At some point, everyone dreams of one day traveling to some new, unfamiliar location. Whether it’s just to Los Angeles to see the Pacific Ocean, or to Rome to see the Coliseum, traveling is a goal that every person hopes to accomplish.

While voyaging to your ideal location, you may be uncomfortable with leaving some of your belongings in an empty home or apartment. Maybe you could just throw these items out, or sell them?  But what about that items that you can’t bear to part with, what do you do then? If you find yourself in this situation, it may come as a surprise that it is in your best interest to keep some of your belongings in a self-storage unit. Obviously, when you’re renting a unit, you want the cheapest price available, and given your future agenda, that smartest thing you can do is invest in long-term storage. Why? Continue reading and you will see.

Long term storage is, as the name suggests, for people you plan on storing things for long periods of time, usually anywhere upwards of 3-6 months. With this type of storage, your items will be stored safely in a regular unit, or in larger containers found in a climate controlled facility. Long term items that usually fall under this category include furniture, vehicles, or other valuable collectibles. While you may think simply placing these items in your unit will suffice, there is actually much more to it than that. Take a look at each of the following tips before putting anything in your unit.

1. Furniture. In order to keep your furniture in good condition, first make sure it’s clean and empty, being sure to secure all doors and drawers. Wrap the item tightly with fabric pads, and always disassemble when possible. It’s also probably a good idea to store your furniture on pallets to reduce the risk of flood damage.
2. Vehicles. When storing a car or truck in long term storage, place the vehicle up on jacks or blocks to relieve pressure on the tires, disconnect the battery, and use a car cover or large tarp to protect the vehicle after you clean it inside and out.
3. Collectibles. Keep breakable items safe by carefully wrapping them in bubble wrap or lots of newspaper. Or, if your collectibles came in protective packaging and you still have it, use that. Place your items in a well-padded box, and carefully secure the box with packing tape. Store the box (or boxes) on a flat, level and again, place on a pallet to prevent unwanted damage.

Although most situations are easy to access whether you will need long term storage or not, others may be fuzzy, so it is important to know that scenarios of each in order to make the decision easier.

Short time storage units are a more useful for people trying to make up for a lack of space in their home, or just keep seasonal items. In these situations, you want to be able to access your belongings with ease that you don’t need access to every day.

As you can see, long term storage is what every voyaging individual wants and needs. Remember, next time you are headed on a time consuming adventure, a local self-storage facility is not too far away.

This article was written by Matt Schexnayder. Matt writes for the SpareFoot blog and is on the SpareFoot marketing team. SpareFoot is the largest online marketplace for self-storage with more than 6,000 facilities listed nationwide.