Have peace of mind that home will be as you left it. Follow these 22 essential steps to take before you leave on vacation.
Before you leave home for vacation, create a Departure Checklist. Here are 22 essential steps to take before you leave on vacation.
Check off each step as you complete it to keep your home safe. You want to return home to savor the wonderful memories you made while traveling. Do not deal with a home disaster. Have no need to call the police and/or the insurance company.
If you’re traveling for an extended time, two weeks or longer, check off these steps before you depart. Don’t share details about your trip on social media before you’ve left. It is a virtual invitation to criminals that your home is ripe for theft.
Social Media Oversharing:
Posting vacation itineraries before you depart or real-time photos with posts during your vacation reveals to the world that your home is empty, even when your post is only to friends and family. Those filters are far from perfect, particularly if your posts are reposted by others. Posting your travel details on any social media is no different from sending out a “virtual invitation” to every thief in your hometown. Wait until you return home to share your memories and photos. Your friends and family will still be interested.
Alert your credit card companies:
According to Experian, a multinational consumer credit reporting company, credit card companies generally don’t need you to warn them about domestic travel in the U.S. Some don’t require international travel notice. Unless you’re sure your credit card company knows you’ll be away, alert them.
If you don’t need it while on vacation, leave it at home.
Empty your wallet of unnecessary contents. Remove credit cards, IDs, membership cards, etc. from your wallet. Secure them at home. They can’t be lost or stolen while you’re away.
Notify your home security system call center. If you have a home security system that alerts necessary parties through a central station. Alert them before you travel.
Close and lock all your windows and doors. It goes without saying that you should close and lock your home’s windows and doors. Particularly check doors you rarely ever use.
Notify the police or management officer. If you live in a house. It may be wise to let the local police know you’ll be traveling. If you live in an apartment, tell the management office you’ll be away.
Put your mail and newspapers on hold. Ask neighbors to take them in until you return home.
Put a hold on your mail and newspapers. Have a friend collect them for you daily. If they can’t pick it up daily, put it on hold. You don’t need newspapers piling up at your door. Piling up mail and newspapers shout to criminals that you’re on vacation.
Arrange for packages to be taken in my neighbors. In this era of online shopping, packages left at the front door will announce that you’re on vacation. Haveneighbors them take them into their homes until your return.
Don’t leave your keys under the doormat or a nearby rock. Give your trusted nearby friends your keys to have in case of an emergency. It’s the safe way to help them help you. Make sure you give them your alarm codes if you have one.
While away on vacation, arrange for your plants, inside and out to be watered. Plus, from spring through fall, have your lawn cut.
Arrange for someone to water your plants. Don’t come home to dead plants, inside or out. Arrange to have someone water them while you’re away. Dead plants outside or seen through your windows say that you’re on vacation.
If you’re vacationing in summer, have your lawn cut. Traveling during the spring through fall, when grass grow. Make sure you’ve arranged to have your lawn (if any) mowed. especially if you’re away for an extended time. Like newspapers and mail left at your door, an unkempt lawn tells criminals you’re away from home.
Leave your thermostat at an appropriate temperature. Your heater/air conditioner thermostat should be set appropriately while you’re away. In winter, that’s essential to ensure your pipes won’t freeze. You don’t need emergencies that others will need to deal with for you.
Give your itinerary to family and friends. Leave your travel itinerary and all emergency phone numbers so we can contact you. Hopefully, an emergency won’t happen. But if it does, you’ll be glad you left them with your itinerary and phone numbers.
Bring in outdoor furniture, pool equipment, etc. Don’t leave anything outside of your home that can be stolen. Stow it away.
Put away valuables. Secure your valuables. A fireproof cabinet or safe in your home, hidden from view, is a great idea.
Put your inside lights on timers and your outside lights on sun sensors. Do not allow thieves to know that you’re on vacation.
Put your lights on timers. Put your indoor lights on timers to turn on and off to simulate how they would look from outside. Keeping indoor lights off at night for days would signal to criminals that you’re not home. Put outdoor lights on sun sensors so they turn on and off at the right time year-round.
Make sure smoke alarm batteries are fresh. Insert fresh batteries in your smoke alarms to prevent them from chirping loudly. Don’t alert criminals that you’re not home.
Leave curtains and shades as normal. Set your curtains and shades as you normally would so you don’t tip off criminals that you’re on vacation.
Consider a doorbell monitoring system. For peace of mind, consider installing a doorbell monitoring system. You can see who’s at your door and keep video proof, if necessary.
Take a photo of your stove and oven before you leave. Nothing is worse than having an uncertain feeling about whether your cooktop and oven were left on. Just before you leave, photograph them so you’re certain they’re off.
Emphasis — While away, stay away from Social Media.
Posting real-time updates about your location on social media is a bad habit.It signals to criminals that your home is empty. Broadcasting that you’re at a specific hotel, beach, or landmark also tells strangers exactly where to find you and exactly where you are not. In my opinion, travelers seriously underestimate how much information can be gleaned from a single online geotagged post or photo. Saving your travel memories and photos for after you return is one of the most effective ways to protect both your property and your physical safety.
Make sure your door is closed and locked. Test it before leaving.
Lock the door as you leave. Too many who take all the above precautions, too often forget to lock their door as they leave on vacation. Pull it closed. Engage the deadbolt lock. Test that the door is locked, then have a great time vacationing.
If you follow these commonsense steps, you’ll significantly increase the odds that you’ll have a great trip and return to an undamaged home.
(Image: American Airlines A319 landing at Philadelphia International Airport. Copyright © 2018 NSL Photography. All Rights Reserved. All TDM and AI Training are Prohibited.)
After many years working in corporate America as a chemical engineer, executive and eventually CFO of a multinational manufacturer, Ned founded a tech consulting company and later restarted NSL Photography, his photography business. Before entering the corporate world, Ned worked as a Public Health Engineer for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. As a well known corporate, travel and wildlife photographer, Ned travels the world writing about travel and photography, as well as running photography workshops, seminars and photowalks. Visit Ned’s Photography Blog and Galleries.
