Vacations are a great time to leave your worries behind and enjoy a change of scenery while being safe in the process. Travel safety actually starts before you even leave for your vacation. Keep these tips in mind the next time you plan on going out of town for a few days.
Make It Look Like You Are Home
It’s important to make it look like you are home, even when you aren’t. Instead of leaving your outside lights on while you are away, set them on a timer to make it look like you are turning them on at night and off in the morning. Stop your mail temporarily so that it’s not piled up in the mailbox. Have a friend or neighbor you trust put your trash out on garbage collection days.
Beware Of What You Post On Social Media
Many of us want to share our excitement before our adventures even begin. Unfortunately, this can open us up to some potential safety hazards. It’s tempting to post a status update about your travel plans on Facebook or Twitter, but these innocent posts can let others know that you won’t be home. As tempting as it is to post a picture of your plane ticket or your swanky accommodations on Instagram, you really are just letting criminals know that your house is free reign for them because you aren’t home. If you really want to tell the world about your trip and let them see your awesome adventures, wait until you are home to post those fabulous pictures or to talk about all the neat places you visited.
Survey Your Home
Walk around your home, during the day and at night to make sure that you can’t see in any of the curtains or blinds. They may look like they are closed from the inside, but strangers may be able to actually see inside of them which can alert criminals that no one is home. Double check to make sure all of the doors and windows that you think are locked actually are. Remove any spare keys that you have hidden on the outside of your home.
While vacationing, we want you to be safe. Always take the proper safety precautions before you leave for your trip to ensure that you won’t find that someone has broken into your house or vandalized your property while you were out of town. Do you have any other tips you’d like to share with us?
