Community Forums

AJMike · 01-06-2023, 05:57 AM

For those who are full-timers there are mail forwarding locations, and for short camping trips the Post Office will hold mail for up to 30 days. But what do people do for medium length trips of, say, 45-60 days? It is too long for the Post Office and seems too short to change al of your mail to one of the mail forwarding businesses, and then have to change it back when you return.

I have been thinking about spending a couple of months next Winter in someplace that is both warm and near the ocean, but have no idea what I would do with my mail for that length of time.

Most of what I get is junk mail, but it sill accumulates and will overflow my mailbox quickly enough, and there are some utilities around here that do not allow auto-pay so their bills are important.

**pasdad1** · 01-06-2023, 06:53 AM

Setup an account at a mail forwarding service. Then do a temporary forwarding order thru USPS from your residence to the mail service.

The temp forwarding order will expire when you say, and then mail resumes arriving back at your permanent residence.

You have the mail forward service ship all the mail that got sent while away, back to your home, and it’s done.

P.S. the mail forwarding services will just junk the coupons, advertising flyers, etc so you don’t pay to have them sent back to you!

**Camp CA** · 01-06-2023, 07:12 AM

One of my neighors picks up the mail and checks the house while we are gone.

algolfer · 01-06-2023, 07:36 AM

Although the post office mail delivery stop yellow card indicates mail cannot be held longer than 30 days, they routinely hold our mail for 2 -3 months while we are gone. Never had a problem. We return and I can catch up with my junk mail.

largo1005 · 01-06-2023, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by algolfer

Although the post office mail delivery stop yellow card indicates mail cannot be held longer than 30 days, they routinely hold our mail for 2 -3 months while we are gone. Never had a problem. We return and I can catch up with my junk mail.

Same at our small town Post Office.

K Charles · 01-06-2023, 07:48 AM

We asked the PO what if I made out two cards and they said to just put the dates on the one card.

**pasdad1** · 01-06-2023, 08:22 AM

The problem with just having mail held for 2 months, is what happens when a jury summons, or other very time sensitive item shows up?

The benefit of having it temporarily forwarded to a mail service, is the mail services send emails every time mail arrives, and give you the option to have it scanned electronically so you can view it over the internet.

The jury summons arrived for my spouse, and by having it opened and scanned we could see the dates, and contact the county to get excused since we were a long ways away.

WeRetired · 01-06-2023, 08:23 AM

We have talked to Post Office and they work very well with additional time over the 30 days. We are also in a very rural community so that prolly helps.

Gary RVRoamer · 01-06-2023, 10:35 AM

Often a smaller rural post office can be flexible, but these days mail stops or forwards are often handled by a regional sorting facility and the local PO never gets involved if you simply fill out the online form and send in a paper one.

The simplest solution is temporary forwarding, e.g. to a friend or neighbor, or possibly to your winter location if they will accept mail for you. You can also forward to General Delivery at whichever post office near your location accepts GD. Usually only one PO in a city does General Delivery, so verify before setting it up.

dvspl · 01-06-2023, 11:55 AM

We have a neighbor pick up our mail every 2-3 days. We have a bird that has to be fed every few days so the same person does both. We also use the Post Office Informed Delivery system (https://www.usps.com/manage/informed-delivery.htm) so we can see the exterior of our mail every day. If we see one of those rare important pieces of mail, we call and ask our neighbor to open it or forward it to us.

Dutch Star Don · 01-06-2023, 03:39 PM

Another thought if you have the mail delivered to a mailbox at your house. Install a mailbox, that drops the mail into a chamber and is retrieved through a locked rear door, like an actual old blue mailbox on the corner. Many have them made out of brick or stone.

I would do above at my home, but we're forced to use "gang" mailboxes at the end of the street.

SeeTheUSA · 01-06-2023, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by algolfer

Although the post office mail delivery stop yellow card indicates mail cannot be held longer than 30 days, they routinely hold our mail for 2 -3 months while we are gone. Never had a problem. We return and I can catch up with my junk mail.

Pretty much same here. We have been gone as long as nearly 5 months this way. Have done it like this for years. Helps that we’ve befriended our carrier, great person, gets a bit of a tip at Christmas. Same for the predecessor and the one before that.

AJMike · 01-06-2023, 04:20 PM

Thank you all for the information. I did not know that the PO might hold mail longer than 30 days. But I still have a question. The suggestions that I use a temp forwarding to send the mail to a mailbox service - for how long can a temp forwarding be valid?

twogypsies · 01-06-2023, 04:48 PM

The easiest is to have a friend, neighbor, relative pick up the mail every 2-3 days. If you're expecting something important have them send it to General Delivery at a 'small' town you'll be near. Don't pick a large city post office. Nightmares can happen. 45-60 days isn't long so you might not even need anything sent to you.