If you’re lucky enough to be a snowbird and be able to travel from home to home during the cold season, it’s a wonderful life for you. So many people are stuck in the town they live in, forced to deal with the terrible winters when they hate the cold, and might even deal with seasonal depression.

It’s no doubt that short days and freezing temperatures really put a cramp in your style. Since you’re a snowbird, you don’t have to stick around for the falling temperatures, but there are responsibilities you need to take care of before heading south for the winter.

Here are some home related things you need to take care of if you’re a snowbird traveler.

Winterize Your Plumbing

Winter can cause serious problems for people who forget to blow out their pipes. When water freezes, it expands. If water is left in pipes or hoses, this can create serious damage in a short amount of time.

There is not a lot worse than coming home from your summer destination and finding that your pipes have cracked due to freezing winter conditions and lack of properly taking care of your plumbing. Avoid this altogether by taking the necessary precautions before you head out.

Inspect Your Roof

If you’re planning to live somewhere else during the winter, you also need to inspect your roof before you leave. Weathering will naturally make a roof more fragile over time. Sun exposure over the summers will bleach out tiles, wind will wear them down, and snow combined with all these elements will decompose them.

Before you leave, it is crucial to make sure your roof is in good shape, you don’t want to come home to a collapsed roof. To do this, check for signs of wear, re-caulk that which needs to be re-caulked, apply roofing cement to loose shingles, and insulate your attic. You will also want to clear the trees surrounding your home of any branches subject to fall when heavy snow comes, and you want to make sure there is not rot or mold anywhere on your roof.

If you take these precautions, you can leave knowing you won’t come home to a disaster.

Have a Friend or Neighbor Check in From Time to Time

Once you’ve taken care of the things above, you’ll be set to leave. It is a good idea to have a friend or neighbor check on your home from time to time. You never know when someone might decided to break in and use your house as their winter home while you’re gone, or worse yet, rob you.

If you ask someone to help you out by checking on the house once every couple of weeks, or even having a neighbor just keep an eye out, you will feel at ease while you enjoy mild to warm temperatures in your home away from home.