Travel Planning Chores

Before hitting the road there are a number of things that have to be done ahead of time. Of course, preparing the house to be shut down is a big one. Plumbing has to be drained. Traps need a good dose of RV non-toxic antifreeze. There's a whole checklist of physical stuff to do.

Just as important is sorting out the paperwork. It's a sad fact of modern life, but it has to be done. There are on-line forms from the Postal Service to have mail forwarded. It costs a dollar to do it on-line, but it saves a trip to the Post Office. It's pretty straight forward.

Then there's the joy of trying to make sure my debit and credit cards are not shut off. If they are deactivated, calling them on the phone usually gets them reactivated. However, you really don't want to have to do that while in the middle of trying to pay a bill.

I've noticed that in recent years banks have gotten more restrictive on their permissions. It doesn't help that every bank has different rules. For example one bank will only activate their travel note for three months. Another one limits the number of states where they'll allow transactions. If those limits are to be exceeded, it takes more phone calls.

Of course, I travel with some cash, but that can be a problem too. Sometimes law enforcement will confiscate your cash as just having a sizable wad of money is considered a crime. Even if you are not convicted of anything, it's almost impossible to get your money back. Some states, Tennessee for example, are worse than others. It's a nice state, but because of their cash confiscation polices, I don't vacation there anymore.

The last thing I do is to suspend my Internet service. My provider will not bill me while I'm away. Before coming home, it's a $15 service fee to reactivate it. That saves me a few dollars so it's well worth doing.

Contacting all those companies is a pain, but better to do it in the comfort of my own home rather than sort it out on the road.

-Sixbears