{"id":1893,"date":"2019-01-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-01-06T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.storage-mart.com\/blog\/organization\/moving-south-from-toronto\/"},"modified":"2019-09-23T14:12:18","modified_gmt":"2019-09-23T14:12:18","slug":"moving-south-from-toronto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.storage-mart.com\/blog\/moving-south-from-toronto","title":{"rendered":"Moving South for the Winter: What to Do Before Leaving Toronto"},"content":{"rendered":"

Toronto has been ranked the best place to live in the world by The Economist<\/em>\u2014and for good reason. <\/p>\n

Called the New York City of Canada, Toronto is the capital of Ontario and the fifth biggest city in North America. It offers an exciting urban lifestyle on the shores of Lake Ontario, including world class dining, shopping, museums, and more. <\/p>\n

But there is one thing you won\u2019t find in Toronto, at least not in the winter\u2014and that\u2019s warmth. <\/p>\n

Snowbirds can get the best of both worlds by staying up north until winter hits and then heading south. But there are a few things to remember before you take flight. <\/p>\n

Snowbird Packing List<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s tempting to throw some shorts and t-shirts in a bag and take off, but there are a few things you\u2019ll want to make sure you have with you, in addition to shoes and clothing. <\/p>\n

\u2022 Copies of important documents, including insurance policies, your passport, medical history, prescription refill information, and credit card information in case yours are lost or stolen.
\u2022 Chargers. It used to be that all you needed were extra batteries for your camera, but those days are long gone\u2014and the last thing anyone wants is to spend $30 buying a new charger. Make sure to bring yours for your phone, tablet, computer, reading device, and any other electronics you may have. Do yourself a favor and label all of your chargers with masking or wasabi tape.
\u2022 Don\u2019t forget your reading glasses. Ditto for sunglasses.
\u2022 Any medications you may be taking, as well as a basic first aid kit.
\u2022 Linens, towels, etc. If you\u2019re renting a house, make sure to check your agreement and see what items are provided and what you have to bring. Even if everything is covered, you may still want to bring your favorite pillow or a couple of fluffy towels. <\/p>\n

Checklist for Closing House for Winter<\/h2>\n

Make sure to make time for the following before you leave: <\/p>\n

\u2022 Call or email the post office to have your mail stopped. Same goes for your newspaper.
\u2022 Shut off your water, open the faucets, and let all of the water drain out of your pipes. Flush your toilets to empty water from the tanks.
\u2022 Set your thermostat to 55 degrees Fahrenheit or about 13 degrees Celsius.
\u2022 Empty your fridge and your cabinets of perishable food.
\u2022 Find a friend or a caretaker to check on your home occasionally.
\u2022 Find someone to watch your houseplants.
\u2022 Unplug all appliances.
\u2022 Let your bank and credit card companies know that you\u2019ll be making purchases from another location, so that they don\u2019t suspect fraud and freeze your account.
\u2022 Notify your neighbors and your security company that you\u2019ll be gone.
\u2022 Put timers on a few interior lights, so that your house appears to be occupied.
\u2022 Make sure valuables that you are not taking with you are in a secure location. <\/p>\n

About StorageMart<\/h2>\n

If you\u2019re thinking about downsizing as part of your new snowbird lifestyle, you may find yourself running low on storage. Happily, that\u2019s an easy problem to fix. At StorageMart, you can rent a unit as small as 25 square feet or so\u2014or up to the size of a garage. We offer affordable self storage units<\/a> that can be rented on a month-by-month basis and are always clean and well lit. Need more info? Start the easy online rental process<\/a> today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Toronto has been ranked the best place to live in the world by The Economist\u2014and for good reason. Called the New York City of Canada, Toronto is the capital of Ontario and the fifth biggest city in North America. It offers an exciting urban lifestyle on the shores of Lake Ontario, including world class dining, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":1894,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-downsizing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.storage-mart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1893"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.storage-mart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.storage-mart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.storage-mart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.storage-mart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging.storage-mart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.storage-mart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.storage-mart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.storage-mart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.storage-mart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}