Vacation Security Tips
Christmas break is fast approaching. Your whole family will be traveling out of state for the two weeks around Christmas and New Year’s Day. You are watching the news, and a report comes on about how there’s been a string of burglaries near where you live. You start thinking, ‘Am I next? What’s going to happen to my house when I am not here?” When you go on vacation, it’s to get away from the everyday worries that we carry with us on a regular basis. The one that won’t go away is worrying about the security of our homes. To take advantage of the full peace of mind you should be enjoying on your trip, here are some steps you should take to ensure that your house is protected.
Lock All The Doors
Locking your doors is the most basic thing you can do and the first thing you should do whenever you leave the house. Make sure all possible entryways to your house are locked, and if you have an alarm for your home, that should be turned on as well. If there are areas where you keep important documents, and you can put those under lock and key, or in a room that can be locked, you should do so. To be on the safe side, leave an extra key with a neighbor and let them know the dates of your trip. As you will see later in the article, a reliable neighbor can help with little steps that will add an extra level of security while you are away. Something else to think about is what your house will look like to a burglar.
There are some easy things you can do to make sure your house looks like someone is in your house even when you are on vacation:
- Leave a car in the driveway.
- Have a sign for an alarm system.
- Put lights on timers that will allow them to turn on for a few hours.
- Ask the local police to drive by a couple of times and make sure nothing seems out of the ordinary.
Don’t Post Information Online
Most of us love to post pictures and information about upcoming trips and exciting events. However, by doing so, you are letting the world know when your house is going to be empty. This is an open invitation to burglars. If you do want to post about your trip on social media, have your privacy settings to the highest level so only your friends can see your posts. This is not a surefire set-up, though, so you can always post updates after your trip to tell everyone how great it was.
Don’t Forget The Outside
If you get daily mail or newspaper delivery, what will happen to it when you are out of town? If you don’t do anything, people will take notice that there is a pile of paper outside your house. It is a pretty big giveaway that there is not someone home to collect them. There are two ways you can prevent this:
- Inform a neighbor and ask them to collect your papers and keep an eye on your house in general.
- Call your post office, inform them of the dates of your trip, and ask them to hold off on mail delivery. You can collect it from the post office when you return.
If your garbage company will be collecting trash, and you decide to put out your trash bins, make sure someone will be available to push them back to their usual place. Leaving them empty on the street is more evidence that no one is home to collect them. Vacations are supposed to be stress-free times. While no security method is a complete safety guarantee, you should be confident that you have done everything you could to keep your home safe. These practical instructions are the best course of action you can take to put your mind at ease and make your home secure while you are away. The best thing that can happen is that you return from your trip, and everything is exactly where you left it. To make sure the locks your house has are safe and secure, contact Get Locksmith.
