We all love vacations, but we also want to find things as we leave them when we return home. While burglars love to take advantage of vacation absences, there are many things you can do to keep your home safe while you are away. With a little advance planning, you can fool would-be thieves into thinking you’re still home.
Home Safety Steps to Take Several Days Before Departing
Stop delivering mail and newspapers or arrange for someone to collect your papers and mail. The United States Postal Service will hold your mail for up to 30 days. You can stop your mail in person at any post office or request the Hold Mail service online. Call your newspaper to book vacations; The circulation department will be happy to assist you.
Walk around your house and look at your yard. If shrubs and bushes obscure your windows and doors, trim them. Thieves love to take advantage of the screening offered by overgrown bushes.
Avoid discussing your vacation plans on social media like Facebook and Twitter. Thieves have been known to check social media and target the homes of people on vacation.
Ask a friend or neighbor to check your house every day and pick up any packages left at your doorstep if you don’t plan on hiring a house sitter or pet sitter. Inform several neighbors that you will be away and ask them to call the police if they notice unusual activity in your home.
Buy light timers if you don’t have one.
Place a metal or wooden rod inside the track of your sliding glass door. This will prevent potential thieves from opening the sliding door from the outside.
Check the bulbs in your outdoor lamps. Replace any that are burned out.
If you have hidden a key outside your home, remove it.
Home safety tips for your day out
Set multiple light timers in multiple rooms and make sure they are scheduled to turn on and off at times that match your usual room light usage pattern.
Turn off alarm clocks and clock radios so that people outside your home cannot hear them make noise for long periods of time.
Lower the ring volume on your phone and set your voicemail to be heard after one ring. A phone that rings endlessly indicates that there is no one home to answer.
Store barbecues, lawn tools, bikes, and other items that you might normally store on your porch or in your yard. If you store these items in an outdoor shed, close the shed before your trip begins.
Turn off or unplug your garage door opener. If you have an attached garage, close the door between the garage and the rest of your home.
Leave the exterior lights on. If your lights are on or triggered by a motion sensor, make sure your lighting system is set to work while you’re away.
Check all doors and windows to make sure they are closed. Lock your shed too.
Home safety tips for longer trips
Arrange for a neighbor or friend to move the cars in your driveway to different positions every few days. This will give the impression that you are running errands or going to work.
Have someone cut the grass regularly. If you are traveling during the fall months, consider hiring someone to rake your leaves as well.
Unplug appliances that you will not use during your absence. This will save you money and reduce the risk of electrical fires. Do not unplug your refrigerator unless it is completely empty and clean and you can lock the door in the “open” position without any possibility of closing.
During the winter months, ask a friend or neighbor to check the weather forecast and come over to your house to have the taps drip if a severe freeze is expected. Coming home to burst pipes and flooded rooms is every traveler’s nightmare.
