A friend once said, only half-kidding: “I can get ready to leave town, or I can leave town. I cannot do both.”

Ever had that feeling? Like, I’ve finally squeezed an extra pair of shoes in my suitcase, and now you also want me to find a pet sitter and hold the mail?

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We feel your pain (and stress) and can help. Here’s how to seasoned travelers have mastered the pre-travel process so it’s smooth sailing, going and coming. With these things to do before vacation, you’ll have a more relaxed trip and re-entry to real life.

Save Your Energy

One of the last things I like to do before taking off is turn down the water heater and adjust the thermostat: Saving the planet, one BTU at a time. With a smart thermostat, you can reset from the road if you forget before leaving, and later on as well so you can return to a comfy temperature.

A smart thermostat (or good neighbors) can help you avoid wasting money of heat or a/c while you’re away.

If your thermostat isn’t of this ilk, here’s another option: Good neighbors. “Having friends with keys is very helpful, they can turn off the AC or turn on the heat,” says frequent traveler Yael Seligman, who’s based in Burlington, Vermont (note: just be prepared to return the favor when they skip town). “Pets and plants can require local interventions,” she says, which can be invaluable when you’re away for just a couple of nights. On the way inside, neighbors can also scout for errant packages on the front porch.

Seligman keeps her plants alive with glass watering bulbs, which sport tubes that slide into the soil and dribble on demand. Diane Schwartz, another intrepid traveler, takes her plants over to a friend’s house when she is away from her Washington-DC area home for a long stretch. At other times, she ties plastic bags over them to keep in moisture. I like to move my planters away from direct sunlight and position them in my biggest soup pots and roasting pans. Then I practically
drown them.

Keep It Clean

Here’s another of our things to do before vacation: Tidy up, even just a little. If you leave a trail of undone housekeeping, your first night home will make you ache for another night away. “Who wants to come home to a mess—Oh no, now I have to do the laundry?” says Schwartz, who aims to empty the laundry basket and the kitchen sink before she heads off on her travels. I’d be the last to suggest sacrificing a day of vacation to pay for a cleaning service, but it’s an idea. Airbnbs have taught us not only how much cleaning services can cost, but also their magical effect.

Few things are as annoying as coming home to a full laundry basket and sink full of dirty dishes. Do yourself a favor, and wash them before your getaway.

However you go about it, this is the time for whatever you call the opposite of a deep clean. If you can make the time while packing, cleaning off the nightstand, changing the sheets, and fluffing the pillows as if you were competing in a reality show called “Hotel Manager” can make for a pampering return. Bonus points for a foil-wrapped chocolate by the bed.

Do a Bit of Desk Work

A neat workspace may not be at the top of your bucket list, but “it’s nice to come home to a clean desk,” says Seligman, who also aims to sort through mail and check for deadlines on bills and tax payments. Schwartz schedules payments to credit card companies while she’s away and (smart girl!) during the week she returns. Because few things are as big a vacation buzzkill as getting an email or text notification that your credit card bill is now past due.

Pay any upcoming credit card or tax bills before leaving on your travels to remove a layer of anxiety (and potential late fees) from your plate.

While you’re at it, hold that mail (USPS typically lets you put in a request for this online), and see if you can suspend your gym membership to save a bit of cash.

Put on a Good Front

As noted earlier, neighbors can watch the front stoop for packages, but maybe, also give up online shopping at least two weeks before departure, Schwartz advises. Her occasional traveling partner Susan Baldwin, who lives in Massachusetts, says, “Stop any newspaper delivery (if you still get your news that way), so you don’t broadcast your absence. “And there’s nothing like an unplowed sidewalk to let thieves know you aren’t at home,” she continues. So you might want to arrange with your usual go-to plow person to take care of your property if there’s snowfall while you’re away. And you will be grateful for a plowing service post-blizzard, she points out, because now you can get the car in the driveway when you return home.

Food for Thought

Now, the last of our things to do before vacation: A little TLC in the kitchen can pay off later. “Sort out the contents of the fridge and give away or freeze perishables,” says Seligman. Dump that about-to-expire yogurt and any limp produce into the compost heap, and put the empty yogurt container in the recyclables bin. Chuck any remnants. “A fruit fly invasion 20 years ago has me triple-checking for runaway grapes before I leave,” says Baldwin, who highly recommends an empty fruit bowl. No one wants to return home from a glorious vacation to a kitchen that resembles a middle-school science experiment.

Rid the fridge of leftovers, but do make sure you’re well-stocked with coffee and perhaps shelf-stable milk for your return.

Now prep for your return. No fresh fruit, of course, but make sure there’s plenty of coffee and whatever you like in it. Ultra-pasteurized milk often endures for weeks, especially when the fridge stays shut and you stash the milk in the coldest spot (against the back wall, for example). Or see if your grocery store stocks shelf-stable milk, which you can keep on hand for months and crack open the morning after your return.

Returning late in the day? The last thing you will want to do is a grocery shop and cook dear tired traveler, and by now you are likely over your love affair with restaurants (though it was fun while it lasted, right?). What you want is comfort food, the tastier and faster the better. So before you leave, think about freezing some yummy leftovers or grazing the frozen foods department at a specialty grocery store for guilty treats like lasagna. ugTrader Joe’s, for one, offers exotic items like butter chicken, requiring only the push of a microwave button. I like to stock up on Asian dumplings and pot stickers because they cook up in a frying pan faster than I can make a drink and check my email.

Ah! Home, sweet home. Your re-entry will be that much more welcoming with these moves.