You’ve paid the last of your holiday and the flights are booked, you’ve gone to the gym to get that beach body and now you need to make sure you are prepared. Making sure you have everything for your holiday abroad can be a nightmare. It is always left to the night before with it being guaranteed that you will leave something important behind and you will not realise till you step off the plane. Not to fear, we have compiled a mini checklist of things to remember before you walk out that door

for that much needed vacation:

Secure the House

The most important part. Burglars will target houses where they know the occupants are not in. Invest in timers that will turn on the lights in the house to give the illusion that you are at home. Cancel any milk deliveries and ask your neighbours to collect post and newspapers to prevent a build-up. Make sure that your house alarms are working and operational. Contact an alarm installer to perform maintenance checks. Follow this, and your home will be in one piece when you return.

Check Travel information

If you are travelling a long distance to the airport, keep up to date with traffic information before leaving the house. This will give you the chance to plan alternate routes to the airport in the event of a traffic situation. Get updates to your phone and contact the airport early in the morning for any news regarding flights.

Switch off Data Roaming

Recently this has been the biggest stings in cost when abroad. To avoid this, you should switch off your phone completely. Calls abroad can often be extremely expensive, so look into alternative means to call home. International calls cards are a good option to call home, with most providers offering cheap deals and rates, while you are able to call from anywhere, it removes the restriction of the internet that VOIP programs rely on.

Make sure you passport is valid

Unless you have a drivers licence, we tend to not use our passports much. In this case, we tend to forget that the expiry date is looming closer and before you know it, your passport has expired. If you need to renew it, ensure that you do it in advance, it can only cost you £72.50, which is cheaper than the cost of £128 if you leave it till the last minute. Make sure that everyone has their passport before leaving the house.

Avoid airport prices for Travel accessories

It is advised to do your shopping for travel accessories at your local pound shop. They supply nearly everything from house hold items to Christmas decorations, so they are guaranteed to stock travel accessories. This will make sure that you do not pay the inflated prices for a neck cushion at the airport. Following these basic tips will guarantee that you can leave the house worry free. Your holiday is meant to be relaxing, so you will want to spend one to two weeks biting your nails and stressing because you forgot something. Make sure you pack the essentials for wherever you are going, like sun cream, insect repellent, etc. Contacting a local travel agency will provide you with more in-depth information about what you need before you leave.

Harry Price is a talented young writer.  He lives in a small costal town with his 3 dogs for company.