toaster, phone chargers – they’re all drawing power even when they’re “off.” It’s called phantom power or vampire power, and it’s real.
Not huge amounts, but it adds up.
Plus, there’s the whole fire safety thing. Unlikely? Sure. But I sleep better on vacation knowing my hair straightener isn’t plugged in at home.
I don’t unplug my fridge obviously, or my modem if I’ve got smart home stuff that needs internet. But pretty much everything else? Pull those plugs.
Takes maybe ten minutes to walk through your house and do this. Totally worth it.
Empty Trash, Perishables, and Food Waste
Oh man. This one.
I once came home from a summer trip to find out I’d left a bag of potatoes in the back of my pantry.
I didn’t know potatoes could smell like that. I really didn’t.
So yeah, go through your fridge first. Anything that’s going to go bad while you’re gone needs to go now. Milk, leftovers, that yogurt that’s already pushing its date, berries, lunch meat.
If you’re not sure, toss it. You don’t want to come home to science experiments.
Here’s a tip though – I always leave something in the freezer that I can heat up when I get back. Because landing late at night after traveling all day and having to figure out dinner? No thanks.
A frozen pizza or some pasta sauce or whatever, just something easy.
If you’re booking a last-minute cruise and won’t be back for a week or more, consider adjusting the fridge temperature or even emptying it completely to save energy.
Some people actually turn their fridge off for long trips, but I’ve never gone that far. Just seems like a hassle to deal with when you get back.
And take out all your trash and recycling before you go. All of it. Even the bathroom trash cans. Trust me on this.
Set Your Thermostat and Ventilation Smartly
So this depends a lot on where you live and what time of year you’re leaving.
I’ve got a smart thermostat now, which honestly is one of the best things I’ve ever bought for my house.
I can set it to eco mode while I’m gone and then turn it back to normal from my phone before I land so the house isn’t freezing or boiling when I walk in.
But if you’ve got a regular thermostat, you still want to adjust it.
Don’t just leave it at your normal temperature – that’s wasting money and energy.
In summer, set it higher. Like 78-80 degrees. Your house will get warm, but nothing’s going to melt.
In winter, don’t turn it off completely because pipes, but you can drop it to maybe 55-60.
Actually, that reminds me – check your insurance policy on this.
Some home insurance policies have requirements about minimum temperatures you need to maintain during winter if you’re away.
Found that out the hard way when I was reading the fine print one time.
Ceiling fans should be off unless you’ve got a reason to keep air moving. And if you’ve got bathroom exhaust fans or anything like that, make sure those aren’t going to run constantly while you’re gone.
Secure Doors, Windows, and Blinds Strategically
Okay, so obviously you’re going to lock your doors. That’s not what I’m talking about.
Go around and check every single door and window.
Including the back door you never use, the garage door, the sliding glass door, that weird basement window. All of them. Locked.
But here’s something I learned from a police officer friend – your blinds and curtains matter too.
If you close everything completely, it screams “nobody’s home.” If you leave everything open, people can see inside and case your place.
So I do a mix. Main floor curtains stay pretty much how they usually are.
Bedroom blinds closed because they usually are anyway. But I don’t make it look like I shut down the house like a fortress.
And this might sound paranoid, but I check the locks on my doors the night before I leave and then again right before we walk out. Because I have absolutely stood in an airport security line trying to remember if I actually locked the back door or just thought about locking it.
Prepare Your Plumbing Fixtures and Drains
This one’s quick but easy to forget.
Go around and flush all your toilets before you leave.
Even the guest bathroom nobody uses.
Stagnant water sitting in toilets for weeks can get gross, and you definitely don’t want any surprises from kids or guests who might’ve used the bathroom and forgotten to flush.
Then run some water through all your drains – sinks, showers, tubs.
This keeps the P-traps filled so you don’t get sewer gas smells coming up through your drains while you’re gone. Just run the water for like 30 seconds in each drain.
Some people pour a little bit of mineral oil into drains they don’t use often before a long trip.
The oil sits on top of the water in the P-trap and slows down evaporation.
I’ve done this for our basement sink that we barely use, but honestly for a week or two trip, just running water through before you leave is probably fine.
Oh, and if you’ve got a garbage disposal, run it before you go to make sure there’s no food stuck in there that’s going to rot and smell up your kitchen.
Inform a Trusted Neighbor or Use Smart Monitoring
This is one of those things where you don’t want to broadcast to everyone that you’re leaving, but you do want at least one person nearby who knows.
I’ve got a neighbor I always text before trips. Just like “Hey, we’re going to be gone from the 15th to the 23rd, just FYI.” They know to keep an eye out, maybe grab a package if one gets delivered, notice if something looks weird.
And I do the same for them when they travel. It’s just smart.
If you don’t have a neighbor you trust like that, there are other options.
Smart doorbells and security cameras are pretty affordable now. You can check on your house from your phone, see who’s coming to your door, even talk to delivery people.
Some people do house sitters, especially for longer trips.
We’ve had friends stay at our place before when we were gone for three weeks. They got a free place to stay, our house wasn’t empty, our plants didn’t die. Win-win.
Just don’t post on social media that you’re leaving until you’re already gone, or better yet, until you’re back.
I know everyone wants to share their excitement about trips, but advertising an empty house is just asking for problems.
Do a 5-Minute Final Walkthrough Checklist
Okay, so it’s the day you’re leaving. Your bags are packed, you’ve done all the big prep stuff. Now you do the final sweep.
I literally have a checklist on my phone now because I got tired of that nagging feeling that I forgot something. Here’s basically what’s on it:
All windows locked? Check. Back door locked? Check. Thermostat adjusted? Check. Fridge cleared out? Check. Trash out? Check. Coffee maker unplugged? Check.
But then there are the little things.
Did I take out the bathroom trash? Did I turn off the ceiling fans? Is there laundry sitting wet in the washing machine that’s going to mildew? Did I leave any candles burning? (This sounds obvious but I’ve almost done it.)
I also do a quick look at the counters and tables to make sure I didn’t leave anything valuable just sitting out in plain view of windows.
Laptops, tablets, jewelry – if I’m not taking it with me, it goes in a drawer or safe or somewhere not visible.
And this last one’s kind of weird, but I take a photo of how I left the place.
Just a few quick shots of the main rooms.
That way if I’m lying on a beach somewhere and can’t remember if I closed the curtains or locked a particular window, I can just look at the photos instead of worrying about it.
The whole walkthrough takes maybe five minutes, but it’s the peace of mind that you actually did everything you meant to do.
Wrap It Up
Look, I’m not going to lie to you – the first few times you do all this before a trip, it feels like a lot. Especially when you’re trying to pack and get to the airport and remember your passport and all of that.
But once you’ve done it a few times? It becomes automatic. And more importantly, you stop coming home to nasty surprises.
Coming home from a trip should be about being tired and happy and maybe a little sad the vacation’s over.
It shouldn’t be about walking into a disaster because you forgot something basic.
And honestly, there’s something really nice about walking back into your house after a week or two away and having it feel… fine.
Not perfect, but fine. No weird smells, no problems, nothing broken or flooded or wrong.
You did the work on the front end, so now you just get to walk in, drop your bags, and collapse into your own bed.
Which is really what coming home is all about anyway.
Safe travels.
