A long trip is not uncommon. People usually go away from home for a long time due to compromises related to work, family or even pleasure. Taking the necessary precautions to safeguard your belongings becomes something vital if you want to secure them during your absence.
Once you have a date for your trip, the list of things to do seems very long, but if you face every task one at a time, you will be able to administer your time properly and focus on the critical things first. Take a look at everything you own and ask yourself how secure your neighbourhood is. If the answers don’t give you peace of mind, it’s time to book a long-term storage unit while you are away.
First Step – Focus on everything you own that is Valuable
You probably have a lot of nice stuff in your home. A 4k HD TV screen, a desktop computer, a few electric appliances that make your life easier, such as a coffee maker, as well as many other things. You worked pretty hard to have all your stuff, and don’t want to lose anything due to prolonged absence.
Burglars take notice when people stay too much time away from home, making their houses easy targets for robbery. You can make their plans go south by setting a security alarm system at home, but that doesn’t always work. If you take preventions with your valuables and store them away, you will be one step ahead of any wrongdoer.
Why go For Such Extreme Measures?
It’s a good question; the answer is also pretty easy. The current state of the world makes looters smart about the stuff they look for in houses. You could even have your identity stolen if you leave your primary computer at home. If you also keep important documents regarding your studies and finances stored at home, you will be in a lot of trouble if any of that is lost.
Think about other forms of valuables at your place: it could be the case that you are a collector of certain items that can get very valuable on the secondary market, such as paintings, sculptures, comic books, or first printings of popular books. If you are going away for too long, no matter the reason, you are risking losing something unique and valuable to you.
With everything said and done, you probably have set your mind to using a storage unit. This is what you need to do before packing anything and hiring the service:
- Bubble wrap everything and pack it in cardboard boxes or plastic bins. Don’t leave free spaces, use filler.
- If you are storing clothes or any form of fabric, make sure it’s dried out.
- Wrap your furniture with plastic, and make sure to disassemble every piece that can be taken apart to save space.
- Don’t mix the contents of the boxes when it comes to the weight of items. Pack heavier items in their own boxes and store them at the bottom of the pile.
- If you are storing delicate items, make sure to hire a storage service that offers climate-controlled units.
- Make sure to wrap your electric devices to avoid any moisture on them, also, remember to label all your boxes.
Get Organised
After doing all the research you need and hiring the company you wish to entrust your valuables to, it’s time to organise the unit. Use any sorting system at your convenience to get everything safely stored. Last but not least: for more peace of mind, make sure to pay for the months you will be away up front!
