We have had two mini-getaways in the last several months. You can see the highlights from the first in the Three Things Not to Miss in Hot Springs, AR post. I’ll get around to posting one for our most recent stay at Mt Nebo State Park one of these days. But what did I do prior to the trip to ensure things were easier when we got back? The answers might surprise you. Or not, if you’ve followed a Life on a Dime for a while… Here’s this minimalist’s weird pre-getaway to-do list.
ITEM ONE: WASH (ALMOST) ALL THE DISHES
This one isn’t that weird; I do not want to come home to a long immediate to-do list. So of course it makes the pre-getaway to-do list. With the cooler weather, we’ve had the windows open more often. Between that and the kids in and out of the house the potential for flies and gnats increases.
I don’t want to give them any further excuse (food) to stick around, so I made sure the days prior to setting off for our long weekend away that I stayed on top of the dishes. Let’s be real; when you cook/prep two to three meals a day at home there is at least one load of dishes to be done a day anyway.
And if you miss a day, you’d better believe it takes more than two loads to get caught up. I have a working theory that dirty dishes breed like rabbits. And I hate doing the dishes, so the fewer I come home to/with the better.
We did take some of our own utensils, as well as everybody’s water bottles, so I did anticipate throwing some in the dishwasher when we got home. I just tried to ensure those were the only dishes that needed my attention upon our return.
PRE-GETAWAY TO-DO LIST ITEM TWO: WASH ALL THE LAUNDRY
If you’re like me, you may have pared down or curated your wardrobe to a good degree, but you still live in a small portion of said wardrobe on a daily basis. I have a few favorite casual outfits and I wear basically the same five or six dress or leggings and sweater combinations Sunday through Thursday.
I work at the church office part-time now (see my Little Fall Life Update if you missed that tidbit), so my work wardrobe is pretty much the same as my church wardrobe. That basically means I wash and wear a lot of the same things every week.
In order to ensure I had enough clean clothes to select for packing – clothes appropriate for science some light hiking… I did a lot of laundry that week so everybody had what they needed for the trip. And to be sure all I had to wash immediately on our return was what we wore on said trip.
This one also isn’t that weird, but it sure makes packing easier.
ITEM THREE: DECLUTTER AND MAKE A CHARITY SHOP DROPOFF
If you’ve followed a Life on a Dime for a couple of weeks or the whole two years of its existence, you’ve probably picked up on the fact that decluttering is one of my favorite things. I’d had a donate bag going the whole month of September, and had a few items from work I was given permission to donate.
What better time than right before you leave town? I had a few odds and ends I kept forgetting were in the back of my car to donate and I made sure to do a run through the kids’ rooms while they weren’t home to add to the pile.
Coming home to a house full of a little less stuff is always a plus in my book. I did not make a charity shop dropoff prior to this last trip, but I did end up doing some decluttering the day after, so I feel like I just saved myself an extra trip there… as long as it gets out of the house I’m happy.
PRE-GETAWAY TO-DO LIST ITEM FOUR: TAKE IN THE RECYCLING
Another good reason to declutter the kids’ rooms was to go through their paper “treasures.” They take home papers from church and school they deem special for a few days and then forget about them. These “treasures” end up wadded up in corners, cluttering desks and armoires, and then I come in.
Anything without glue or stickers is thrown in with the household recycling. We also have our kitchen recycling, and while it had been less than a week I still made sure to drop everything off so we didn’t smell stale cat food when we walked in the door.
ITEM FIVE: DEAL WITH THE FOOD SITUATION IN THE FRIDGE
This means you can skip the grocery store the week prior to leaving town, batch cook like a crazy person, or throw everything in the freezer. Or some combination of the three.
It’s always a good idea to clean out the fridge prior to leaving town. In order to prevent as much waste as possible, I batch-cooked some things to help them keep longer. I also threw out whatever leftovers we didn’t eat down a few days in advance.
We’ve been trying to eat more vegetables, so our produce drawer stays pretty stocked. This time around I created a meal plan around what we had on hand to avoid food waste.
If you still have quite a bit of fresh produce on hand that might go bad give batch cooking and freezing a try. Zucchini and carrots can be shredded to make zucchini bread and toddler muffins. I don’t have toddlers anymore, but I can usually get my picky eaters to chow down on these veggie-packed baked goods. Both freeze and reheat well.
PRE-GETAWAY TO-DO LIST ITEM SIX: CANCEL ALL THE PLANS POSSIBLE FOR THE WEEK AFTER
I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to overcommit on a regular week. When getting back from a trip, no matter how short, I really don’t like committing to anything. We left for three days, and I took a full day at home to recoup and do a marathon of laundry.
Grocery shopping and a charity store dropoff had to happen eventually, but not before I had my home day. We’ve jumped back into our regularly scheduled programming the morning after in the past. I wouldn’t recommend it.
POST GETAWAY TO-DO:
I don’t know about you, but one of the things I love to do when we get back from one of our little mini-getaways is to start planning the next one! Or three… I love to plan in general, so I tend to get a bit prematurely excited about all the possibilities.
And then there’s the mountain of laundry and the next week’s meal plan and grocery list to come up with. Or just sign up as a frugal friend and enjoy a weekly newsletter on Meal Plan Monday, complete with a free weekly meal plan and no sales pitch.
The kids painted some art projects that had been piling up and I got my digital life in order as well. It’s always nice to take a day to reset and reorganize some part of your life. And try not to add anything extra to the schedule; ease back into your regularly scheduled programming and go easy on the budget for a bit.