If you plan to be out of town (or away from email) for longer than a few days, you can use the Vacation/Hold feature to put your bookshelf on hold if necessary. If you make short trips, you can keep your bookshelf available, since the sending deadlines are reasonable: You have 4 full days to respond to an incoming request, and a maximum of 7 days after accepting a request to mark a book mailed. 

If you are going to be away from home and/or email for less than 4 days:

• You can keep your bookshelf available
• Accept requests 4 days after they are submitted to you. That will give you 7 days after the acceptance date to mail, and then mark the book as "mailed"
• If you will have access to email at least once every 48 hours, you will be sure not to miss any Wish List offers
• If you will NOT have access to email at least once every 48 hours, you should set any Wish List items you are close to #1 in line for to auto-request (note: you have to have enough credits --and PBS Money for Swap Fees, or "Free Swaps" if you are not enrolled in Standard Membership--in your account to "cover" auto-requests)

If you are going to be away from home and email for more than 4 days:

• Put your bookshelf on Hold to prevent incoming requests.
• This will put your Wish List on hold too; if you want to set Wish List items to auto-request, be sure you have credits to "cover" them.

There is no limit to how long a Boxer has to respond to a Box-O-Books offer.

• However, you may want to "pause" your Box-O-Books service if you plan to be away for a week or more.

If you are out of town a lot you need to be sure to make arrangements for your incoming mail

• You'll need to be sure your mail will be held/taken in - not returned "unclaimed" by your PO.
• You don't want to make senders wait too long for their credits (that's not fair)
• If a book is declared "lost" while you are away, you need to mark it received from your Transaction Archive when you return.
• If you travel a lot (ie, you don't have a permanent address), it may  not be possible for you to participate in the club. Media Mail can take weeks to arrive, and Media Mail packages are not routinely forwarded, so you do need a reliable mailing address at which you will be able to retrieve packages promptly.

Related links:
How the Vacation/Hold feature works
What is the auto-request feature on the Wish List, and how does it work?
How does the Vacation Hold affect My Bookshelf?
How does the Vacation Hold affect My Wish List?
How does the Vacation Hold affect Box-O-Books?
How does the Vacation Hold affect PaperBackSwap emails?
I will be away from my account for a prolonged time; how should I handle this?
Can I see my past transactions?
Swapping Deadlines
I have two residences with books in both places; how can I manage my PBS account?