If Amazon accepts your reason for the return, they give you a link to a UPS label. You take your item to UPS, they scan the label, and that is that. UPS will pack it and send it back to Amazon. Once your item is in the UPS system, Amazon will refund you money, either to your card or as a credit.
Short answer is no, you don't have to be home if everything is in order. Most of the Amazon return that are done by “call tag” where the UPS driver attempts to pick up the package from a residence are now RS1s. Which means there is only one attempt to pickup the package.
You can have your shipment picked up from your home or office by scheduling your pickup online at the link below or by calling 1-800-PICK-UPS® (1-800-742-5877). UPS will pick up all packages with a single pickup request, you'll not be charged additional pickup fees per package.
You can call to schedule a driver pickup on the same day or a future day, with no limit on the number of packages. The fee is $6.80 per same-day request, or $5.80 for a future-day pickup. UPS Smart Pickup®.
Avoid placing two Forever Stamps on a mail piece for heavier mail. Additional ounces are much cheaper costing only $0.20 per additional ounce rather than $0.58 for a one ounce letter. If you add two Forever Stamps to a 2 ounce letter, you would be paying for an item that should only cost $0.78.
If it is a normal card with a giftcard it should weight between 1-2 ounces. If you have a mail or kitchen scale, weigh it for more accuracy. Should be two stamps.
Someone of average height can expect to take around 6250 steps over a 5k distance (based on an estimated stride length of 2.1 to 2.5 feet). Once you've crossed the finish line of your first 5k you can start working towards increasing your steps and taking on longer distances such as 10k events.