Traveling for 4-5 months. Maintaining address / dealing with mail?

[manlymatt83]

My lease is expiring at the end of June. Instead of getting a new place right away, I want to take a step back and figure out next life steps -- what kind of apartment I want next, etc. -- and in the meantime want to do some traveling.

I've done some research, and it SEEMS that all I need to do is get a mailing address somewhere (UPS Store box, etc.) and I can use that as my mailing address and "physical address") while I'm traveling. I even called my state's department fo revenue and they mentioned this would be fine as long as I intend to "Return to my state".

Has anyone gone through this before? Maintained residency in your state without actually having a lease/place to physically live? If so, any advice? Thank you!

 

[Exterous]

I've not done it before but, in reading about people who have, many have recommended getting a service that will scan your mail for you if you'll be gone for a long time. Basically you send all your mail to them and they can take care of everything for you: uploading so you can see it on your phone\internet device, holding till you get back, forwarding somewhere and shredding. I can't recall any specific recommendations on vendors and YMMV on privacy of course but a good way to deal with surprise matters if you're gone for several months.

And if you're only gone for short bursts use the USPS hold mail option? That works up to 30 days

 

[KB]

I know several people that have used their sisters/brothers/parents home as their new mailing address. The benefit was that person could throw away the junk and alert them on important things. If you don't have someone like that, then use a PO box or a service as Exterous mentioned.

 

[manlymatt83]

Thanks all! I wasn't so worried about updating my mailing address, but more-so making sure that changing my address didn't mess with my residency in my state, etc. since I'm not renting an apartment anymore for those few months.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Consider most businesses strive for paperless, and with the need of a permanent residence (e.g. apartment, house, etc.) then I would think the need is small for handling actual physical mail. And it can get even smaller if you rent a room, or such, that includes utilities.