Preparing your house when going on a Passover vacation

Hello dear readers,

For the first time in eight years, the Silver/Jacobsen/Blum clan won’t be in New York for pesach. We’re going to a kosher for Passover hotel in Boca Raton, Florida!

By and large, it’s been a stress-free couple of weeks leading up to pesach (at least on the shopping-cooking-cleaning-planning front. As a mother of three there’s always something to worry about :/ ). I’d guess that the most stressful part of getting ready for the pesach vacation will be getting our suitcases under weight (Rachel you know we’re only going for ten days, right? xoxo) and making sure we don’t miss our flight.

Still, just because we’re not hosting seders doesn’t mean that there’s no work to do on the home front! Here’s a list of five things you need to do to prepare your house for pesach when you’re going on vacation:

1. SELL YOUR CHAMETZ. Regardless of whether you’re spending your pesach in the comfort of your own home or on the beach at Boca Raton (thanks, leisuretimetours.com!!), you still are not allowed to own any chametz over pesach. Even if you’re going away for the chag, make sure you arrange to sell your chametz.

2. CLEAN FOR CHAMETZ. It’s easy to sell the obvious chametz, like the box of cereal in your kitchen cabinet, but you also need to be thorough when you check the rest of the house. Leave no stone (or sofa cushion) unturned!

3. DON’T FORGET FIDO! (Or in our case, Alfie.) Make sure your pets will be taken care of while you’re away! We aren’t taking Alfie with us to Florida, but he will be staying at a “five-bone” kennel (with his sister Peaches, my sister is putting her dog in the same kennel!). If you have a dog or a cat or a parakeet or a goldfish – make sure someone is looking after them!

4. THE MAIL. Better make sure that someone is bringing in your mail and newspapers while you’re away, you don’t want them piling up on your front steps!

5. HOUSESITTERS. You can take care of Number 3 and Number 4 on this list by getting a housesitter, or at least someone who can stop by the house once or twice a day just to make sure everything is okay. Or, even better, you can help out a friend if they need somewhere their extended family can sleep. Two years ago we put the Goldfarb cousins at the house of our neighbors, Joel and Nancy G., while they were on a Passover vacation in Arizona. This year we’re glad to return the favor, as Nancy’s brother’s family will be staying at our house. They will be collecting our mail but not watching Alfie – Nancy’s brother’s wife is allergic to dogs! ? . My children say that we should have rented out the house using something called Air BNB – anyone know what it is??

More soon,

Ariella

Are you planning to get away for pesach? Contact Leisure Time Tours online or call 800-223-2624 today to schedule the best Passover vacation yet!