Things To Check Before Your Next Trip

Four wheel suitcases on sale at Romanian airport - for a higher price than the plain, boring black ones in UK department stores. But a great choice of colours, handy for identification, and a free travel gift. Photo by Angela Lansbury, 2017. Copyright.

Problem
What must I do before packing and taking a trip? I always forget something. Let's make a list.

Answers
Make two lists. One, top of page for country you are leaving, another on the back or lower half of the page or stapled to the first list for the destination. Then when you return, tick off the items and you know you have not left anything behind.

Stories
What problems have I had in the past?

Lost items In Hotels
One shoe left behind under hotel bed. Toddler's teddy in cot in hotel. Bathrobe left behind bathroom door. Night dress left under pillow.
(We once found somebody else's contraceptive left behind under a pillow in a room with two beds.)

On honeymoon in Moroccco, engagement ring on hotel bedroom basin when I went down to breakfast. I came back and it had gone. I didn't like to accuse bedroom cleaners. When I eventually found the courage and language to tell them the problem, they showed me that they had placed my ring in my bedside table drawer.

Heating at Home
Husband went off on trip. Wife and children do not know how to turn on heating in cold weather or forget and complain of cold house.

The Future
Roll on the day when we will all have smart houses enabling us to turn on the heating on the way home from the airport or station! Singapore has a plan for the whole city to become a smart city. An Exhibiton at a station (and you can look on line) showed me their plans for offices, homes, city garbage collection, everything.

Tips
Place you are leaving (hotel or home)
Pack:
Clothes.
Cosmetics.
Reading matter.
Food and drink (check what's banned on airlines).
Travel with spare underwear and slippers in case shoes break or flight is delayed.
Pack night clothes and swimsuit in overnight or carry on bag in case your luggage (in USA called baggage) is delayed.

Secure House:
Turn heating on or off.
Turn lights on or off.
Check inside cupboards.
Check inside machines (washing machine, dishwasher, microwave).
Check lights and heating are set to come on again on return.
Leave instructions for boilers and heating.
Leave behind spare keys and car keys.
Empty bins.
Water plants or leave outdoors or on balcony or with neighbours.
Or leave plant watering instructions.
Buy or request plants which can survive long periods without watering!

Plants
Water garden plants. Protect fruit trees. Pick fruit.
Fill up plant watering devices to the brim with water. (Stocked at garden centres.)
An improvised plant waterer can be made from a small plastic funnel filled with water in your plant pots.
Alternatively an inverted small plastic water bottle with top removed and bottom cut off for filling.

Leaving hotels
Check the fridge for your leftover food and drink, and pills and perfumes
Check for valuables such as money and passports left in hotel safe in room or at reception.
Leave behind hotel keys.
Check bathroom for drying clothes, bathrobes and night clothes on hook behind door, toothbrush on wash basin, electric toothbrushes and shavers on charge.
Check sockets - no phones left charging by bedside, nor watches beside bed.
No hats and coats in rack hidden behind open door.
Phone for porter to take luggage down.
Pay bills.
Allow time to check restaurant and mini bar checking and charging. Be sure you are not double charged for service by the restaurant plus service again when that charge is added to the hotel charge.
Find out if porterage is included. If not, tip porter.
Return keys.
If possible get a provisional bill the night before leaving.
Check if your deal with the hotel includes the spa and wifi, porterage and parking.

Story - Hotel Extras On Bill
(Our hotel at Brasov in Bucharest charged for parking. It was cheaper to take our friends to the hiking resort than leave the car in the car park.
The hotel had a sign at reception saying porterage was included. We were told that it was an old sign and under new management porterage was not included. It took fifteen minutes and three members of staff and supervisors as we got told, no, yes, no, yes.
Finally our group organiser arrived and we asked him to tell us whether porterage was normally included. He said some items were not included but he had a special deal in which it was included for the days when we were checked in with the group.
When we checked again with reception they took off the higher charge: Then they added another small charge. Charges for group rate dates included extras. However, but not for the extra days when before or after we had a day at our expense and had not negotiated for extras included.) The extra half hour spent on the bill at Brasov meant that a last sight to see at Bucharest before flying home had to be missed.

