33 Things To Do The Day Before You Travel

27/4/2023

Going on vacation? This 33-point check list will make sure you get out the door with everything you need (including your sanity). Your to-do list has never been easier!

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Vanessa wears a blue tank top and poses with a blue backpack

Vanessa and Ryan take a selfie in their white home kitchen.

Oliver the dog sits on the green grass with a grey house and fence in the background

Travelers look at a giant departures board in Paris airport.

A long time ago, I saw a funny quip online that said something to the effect of how if you wanted to see someone get six months’ worth of chores done in a day, check them out the day before they leave for vacation and, let me tell ya, I felt seen.

I’m aware that there is absolutely no reason I need to wash the guest room curtains before we leave for a week of camping. I understand that all those platitudes about how “it feels so good to come home to a clean house” come from the cesspool which is productivity culture and patriarchal expectations. Yet I know, deep within my heart, that if anything horrible happened to me when I was on the road and the team from Criminal Minds came to my home to investigate my life to see what kind of person the unsub was targeting, I would die a second, more painful death when they concluded: “Clearly this serial killer was targeting slovenly women who dare to leave their house without tackling the basket of unmatched socks in the laundry room.”

As such, it goes without saying that the day before you leave for vacation is THE DAY in which you need to get every single thing you’ve ever needed, wanted, or considered for your life in order. As if you were going to leave for Florida without alphabetizing your spice drawer. Like you were really going on a summer road trip without finally steam-cleaning those weird spots on your carpet. Sure, that bag of clothing for the donation centre has been rolling around in your trunk for six months but are you really going to ignore it for an extra ten days while you're in Cleveland? I didn't think so.

The day before you leave for vacation should be your life’s busiest, most productive, most incredible list-checking day. It needs to render you so exhausted that anything else feels restorative, even being trapped for ten hours in the middle seat with a screaming toddler kicking your kidneys. See, your front hall closet is organized AND you're grateful for a $6 cup of instant coffee from a machine in Terminal F.

However if for any reason you can’t quite commit to that, here is a list of the most important tasks to get done when there are 24 hours or less to go.

House Prep

Assorted groceries and fresh produce sit on a white kitchen counter in the sun.

A take out pizza sits on a kitchen counter

A colourful pile of tangled laundry sits on a bed.

Ryan organizes containers of soup in the kitchen.

Throw on a load of laundry. Repeat. I’m putting this at the beginning because this is a chore that takes some time and you DO NOT want to be sorting this out late at night.
Make up your bed with fresh sheets.

Run the dishwasher and throw in all the things that don’t need to be washed every single day but would be really yucky if you let them sit around while you’re gone (like the coffee cup in your office, the toothbrush holder, the dog’s water bowl.) Throw a generous handful of baking soda in the dishwasher and set that sucker for the longest cycle and you’ll freshen up the interior while you’re at it. (Don’t have a dishwasher? Put things to soak in the sink, go do another chore, and then return when it’s easy to wash stuff. Repeat. Finish up with a baking soda scrub to the sink, followed by a vinegar rinse. Good stuff).
Do a 30 minute, rapid-fire scrub of the most important things in your home. Dump some cleansers on your toilet, sink, and counters while you run the vacuum and then quickly wipe everything clean.
Water all your plants. If you’re anything like me, do this with a towel in hand because I always think I can give them an extra big drink without overflowing the dish and I am always wrong.
Scrub out the fridge. No one wants to come home to two-week-old cucumbers. Freeze, gift to friends, or add it to your compost. Bonus: You’ll probably discover some perfectly good things that will be delightful to have on hand when you get home, like jams and sauces to perk up otherwise basic meals. While you’re at it, throw some granola bars and trail mix in your day bag.
Speaking of which… take out all the garbage, recycling, and counter-compost. Connect with a neighbour to have them put it out on your behalf. Tidy up loose ends around your house, like the sweater on your balcony, the bike beside the garage, or the random toys in the backyard.
Walk around the house and unplug all unnecessary appliances and accessories. They can suck up “vampire energy” even when not used. Why pay for power supplied to your printer or guest room lamp while you’re away?
While you’re at it, program your thermostat to work less while you’re away (or, if you’re like me and programming the thermostat remains an utterly elusive goal, stick a post-it note on your door to manually turn it down just before leaving the house).

Transportation Prep

Various people walk through a concourse in Ottawa's airport.

Rows of empty black seats in an airport terminal

Looking out our car's front window and seeing other cars.

Vanessa takes a photo by a black car in the Swedish countryside

Vanessa wears a black shirt and looks at the terminal in Vancouver Airport

Check-in for your flight and print out your boarding pass, along with any other relevant tickets, reservations, and confirmation. With ten-plus years of travel writing under my belt, I can tell you that it’s wise to never assume your phone will have power or internet access – or that the car rental company’s reservation system won’t be down.
Book your transportation to the airport.
If you’re driving, take 30 minutes and give your car a mini-scrub out. I know, I know, your efforts will be destroyed as soon as you hit the highway. But you will feel SO MUCH BETTER if you clean out the garbage, wipe down the dash, console, cup holders, and seats, and declutter the glovebox and door caddies. Fill it up with gas, get the cheapie car wash, and ensure your emergency kit is in your trunk and has all its components.

