Home Security Vacation Tips

Summer time, winter time.  Great times to go on vacation.  I always look forward to a long trip to visit my sisters in Washington or Hawaii.  I've never been to Europe, but I'll probably go someday.  Hey, it's fun to just relax and be a tourist for a few days and not be a worker bee.

But there was one time when my apartment was broken into and I felt like crap after coming home.  Luckily I didn't have much taken away from me -- a small TV, a VCR (yes, this was before DVDs), a couple of collectible action figures.  They didn't take my desktop computer for some reason.

In any case, I learned to take precautionary measures whenever I'm off for a week or two on vacation or business trip.  Here's just a quick list of home security vacation tips that I'd like to share with you.  You can probably scour the website and get the same.  That's how I got 'em, but these safety measures are common sensical stuff.

• Check to make sure that all locks are working on doors and windows.
• Keep your house or apartment looking lived-in and not empty.  My parents use to clean up our house just before leaving for vacation.  It's better to do the contrary.
• Ask some neighbors to keep an eye out.  If possible, be sure to leave a telephone number to reach you with one of them, in case of an emergency.
• If you have a smoke and burglar alarm, make sure they're working properly and that they're activated when you leave.
  
• Turn down or off the ringer on your telephone.  This is a big one especially if you're in an apartment so that your next door neighbors don't complain to you.
• Ask a friend or relative to pick up your mail and newspapers.
• If you're gonna be gone for a very long time and you have a yard with plants and grass, be sure that someone cuts your grass and waters your plants so that the house looks lived in.
• If you can, get a timer to turn your TV and lights on and off during times when you'd be normally home.  I have a living room lamp rig to a timer in my house.
  
• Do not change the message in your answering machine.  Do not announce to the world that you've gone away for vacation.
• If possible, leave your car parked as you normally would.  In other words, do not suddenly park inside a closed garage if you don't normally do so.
• Consider using a safety deposit box to store valuables that you cannot live without.  I believe that banks offer these boxes.