I'm going away, how should I store my banjolele?

I got the Lanikai soprano banjolele in June and I am leaving for college in a couple days. I have heard that the bridge should be flattened, which I will do after I lightly mark where the bridge was.

But, should I take my strings off of it or loosen it? I believe they were Aquila's but I want to eventually try some D'Addarios on it. I'm taking my Oscar Schmidt OU3 instead of this one because it is less expensive.

Any recommendations for how I should store it? It game with a gig bag.

Just loosen the strings.

What I used to do with a banjo was mark the head with a light pencil on two perpendicular sides of the bridge, then loosen the strings enough to lay the bridge on its side, and that was it.

And make sure it is in a case, with a humidifier. Even the neck can get dry.

Good luck at school!

Mail it to me, I'll take care of it... ok, seriously, if it's just a week or two, don't worry. If it gets longer, loosen the strings a tone or two. Banjo ukes are usually reinforced so keeping them in tune isn't such an issue as wooden ukes.