Going on Vacation? How to Make Sure Your Home is Protected While You are Away
Can’t wait to get away? You deserve it after all that hard work and planning. While you’re packing, don’t forget to take a few minutes to plan for keeping your home safe while you’re away. A bit of planning goes a long way! These simple tips from AlertID and the National Crime Prevention Council can make a big difference and give you peace of mind while you are away:
- Be aware of what’s happening in your area before you leave by enrolling in AlertID’s free program that sends you crime, sex offender alerts as well as alerts about safety from neighbors. Knowing what crimes have happened in the area can help you to prepare your home for when you leave (enroll free at www.AlertID.com).
- Get to know your neighbors before your trip. Neighbors who look out for each other are among the best and least expensive defenses against neighborhood crime.
- Have a neighbor park a car in your driveway to make it appear as if someone is home.
- Ask a neighbor pick up your mail and newspapers while you are away (or you can have both held for you until you get home).
- Make sure your doors, screen doors and windows are locked. Place dowels in tracks of big windows and glass sliding doors to ensure that they won’t open.
- Do a little yard work before you leave the house for an extended period of time. Trim your hedges and bushes so thieves don’t have a place to hide out, and having yard work done gives the impression your home has not been left unattended and vacant.
- Deterrents work. Get a large dog bone and/or a “Beware of Dog” sign even if you don’t own a dog. If a criminal thinks you may have a large dog, they are much less likely to try to come in your yard or your home.
- Leave your itinerary with family or a trusted friend to let them know where you are going and when you’ll return.
- Make sure all outside entrances of the home are well-lit. A timer or solar-powered lights on the front, back and side of the house make it difficult for burglars to hide. Also, leave a timer on for a light inside your home that comes on every few hours so that it’s not predictable and gives the appearance that someone is home.
- Invest in an alarm and use it.
- Do not post upcoming vacations on Facebook, Twitter or any other social media outlets. You’d be surprised how fast that information can travel on the information highway—and sometimes to the wrong computer screens. Vacations are meant to be fun times with the family and friends, not a time for convenience for thieves and potential burglars.
So now that you are prepared and packed, have a great time and rest easy knowing that your home is taken care of while you are gone – now grab your bags and go have fun!
Happy and Safe travels!
Written by AlertID Founder, Keli Wilson.