It’s always nice to return home from a long trip. To be surrounded by your things, the smell of your house, and your own pillow (I always miss my pillow most).
But there’s one way you can make the return home even sweeter.
If you’re going out of town for the holidays or a vacation this winter, you must add this to your pre-travel checklist…
I discovered this accidentally, but plan to add it to make it a pre-travel ritual from now on.
I didn’t even realize the full power of what I had done until I was taking a shower the night we got home. Then I realized this is the best way to come home.
Do This Before You Leave and You’ll Thank Yourself When You Get Home
We drove over 2,000 miles round trip last week to visit my in-laws in Dallas for Thanksgiving. We spent 5 days in Dallas with 2 days driving on each end for a total of 9 days away from home.
Although we were exhausted at the end of a long rainy drive, it felt amazing to be home. I missed my bed, my puppy, and my own space.
But this one thing I did before we left that made our homecoming the best…
I deep cleaned the house the day before we left.
I know, it sounds crazy to add more tasks (especially chores) to your to do list before heading out of town, but it’s so worth it when you come home.
I discovered this accidentally, because I wasn’t cleaning for us. It turns out we had my sister stay at the house while we were gone to puppy sit. Since our pup kennels in our room at night, it made sense for my sister to sleep in our room. Wanting her to be comfortable, I deep cleaned our master suite. Everything from raking the carpet to scrubbing the shower to fresh bedding (I even washed our gorgeous washable duvet cover).
How I Snuck in Extra Cleaning Time the Day Before the Trip
Now, don’t let the idea of deep cleaning scare you. I actually squeezed in 60 minutes of cleaning on our last day in town while I was still working and packing for four people. I did it using my favorite cleaning strategy , the Pomodoro Cleaning Technique. It was easy to get the house sparkling before we left.
And because I have an amazing sister and houseguest, she washed all the sheets and towels and remade the bed the morning of our return.
So we came home to an impeccably clean house which made it even nicer to be home.
Keep the Vacation Relaxation Feeling After You Get Home
Without my sister puppy sitting, I don’t think I would have discovered this amazing homecoming secret. I usually leave everything a mess to deal with when we get back. No more. Who wants to come home from vacation only to have to clean the house?!
It was so lovely to hop in the shower after the long drive and to feel totally relaxed. When I cleaned the shower before the trip, I purged all the empty product bottles, half used soaps, and replaced the loofahs.
When I took my OMG-I-can’t-wait-to-shower-in-my-own-shower shower it was very zen and I felt like I was still on vacation. I was NOT making a mental to do list of all the cleaning I needed to do around the house. It was already done.
Now I plan to deep clean before every trip even if I don’t have someone staying at the house.
Do you have any pre-travel secrets that make coming home after a long trip better? Please tell me in the comments below. We’re planning to travel more this year and I want to find all the tricks to make the return home as smooth as possible.
If we go out of town for a few hrs.I do this and it sure makes you feel good to get back from a day trip.
My mom made us clean the house pre-vacation when I was a kid, and when I became an adult I totally *got* it. It’s so nice to come home (usually tired) and have a clean house. I also make sure there are ingredients to make a pantry meal so we don’t have to shop immediately.
Oooh love that…a pantry meal at the ready or something ready to go from the freezer. Thanks for the tip.
I have always cleaned before we travel even though my kids grumbled loudly because I made them help! Things have changed at my house, I a new empty nester, and my work hours have increased. So because of circumstances I did not clean before leaving for our Thanksgiving trip. On our way home I literally said to my husband how much I was dreading going home because I knew how dirty the house was! I highly recommend cleaning before you leave – it make coming home so much nicer!
Dawn, Oh no. I hope you recover quickly and get back into your normal routine post vacation.
That’s very clever idea to clean and organize everything in order before travelling. Then you easily return to your everyday life. Thank you very much for your helpful tips.
Love this! I usually try not to leave too much mess to face in the kitchen and my bedroom, but deep cleaning would be a plus!!! On the other hand, walking into a messy house after vacation gives me a huge urge to purge!!!
It’s no brainier! I do clean the house first before I go on vacation. I don’t want to see the house dirty when I come back. ;)
And also, I’ll make sure that the windows, doors and garage door are all lock up.
I try to get ready little by little so everything went well without hurry.