Travel Tips : Home Safety
Most of us would love to go on holidays but fear the thought of our house being burgled while we are away. The same amount of care needs to be put in protecting our belongings as in planning a holiday. Here are a few important tips to help safeguard your house while you are away on vacation.
Don’t let the cat out of the bag: Most of us tend to brag about the holiday to almost everyone we meet. Though it may feel good to tell people you are going on holiday, it may not be the brightest of ideas to inform everybody about the trip.
Word tends to get around that you are going on a holiday and there would be no one home. What more would a burglar want? So, keep the news to yourself and let only a very few trusted friends in on your plans.
Take Care of Milk and Newspaper Delivery: One of the first things you need to do would be to suspend the milk and newspaper service for a few days till you come back. The sight of uncollected milk bottles and newspapers on the front porch would give any bystander the idea that there is no one home.
Ask neighbors for help: Alternatively, you can arrange for a neighbor to collect the newspapers and milk. Ask them to keep an eye out for suspicious people. Another very good idea would be to ask your neighbors to help you out by cleaning your front porch, parking their car on your driveway or putting an extra bag of garbage at the front of your house. This makes the house look lived in and would tend to ward of nosy intruders.
Check all the locks before leaving: Make sure all the locks are secure before you leave the house. Most of us would tend to leave in a hurry and in the process, leave something unchecked. Be sure to take some time to carefully examine every nook and corner of the house before finally making sure everything is tight and secure.
Garages can be easily opened and you can opt to lock the garage with multiple locks in addition to using a piece of wood or some other article to jam the lower track of the garage door.
Home Alarm Systems: It pays to actually get a high quality lock or a deadbolt system to secure your house before you leave. This way, you can breathe easy and enjoy the holiday without having any apprehensions.
Most of the modernized homes come with home security systems that can be activated when owners need to be away for some days. Consider getting a high end security alarm system to alert neighbors if any intruders decide to break in.
Some of the most important components of a security system would include motion sensors in almost all the rooms of the house, detectors at the doors and a very loud alarm that can be heard even from a few blocks away. You can also choose to install motion detectors near the front and back doors in addition to installing a few sensors in the front lawn.
If you think installing high end security systems may not be cost effective in terms of your budget considerations, go for automatic light timers. Comparatively cheaper, these light timers trigger lights to go on and off in the house at various times of the day. You can program the timers to alter their pattern so that burglars don’t catch on to the trick.
Leave contact number for emergencies: Just because you thought of every possible safety feature in detail doesn’t mean your house is completely safe from burglars. It is best advised to leave a contact number with your neighbors for unforeseen emergencies.
You can also opt to provide them with an alternate pair of keys. Another good idea would be to leave a contact number of a relative who resides nearby and can drive down if there is any emergency.
Keep all these pointers in mind while planning your next holiday. This way, you can make the entire experience more relaxed and joyous for everyone rather than fretting about what’s going on at home.
