Ready, set, go: Take these steps before leaving home

I have a recurring nightmare: I’m leaving on a big trip, and I haven’t finished packing. I need to do a load of laundry, water the plants, eat something and take a shower. I don’t know where my binoculars are, and I forgot to get cash. The clock is ticking; my boss calls; the cab comes. I wake in tangled sheets.

It’s surprising that I should be so haunted, because I’m an experienced traveler and by nature organized. I rarely forget anything important. Still, the more you travel, the easier it is to get blase.

So it benefits gadabouts as well as novices to think about what they must pack or do before leaving home on an extended trip.

I asked frequent travelers for their ideas, and I analyzed my own habits to develop this checklist. Instead of reiterating the obvious -- take your passport and tickets -- it’s meant to help you organize yourself so things go smoothly that crucial day before or day of departure.

Timing is all: Book an evening flight so you have a whole day to get ready, and treat yourself gently. Unless you’re 16 or made of steel, jet lag and the natural anxieties of travel will take a toll. When you embark on a long trip, the most important things to have with you are your equanimity and health.

I used to work up to the last minute and leave the office exhausted, knowing there were land mines on my desk someone would want me to dismantle just before my plane lifted off. Now I try to schedule my time so I have at least 24 uninterrupted hours to get ready for a big trip.

That means more than packing. It’s about preparing your body for the mean jolts of long-distance travel. You need to sleep, exercise and eat right. On your day of departure, get a massage, take a yoga class, do whatever makes your body happy.

Just before I flew to Europe last month, I had an acupuncture treatment that seemed to make the trip easy and helped readjust my internal clock.

Hearth and home: Or, “Yipes, I left the iron on!” Tamar Lowell, who manages the Lonely Planet Web site, once went on a trip and left her front door open. “I was sitting on the plane,” she says, “and it clicked that I didn’t remember closing it.” Her friendly mail carrier came to the rescue. But who hasn’t left for the airport and suddenly wondered whether the coffeemaker or oven is still on?

Don’t forget to unplug appliances. Make sure the washing machine water hose is in good order or, better still, disconnected at the faucet. Annette Zientek, president of the Internet travel gear store Christine columbus.com, intervened at the home of a vacationing neighbor where a burst washing machine hose inundated the house with so much water that, she says, “It was as if someone had let the floodgate open on Hoover Dam.”

You also should stop newspapers, give a trusted neighbor a key in case of emergencies, take Woofy to the kennel, put your lights and radio on a timer, and have someone water the plants and tend the lawn.

Some things are less obvious, though: Turn the water heater to low. (Some have a “vacation” setting.) Have someone run the dishwasher if you’re going to be away a long time; otherwise the seal may dry out, resulting in a leak. Clean out the refrigerator so rotten hamburger isn’t the first thing you smell when you get home.

Born to shop: Buy all the things you need well before it becomes necessary to pack. We’re talking about travel-size toothpaste and talc; antidepressants, first aid for blisters, female sanitary items; adapters, transformers and chargers; Swiss Army knives, sink stoppers, wine openers.

Louanne Kalvinskas, co-owner of Distant Lands, a travel book and gear store in Pasadena, says people come running to the shop just before they leave on a trip for locks, straps, security pouches and city maps. Sharon Wingler, a longtime Delta flight attendant and creator of Travel AloneAndLoveIt.com, has a laminated packing list she leaves in her ever-ready suitcase, though she doesn’t obsess about forgetting things because she can usually buy what she needs on the road. “Better to need it and not have it than to have it and not need it,” Wingler says.

Mail, e-mail and machines: Decide whether you want to leave your answering machine on, change the message or arrange to have calls forwarded because message “mailboxes” sometimes fill up quickly. I’ve perfected the art of the discouraging message at work, which tells people how long I’ll be gone and that I’ll try to get back to them as soon as I can, leaving open the possibility that it won’t be before my return.

It’s a good idea to use an automatic out-of-office response for your e-mail so people with pressing business know you aren’t around.

Have a neighbor or the post office hold your mail. Think carefully about which bills are likely to come due in your absence, resulting in late fees. I’ve occasionally called credit card and insurance companies to extend the next payment date. Gloria McManus, vice president of Magellan’s, a Santa Barbara-based travel gear supplier, routinely contacts her credit card companies to find out how close she is to her spending limit before leaving on a big trip and to warn them not to put a hold on her cards if charges start showing up from Egypt or Thailand.

Frank Ruiz, a publicist at Lonely Planet, takes mail arrangements a step further. “When I went to Europe in May, Mother’s Day, three birthdays, rent day and an anniversary all took place while I was away,” he says. “So I asked my neighbor to mail stamped envelopes on different dates. It worked out great. My aunt, who usually gets a belated birthday card from me, was amazed.”

Paper and plastic: I ceremoniously move the credit and identification cards I’ll need on a trip from my everyday wallet to my special travel wallet. If you decide to do this, be selective. You probably won’t need your Blockbuster ID, but you ought to have your ATM card and address book so you can send missives to family and friends. Some people buy phone cards for emergency calls; I make sure I know my long distance carrier’s access numbers for countries I’m visiting.

You’re undoubtedly too smart to leave the country without your passport (and visas when necessary). But have you checked recently to see that it’s current? Some countries require your passport’s expiration date to exceed the date of your return by up to six months.

Tama Taylor Holve, owner of Willett Travel in Studio City, reminds people traveling with minors that it’s often necessary to get a notarized letter of permission from an ex-spouse or the youngsters’ parents to enter certain foreign countries.

Zero hour: Everything’s packed and done -- you think. You’ve called your airline to make sure the plane is leaving on time. The computer and TV are unplugged; the house plants are in the bathtub; you’ve stopped answering the phone (because it’s likely to be your boss). But now is not the time to slack off.

“A couple of hours before departure, stop,” advises Rob Sangster, author of “Traveler’s Tool Kit.”

“Take the time to think. Let your mind roam around the house and your trip. Remember what you are about to forget.” I repeat this process in the cab on the way to the airport, opening my wallet and carry-on to make sure everything vital -- passport, tickets, eyeglasses, prescriptions -- is at hand.

Then, while waiting in the boarding area, I call someone I love to remind them I do and to reassure myself that they love me back. I’m rested, well groomed, lighthearted and positive I didn’t leave the iron on, because I gave up ironing long ago.