Drop Everything and Fly

Hope you had a nice Memorial Day weekend--we're heading right into summer!

We just returned from a 5-day trip to New Jersey. My mother had to have emergency surgery, so it was a 'drop everything and fly' sort of trip.

Here are a few things that made our 'gotta go now' trip just a little bit easier.

1) Our travel packing checklist - What a life saver this was! Even though we were stressed and worried, it was comforting not have to 'think' about what to pack. Everything was on the list, and we were packed and ready to go in a few hours.

2) Projects and tasks on a Master List and Daily To Do list - Yes, we had to move some deadlines around. During an emergency situation, it's imperative to be flexible. But, we were able to pick and choose those items that could be done on the plane and in the hotel during our lull times, so that was a huge help. Plus, we knew exactly what still needed to be done upon our return.

3) Go To My PC - We had remote access to our computers at home, so we didn't have to worry about bringing CDs or other storage devices. The service we used can be found on this link: https://www.gotomypc.com
All you do is leave your computer on at home or at the office, and you can access from anywhere you have an Internet connection. In our case, we had our laptop. But you can also access your computer from a hotel computer or a friend or family member's computer. In essence, we were able to do anything we needed to do on our computer, from New Jersey. Technology can be really great sometimes!

4) Our vacation sheet - We have a one page sheet that has instructions for our neighbors when we go on vacation. The paper includes plant watering instructions, mail and newspaper retrieval (if we don't put it on hold), package delivery information, our contact and emergency contact information, etc. When we need to leave for a trip, we make updates if any and print it out. No more having to remember a bunch of stuff at the last minute, our neighbors have all the information they need and we have the comfort of knowing our house will be as we left it when we return. (It stinks coming home to dead plants, burnt grass and a stuffed mailbox!)

5) Access to our voicemail - We picked up all our messages from the road, and returned our phone calls too.

By the time we returned, we weren't too backlogged, and today we're actually right back on track again. We'll be flying back out again this summer to visit my family again (my mother is recovering from her surgery), and we'll use all of the tips and tools we mentioned above to ensure another organized trip.

Comments

[Ryan]

Hi Maria! Traveling is one of the greatest things you can do for yourself, and your info on how to plan a good one is top notch. Look forward to reading some more of your stuff.

-Ryan clearmindblog.com

[Sheza]

I've been reading ur blog for a while. commenting for hte first time. I'll be going for vacation soon and ur ideas rock! i just wanted to request you to put up a sample of your checklists for neighbours and packing to help guide me. i always end up forgetting something and it'd be just nice to refer to something generic to know "AHA!! i should be doing this too!"