Putting your home on hold

You live somewhere. And you’ll be pretty far away from that place for a long time.

It may be surprisingly difficult to use some internet services. Logins that are simple from home may ask for additional information when accessing your account from another continent. This gets even more difficult if you’re using a different local phone number. Most of these you won’t know about until you try to use them.

See if you can access your texts or voicemails from somewhere else than your phone.

Get rent or mortgate, utilities, insurance, and any other bills onto autopay before going anywhere. I have my bank lookup utility bills and send payment rather than the utility just taking money out of my account. In the end, that just works the same way.

Pets

You’ll miss your furry friends and they’ll miss you. Arrange for someone to send you pictures to remind you they’re doing alright. And leave a way to get them some treats.

Neighbors

Have some people nearby that you can trust with your home. Whether you’re in a condo building or live on acres, looking out for each other is what makes everything work.

Someone coming by once in a while to check on things can let you know about leaks, flooding, failing equipment, and any other issues.

Home Automation

A lot of peace of mind can come from a couple of cameras. Reolink makes a few that aren’t subscription services. But the Google and Amazon devices work great too.

And finally, you may not be able to put everything on hold. Life happens. Hopefully you don’t have an issue like a family emergency call you back home. But have enough money in a savings account to get yourself home on relatively short notice.