One of the most common questions asked by people who are considering long term travel is about preparing their home for a move. If you have children, you know how hard it can be to let them go. It's not just mentally hard but physically hard as well. You have to pack up and get your belongings into the car, and then unpack where it needs to go. When you take that step and allow family members to move in with you on vacation, you are all ready for a long term travel experience, but what if you don't?

Consider your home, before you leave for an extended period. Do you need to leave all utilities active? Consider turning off all water to your home, if you will be gone for a long period of time. Pipes freezing or leaking could mean quite a disaster, interrupting and ruining your trip - and your home! Fix It Right Plumbing of Canberra recommends that you turn off your water heater regardless - and especially if your water is turned off! Also consider appliances such as refrigerator ice machines and humidifiers. Any appliance that uses water needs to be turned off if the water to the house is off.

Long term travel is stressful enough without having to deal with packing for your move. If you don't do it properly, packing will be even harder. There are a few things you can do to help you prepare your home for a long term travel move. You don't want to be overwhelmed, so start small and build up your packing skills over time.

Pack your bags as soon as you know where you are going and what you are packing. You don't want to have to start packing a week or two before you leave. In fact, you don't even need to pack your bags on your actual move. Do as much packing in advance as possible.

When you are packing for long term travel, make sure that you are packing things in bulk. You can save a lot of time by doing this. This is why many people will move to a new home and then immediately start packing for a move. This is very dangerous. If you aren't packing in bulk, you can't make room for your bulky items. They will simply be sitting in your home until you unpacked everything.

Buy a heavy duty moving pad if you don't already have one. These are excellent for heavy items. They come with straps that help to distribute the weight evenly. Be sure that you pack all of your clothing and other smaller wearable items separately, so that they don't end up in one big mess. Do your best to separate the bigger wearable items from the smaller wearable ones.

Don't use any kind of tape or packing tape when you are packing for long term travel. The tape can be quite messy and it will likely damage your furnishings. That can be very costly in the long run.

When it comes to unpacking, don't just throw away all of your clothing. Some items will need to be hung out to dry in a sun-drying machine. You should also take advantage of a clothing dehydrator at home. You can get these at any type of grocery store. It's much better for your clothes than trying to hang them on your closet door and hoping they dry properly.

When you're done preparing your home for long term travel, it's time to start checking out what's available in the way of packing supplies. Go to your local big box store or discount warehouse store and see what options you have. You may even find freezers, ovens, stoves and other appliances there. The more you save, the better off you'll be. It's always easier to buy what you need, rather than paying full price for it at a big box store.

For those who have never been prepared for long term travel, it can seem like a daunting task at first. But after doing it a few times, the actual packing of your things is far less difficult than it used to be. You just have to learn the basics of packing and know what your goal is for the trip.

Your packing list will depend on the destination and your plans for long term travel. Make sure that you don't pack too heavily. It can be tempting to open up all of your favorite cupboards, pantry, and linen to put food in. But that temptation will lead to packing far too many items, which is counter productive to your goal of packing as little as possible. If you can't bring all of your own food, then be sure to ask a friend or family member to bring some food and cut up the rest for you.

Also, when packing, don't forget that certain items are needed on long term travel such as: A prescription (if you take medication), extra clothing, toiletries, medications, personal hygiene products, and water purification tablets. Don't forget your camera, though. Carry as many of your electronic devices in the electronic bag as possible, so that you don't have to lug everything around in your bags. A computer, iPod, music player, and exercise gear are all great portable electronics that you can take along with you in the electronic bag.

By preparing your home for long term travel, it will make your travel experience much more pleasant.