The plane is waiting but I have to hoover, dust and clean ! WHY ???

Is it the same as wearing clean underwear in case you get run over by a bus?

I have a mega-ton of paperwork, bills to pay, admin stuff, etc, etc...

... but suddenly decide I can't do it until I've cleaned the kitchen, shower room, upstairs bathroom, and dusted the office.

Same syndrome.

Have a wonderful time - you've earned it!

Yes, I’m the same, house must be clean, and most important, sheets must be changed so that we come home to a lovely clean bed.
All bins, recycling must be emptied and washed out, and no dirty laundry can be left, apart from the previous nights sleep wear.

I like to leave it reasonably clean and tidy, but I don’t go mad. Partial exception was when a Singaporean SiL and 2 nieces wanted to use the house for a few days while we were away. She has a maid to do everything, so I don’t suppose it occurred to her that I’d be thinking, ‘Oh, bugger - now I’ll have to go mad cleaning and making spare beds before we go…’.

Yes, it’s true, isn’t it? Most of us probably do clean the house thoroughly before we go. I think it’s so we don’t return to an untidy home. Toilets get thoroughly bleached, bins emptied, cobwebs whipped into submission, beds changed, fridge cleared, etc, etc. I know we do these things anyway, but just before a holiday it seems even more important to do it ??

I only leave my house looking ‘lived in’ just in case a would be burglar happened to look through the window! Always leave some dishes on the draining board.

I can remember us setting off on a holiday when I was a child (with a long car journey ahead of us from Yorkshire to Cornwall) at about 4 a.m., and my mum still insisted on running the vac over the already spotless carpets just before we left, and re-cleaning the already clean toilets.

I think she was (and still is, at nearly 90) worried that if anything untoward were to happen, such as an accident, whoever next entered the house would judge her by the state of it. Not that it has ever been anything other than show house standard! The day it looks less than perfect, I will know that she genuinely can't manage on her own any more.

HECK !!!!!

I dont know whether to act shocked or elated at these replies....

I think BOTH are much needed..

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ........

My mind works like Jalyn and CatCrone.... so glad I'm not alone. ?

We do a good tidy up, including fridge. We are leaving for 3 weeks next Friday, and I'm already starting to menu plan for the week with what's left in the fridge, and will buy minimum food this week.

Potato salad to use up the potatoes and eggs, etc. Make a carrot cake to use up carrots, then freeze or deliver the cake. Plus pack, get a pedicure, look for treats for grandchildren who we will visit. It's going to be a busy week!

And yes, fresh sheets and towels to come home to.

We usually stay in self-catering accommodation with a washing machine. I do the bulk of my washing on holiday and bring it home clean.
(I've told my husband he can do the same next time rather than dumping it all when we get home and assuming I'll be happy to do it!)

Five years ago we had a bad house fire.
Talking about it afterwards I said I was glad I'd made the beds that morning, as I would have hated it if the firemen had seen our bedrooms untidy.
My husband and son thought I'd finally lost the plot:
We've got no roof on the house, no ceilings, no internal walls and you're worried about whether the beds were made? ?
The whole lot had to go in a skip anyway ?

I’m reminded of the time - years ago now - when dh was away for some time, dds had left home, and I went to bed one night leaving a seriously messy kitchen and the rest of the house not much better. Can’t remember why, just tired and couldn’t BB I suppose.

After an hour or two I woke up, thinking, ‘Sh*t, what if I died in the night and the police eventually had to break in and find a total tip as well as a very dead body??’ ?

So I got up at 2 am or whatever it was, and tidied up! ?

Well I empty the bins, sort out the fridge and anything absolutely necessary, but my inner slut doesn’t allow anything more. Just getting away with the right clothes etc is enough for me.

Yep, always have a really good cleaning session before we go away, 'just in case'. But also because it is nice to come home and just have the holiday washing to deal with.

Like so many others I really love walking in as if I'm seeing the house for the first time and thinking what a nice place it is. And, if we've been off in the campervan, how much wonderful space there is.

But, because I also like to have all my affairs in order before we go, there is that concern that the kids will have sort everything if the camper explodes or, if its a Big Holiday, the plane crashes.

I like to leave the house clean and tidy.

DS and DIL have no such qualms. They are happy to go off on a fortnight’s holiday, leaving their home looking as though they have just popped out for a loaf of bread.

It’s so nice to come back to a clean, tidy house after a wonderful holiday. It feels like a welcome home. ♥️

I'm with the plane crashing, ferry sinking, Caravan exploding brigade. The house has to be spotless just in case.

Yep. Loads of crackpots ! I’m still cleaning walking backwards out of the house. I send DH to sit in the car whilst I have a last look around and pour bleach down the sink and toilets. Then when I get to my holiday I start again. Always take bleach wipes and have a wipe round before I can relax. I am definitely a crackpot !

I always think, even if the house is clean and tidy, that I should have got on with that enormous task of decluttering .....

This reminds me of my nan, who used to put on her best nightie if she felt ill before bed.

Shinamae

My house is never spotless ??

Nor mine, but it's at it's very best when I'm away.... (for lots of reasons!!) ??

I don't do a special clean, but just make sure everything is tidy. Usually change the bedding though, it's nice to come back to clean sheets!

In our area there is always so much dust (I could literally dust every day and have that grey line on the cloth) so I don't see the point of cleaning before we go away. I do try and leave it tidy, though.

I always do the same, it’s because I want to come back to a clean house