Travel Without Worry: Learn How to Set Up Your Snail Mail While Staying in Fully Furnished Short Term Rentals

We live in a digital world. After all, we can take care of bill pay in a few clicks, check up on friends via text or call and even book flights or rental cars via the web. But even with all that, it’s still fun to receive a handwritten letter or get that Amazon package in the old-fashioned snail mail. Of course, frequent travel makes receiving mail more challenging. How do I receive mail when I’m staying in fully furnished short term rentals? What is the procedure for communicating with the USPS about my travel plans? In this post, we’ll discuss this and more. Read on!

Ready to Travel? Plan Ahead at the Post Office

When trying to figure out a mail delivery solution, the first question that comes up is “How long will you be gone?” This makes a huge difference in what options are available. Of course, if you’re looking at extended stay Shreveport rentals, you probably will be away from home for more than 30 days. This means that a traditional “Hold Mail Request” with the USPS won’t work (see workaround below). Instead, you can implement a Temporary Change of Address. That way, you’ll get your mail in Shreveport! Make sure to read the description on the USPS website fully and talk to our owner, Debi, to make sure this is agreeable with her.

What about UPS or FedEx? FedEx has a free Vacation Mode option, but unfortunately this only works for 14 days. For a more robust solution, frequent travelers can redirect packages in transit to a different location for pickup. UPS has a similar setup…you can request to change the delivery of your package to a neighbor’s address or potentially reroute it to your new temp address.

Other Options for your Package Deliveries

• If you don’t want to forward your USPS mail, talk to a trusted friend or family member in your hometown and designate him or her to pick up your mail from the post office every couple of weeks. This person will need to be authorized to get the mail and then put in a new hold request at the USPS for several more weeks. It’s a workaround that will allow you to use the Hold Mail Request feature through the USPS even though you’ll be gone more than 30 days.
• When ordering something from Amazon while traveling, use the company’s Locker / Pickup option to deliver close to your rental in Shreveport. This is a simple solution that’s easy to do!
• Have someone house sit or monitor your home. A site such as Trusted Housesitters can work for this. The site markets to pet owners, but since our fully furnished short term rentals are pet-friendly, you don’t have to leave your dog or cat at home! Trusted Housesitters should allow you to list even if you only need mail pickup, plant watering, light gardening etc. However, you will need to allow the housesitter to stay in your home. If you choose this option, make sure you follow any tax guidelines as this could potentially affect your “tax home” status.
• Enlist the help of a trusted neighbor to pop by your mailbox / front door each day and collect any packages or letters. Make sure to compensate him or her for this valuable service!
• Get a lockbox for your home and set it up by your front door for accepting deliveries! Adoorn is one company that offers eye-catching solutions for mail lockers.

Please keep in mind that we are providing information about these services as a convenience to our current and potential tenants! We don’t specifically endorse any business or organization listed and, if you have any questions regarding this, please direct them to the appropriate USPS, FedEx, UPS etc channel.

All Set? Let’s Explore Our Fully Furnished Short Term Rentals!

Now that your mail is taken care of, it’s time to enjoy your corporate housing Shreveport rental! Our short term rentals are ideal for staying a month or more in Louisiana while on a work trip, for Barksdale AFB assignment or during a construction job. Each condo or house for rent features an equipped kitchen with stove, fridge and utensils for your cooking needs. In addition, utilities are included and an in-unit washer and dryer makes laundry a snap. Don’t fuss about bringing linens…we’ve got that taken care of.

Ready to learn more? Reach out by calling 318-548-6156 with any questions. Or, send a message on our Contact form to ask about current availability. We look forward to hearing from you!