There are a million things to think about as you prepare to leave for your Summer vacation. You have to arrange for time off of work, make hotel reservations, and remember to pack everything that you need. Don’t forget to make sure your home will be secure while you are away! State Farm Insurance has some great advice about how to do that.
Most people cannot take a long vacation anytime they feel like it. You might have the right amount of vacation days saved up, but that doesn’t mean your boss is going to give you permission to use them. Families are going to want to wait until the kids are done with school before planning a family vacation to someplace special. Once those two factors get worked out, then it is time to start preparing.
Before you can relax on your summer vacation away from home, you will need to make sure that you get a lot of details taken care of. You might need to buy plane tickets, and make hotel reservations. Your entire family could need to buy new swimsuits, and may also need to pick up some more t-shirts, shorts, and other comfortable summer clothing.
Do you have enough suitcases to pack everything into? How are you going to make certain that you remembered to pack all the things that you wanted to bring with you? There are a lot of logistics to work out before you can relax on your vacation.
When people have their minds focused on their upcoming vacation, it is easy to see how other important things could be overlooked. July and August are the two most popular months of the entire year for people to go on a vacation. Those same two months are when the most home burglaries happen. This is not a coincidence.
State Farm has some great advice about things that you can do to keep your home protected while you are away. Some of these things are common sense, that you probably would recognize as necessary precautions if your mind were not so full of vacation preparation right now. You can use their blog as a handy checklist of things to do around your home before you travel.
One of the best pieces of advice on State Farm’s list, in my opinion, is to make sure that you have locked all of your doors and windows. While you are at it, make sure your garage is securely locked as well. If you find it convenient to go through your garage in order to get inside your house, so will a burglar. Even if your garage doesn’t connect to your house, lock it anyway. Don’t make it easy for thieves to walk away with your possessions.
It also isn’t wise to send tweets, or status updates, that let the whole internet know that you will be far away from home for a long period of time. You could be sending an open invitation to thieves.
Image by Alan Levine on Flickr