Making our home secure before we leave is a priority if we want to be truly relaxed on our vacation. We have so many things on our mind regarding our holiday, planning for it, that it is often easy to overlook this important issue. If we go on a holiday and start worrying about issues regarding our home, it would really defeat the purpose of having the holiday, won’t it? Wouldn’t it be just perfect for a burglar to know you are on vacation and break an entry? While there are no guarantees, it’s best that we do as much as we can. Go the extra mile now, instead of regretting later. Keep this as a handy check list for your benefit.
Doors and Windows
Secure all doors and windows. Dig out the keys, lock everything, if you can’t find them, look for them. But don’t leave anything unlocked. Don’t leave any keys hanging around either. 
Alarm Systems
Activate your alarm systems, for home and car. Make sure well in advance that they are operational. You don’t want to realize just when you are out of the house that they are not working. Also, try and change the combination to a new one just before you leave.
Lights
Leave a porch light or entrance light switched on. If you have a home automated system, you can set a timer and have a special system which randomly turns on and switches off lights inside your home. Even if you don’t have a home automation system, you get auto switchers. Install those.
Water and Gas
Make sure all faucets are repaired, don’t leave any dripping and make sure they are tightly closed. You don’t want to coma back from your holiday and find you have to swim through your home. Your gas connection needs to be closed well before you leave, and disconnected if possible.
Electrical Appliances and Switches
Disconnect all electrical appliances. Your TV, microwave, music system, computer etc. Unplug as much as you can before leaving. Switches also all turned off. Do turn off the fridge if possible too, while making sure you’ve emptied it as much as possible and cleared off all perishable food items in the house.
Outside
Keep away all expensive equipment into your garage and take care to lock it properly, including your bicycle and car. Mow your lawn just before you leave for your holiday, and if you will be away for more than a week, have someone do it for you while you are away.
Deliveries
Cancel all your deliveries. The accumulation of milk and newspapers is a dead giveaway that no one is home.
Valuables and Important Documents
Keep away all your important documents and valuables either hidden really well or stowed away in a bank safe. It’s best to put them in a locker, because somehow, apart from us, burglars know all our hiding places really well.
Advertise
DON’T do this. DON’T talk loudly about your travel plans in public places. And DON’T leave a message on the answering machine mentioning that you are on vacation. Instead, inform the people close to you that you will be away and they shouldn’t call you at home during that time.
Mail and Email
If you plan on a really long holiday, you can inform your local post office to hold all your mail till you get back and that you will collect it after you get back. Again, mail lying outside the house is a dead giveaway. Activate your “on vacation” setting on email to auto reply all incoming emails. You wouldn’t want clients thinking your rude and you don’t want to keep running to a computer to check your mails on a holiday, do you?
Pets and Houseplants
Arrange for a close friend or neighbour to check into your plants once in a couple of days. Leave your pets at a pet centre or with a friend.
Insurance Policies
Do make it a point to go through your insurance policy before you leave to check on the inclusions and exclusions. If needed upgrade / renew your policy.
Neighbours
Inform a close neighbour or a friend of your travel plans. Give them your telephone contacts in case there is an emergency and they need to call you. Make a copy of itinerary with the contacts numbers at destinations. Make photocopies, of your passport, hotel vouchers, travellers cheques and entrust them with a close neighbour, friend or relative.
The Action Plan
1. Keep a handy list and check off everything as your days of departure draw near.
2. Keep all your Insurance policies updated and check them all before leaving for inclusions and exclusions.
3. Make sure to get the alarm systems of your home and car tested before you leave to make sure they work.
4. The holiday is meant for you to go enjoy and unwind. Forget about your worries. Try to keep your home as secure as possible so that you don’t stress out on your vacation thinking about the things you forgot to check, seal or put away.
The whole idea of the holiday is to relax, enjoy the sun and the sea. Not worry about work or home. Be there in your destination and not back at home, mentally. The memories are to be cherished, but may not be so, if you come back from your vacation for a rude shock. We spend so much time and energy planning for a perfect holiday, it would be nice to truly come back HOME, and not come back to chaos.
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