How to Keep Your Home Safe over the Holidays While Traveling
It’s a wonderfully fun time of year when family and friends come together, however, it’s also a time when thieves creep and crawl about waiting for you to get a little side-tracked in hopes of you forgetting to lock the door or leave an opening that they can take advantage of.
If you are planning on doing some holiday traveling, or just leaving the home for an extended period of time, don’t let the exuberance of the season allow your home to become vulnerable. Don’t let some bah humbug ruin your holiday.
By performing a few simple tasks, you can help keep your home and family safe. Here are five suggestions to help you do just that.
Keep your travel plans offline.
A common scenario of an average person unintentionally posting their travel plans on social media.
A simple conversation online between friends has the possibility of allowing anyone who is listed on your account know that, A) you’ll be gone for the holidays, B) when you leave and C) when you return. All of this telling information in a simple exchange.
If a thief were to hear the slightest whisper of your holiday travel plans, knowing your home will be empty, you might reconsider your public chat to a more private and personal exchange.
In addition, posting your holiday photos also is a tell to possible intruders. Posting pictures of your entire family in a tropical destination saying, “We are so happy to be out of town for a couple of days.” Again, a simple statement that lets an untrustworthy person know you are gone.
Notify a neighbor.
Don’t dismiss the importance of having a helpful neighbor keep an extra eye on your home when you are away. Even if you aren’t necessarily friends with your neighbor, this is a great way to not only ask them to watch your home, but it is also a proactive way to keep the entire neighborhood safe.
If you feel comfortable you could also ask them to tend to your garbage and recycling bins, pick up your mail while you are away or even offer them a key in case of an emergency. At a minimum, you could give them your contact information for while you are away.
Hide any holiday gifts.
What can entice a thief more than a beautiful display of holiday gifts. If you are taking a trip for the holidays it’s best to keep the gifts out of sight. You don’t want to entice a burglar with an abundance of wrapped gifts under the tree that can be viewed from the windows.
Watch your holiday lights.
You don’t want folks to know that you are not home; therefore giving the impression that your home is occupied is one of the surest ways to deter theft.
Automatic timers are a great way to help with this task. You can set your interior lights to turn on for several hours each evening — you can even set the TV to turn on as well.
Leave your curtains in their normal position.
There are other little hints that thieves might pick up on as well, something as simple as the routine of opening and closing your curtains. If you normally keep your curtains open, when you leave for vacation, it’s probably best to leave them open when you are gone.
Just make sure to move any of your valuables out of sight.
The holidays are a wonderful time of year and with a few mindful tasks, you can assure your home will not become a target. Be sure to take the precautions you need in order to fully enjoy the season.