Story - Porters in America
In America the porter is called a bell hop.
At an American hotel I phoned reception and asked for a porter. Reception said she didn't have one. Front desk told me to call housekeeping. Nobody arrived. Housekeeping line was engaged.
Reception phone line was engaged. (Americans say 'engaged to be married'; phone lines are 'busy'.)
After a long wait, I phoned reception again. I asked for a porter. A difterent person answered and said, "I'll gladly send you one if you can explain what it is."
"A person to carry a suitcase."
"You mean a bell hop?"
"Yes! If that's what you call the person, that's who I want."

Bills and Subscriptions
Pay bills or set to automatic payment.
Leave money for gardeners, window cleaners, cleaners.
Leave instructions: all bills paid, with receipes for last bill (so nobody can claim money is owed).
Cancel ongoing subscriptions.
Leave passwords needed to pay bills for catalogues or cancel.
Check all doors are locked including side gates.
Check windows are secure.
Ensure keys are coded so if you are hospitalised family can unlock doors, and garden sheds.

For Destination
Check local supermarket prices for drinks, perfumes, clothes, to see if it is cheaper to by at aiport or home.
Check keys - for your destination.
Check currency exchange rate at airport (usually cheaper from your bank or local exchange.)
Print map between airport and destination hotel.
Print simple instructions in foreign language.
Ask hotel to send taxi to meet your plane.

The Cambodian hotel sent a tuk-tuk to meet us, a motorcycle towing an open-sided passenger compartment with a canopy - like a miniature four poster bed. The suitcases perched on the bench seat facing us. Photo by Angela Lansbury 2017. Copyright.

Booking and Cancelling Services

Arrange for forwarding of mail. Leave instructions as to whether family should open bills, save or throw away free newspapers, buy newspapers such as the Sunday Times.
Instruct on expected deliveries: inform senders if you are moving house; get mail forwarded from clubs or give change of address or stop mail and get only online newsletters; give overseas phone numbers to family, friends and businesses; give online feedback of safe arrival to sender, throw away leftover food on fridge or pack it for journey.
Check milk deliveries and newspapers are cancelled or collected by neighbours or house checkers.

Taxis
Know which terminal you are going to.
Book taxi to airport. If skis or lots of luggage, book a larger vehicle.
Book return taxi or keep taxi number in phone and diary.
Email it to yourself and copy to others travelling with you.
Ask neighbours to wave goodbye from your doorstep so taxi driver thinks house is still occupied and/or watched.
Make sure it's clear the rest of the family are still in the house. (Even if driver is honest he might tell others you are away and be overheard by customers in his office or bystanders at a pub.)

An Hour Before Departure:
Know time to airport and fees and small change for tips.
Carry receipt book or print receipt for driver to sign in case he says he has no receipt or machine is broken.
Keep receipt in envope marked Expenses / tax claim.
Have taxi money ready.
Have destination currency to pay for taxi or bus or shuttle to hotel at destination.
Check passports and tickets and money and address of destination.
Check all suitcases are in taxi and count them.
Look back to check no suitcase is left at kerbside.
Leave behind any gifts or thank you notes for hosts.
Write thank you notes in taxi or at airport lounge whilst you still remember names and before you are busy with destination events.

Story
Leftovers
If you are planning to leave leftover food or drink, check whether your hosts want it. They might be really grateful to receive it. Their friend or maid might like it. But maybe not.
On one occasion we stayed with colleagues. I wanted to pack up our leftover fruit and drink to take it with us.
My husband thought it looked mean and we should leave fruit and wine for our hosts as a thank you.

Our hosts were not grateful. They were angry. They said we'd left opened bottles of wine and pieces of fruit for them to clear up.
They were not healthy eaters. They did not eat fruit. They rearely ate at home. They ate out on expenses. Different lifestyle.

Butterfly garden at Singapore's Changi airport. Allow extra time at Changi for visiting the Butterfly garden or other activities. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

At Airport
Have a list of family's favourite perfumes and after shave or soap, chocolates, drink or whatever they like.
Note any host's request for gifts from country of departure. Allow time for buying gifts and changing money.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. I have other posts on packing and airports, destinations worldwide and learning languages. Please share links to your favourite posts.