Paperwork Prep

A Canadian passport and an open passport showing travel visas

Ryan holds his passport and a boarding pass for Ethiopian Air

Ryan and Vanessa take a selfie in a travel clinic and hold boxes of medication

Give a copy of your itinerary, as well as a copy of your passport, to a trusted friend. Bonus: If you lose your passport, you will have a copy in your inbox.
If you made that copy of your passport on your home office printer/scanner, REMOVE YOUR PASSPORT FROM THE SCANNING TRAY. I’m telling you, this is how endless passports get “lost.”
Be mindful of mail. You don’t want deliveries and newspapers stacking up on the front porch, advertising your absence. You don’t want to be late paying an important bill. If you’re gone for over a week, arrange for someone to pick up your parcels (and top up the water on your plants!). Consider pre-paying sensitive bills in advance if you don’t have e-delivery.
Travelling with medication? Either bring a copy of your prescription or transport it in its original container from the pharmacy.
Clean the crap out of your wallet. No need to lug your cafe loyalty card to Berlin.
Set a vacation message on your work email. You are going on vacation and to hell with Frank in accounting and all his “emergencies” that could have been brought up at the staff meeting two weeks ago.
Don’t, however, share your vacation plans on Facebook. This isn’t because of any security concerns. You don’t have time to be on social media right now. Hello, it’s the day before vacation! Don’t you have a roof to reshingle or a garden to plant or something?

Financial prep

Nikon camera sits on top of a pile of foreign currency.

Go to the ATM and get a small amount of cash. The world has cash-only spots where you least expect it. While you’re there, grab an extra $40 and stash it in your kitchen so you can order a guilt-free pizza for your first night back at home.
If you need foreign currency, get some now. Your bank might have more currency options than you think. Most malls have a tiny currency exchange office in an inconspicuous spot. See if your airport is one of the many which has a currency exchange counter where you can pre-order your bills at an advantageous rate.
Most credit card companies will tell you that, thanks to their super modern technology and state-of-the-art fancy programming, there’s no need to call them up and share that you’ll be out of the country. Ha! I cannot begin to tell you how many times my credit card has been shut down for a very legitimate transaction (even when I’m within my own country but just a different province) while things that are super-scammy have been caught by me and me alone (who, exactly, charges $600 at a taco shop? Someone who is buying three tacos and getting $579 in cash back to check if your stolen card works, that’s who. If I could figure this out, why can’t Visa?)
That said – I rarely call to tell them I’m travelling because life just gets too crazy. I do, however, have more than one credit card. Make sure you have a plan A and a plan B while you’re on the road.

While we’re on the subject of money, I have to give a plug to my FREE comprehensive travel budget template. Download it. Use it. Love it.

Packing Prep

Vanessa sits in an airport wearing a pink sweater with dark backpacks beside her

A photo of dusk of Vanessa working in a dark hotel room with packing things on the bed.

Vanessa wears a black backpack and orange shirt

A bed covered with packing supplies like suitcases and shirts

Charge all electronics. That means plugging in your camera batteries, the power pack from your suitcase, and things that seldom run low but always seem to have no juice once you enter the airport (looking at you, Kindle). Don't forget the flashlight in your car's emergency kit if you're road tripping.
Empty all the little hidden nooks and pockets in your suitcase and day bag. Look, I’m not saying a friend of mine accidentally transported lettuce seeds from Canada to Australia because her day bag doubled as a gardening bag back home but if that did happen, she might have panic-eaten the seeds (!!!) while standing in the customs line rather than risk running afoul of Australia’s notoriously strict agricultural scanners.
Double-check the weather at your destination. That way, whether you need a heavy sweater or light sandals, you can adjust your bag so they’re within easy reach when you land.
Grab a photo of the interior and exterior of your luggage. Put a luggage tag on the inside as well as the outside. I’m telling you, you will NOT remember whether your suitcase has navy or brown trim after a 12-hour flight and 45 minutes at the lost luggage counter.
Weigh that bag. Give yourself a pound or two of wiggle room because who can say how accurate your scale at home is versus the one at the airport.
If you're going by car, throw a sturdy tote bag or two by the front door. Car trips have a way of accumulating loads of odds and ends and it's nice to have a system for corralling them.

30 minutes before you head out the door...

Death Valley national park road at sunset.

Double-check that you have packed your most likely-to-be-forgotten last-minute things, like medication, contact solution, and favourite lipstick. Do you have all the electronics that you were charging? The shirt you hung to dry? The papers you were printing?
Crack the dishwasher (otherwise it will smell musty when you get home), grab your travel snacks from the fridge, and rinse the coffee maker.
Do a sanity check. Walk through your house. The oven is off. Grandpa has his dentures. The windows are closed.
Turn off all but one or two lights and close the drapes most of the way. Turn down that thermostat if needed.