Tips To Stay Safe When You Travel

And now a little something about safety and security:

--Don’t put all your business on social media. We’re so glad you’re having a grand time eating tapas in Madrid, but this also lets potential thieves know that your home is ripe for the picking. You might want to wait until you return to post your fabbo photos. Think about it: is there really a need to have live, arrival-to-departure coverage of your vacation especially if your home is unoccupied?

--Don’t leave your house and car keys in your hotel room. Why? The hotel knows just about all your business including your home address. The hotel knows you are not at home and if you are traveling with family, the hotel knows no one is home! While we like to think that hotels are honest Abes, an unscrupulous hotel worker can easily make copies of keys left in your room, send keys to their cousin who knows someone who lives in or near your hometown, and before you know it, they’ve walked into your home and helped themselves.

--Get to know your neighbors. This can be hard in this era of texting and emailing, but find a neighbor, friend or relative you can trust to go over to your place every few days and do a walkaround both externally and—if you really trust them—internally. Don’t forget to bring them back a thank you gift. We find a gift that can be consumed is always appreciated. You can also offer to do the same when they go away.

--Don’t think because you are vacationing in a gated, all-inclusive community that it’s necessarily safe. Hell, Attica is gated and all-inclusive and bad stuff happens there. Always be on the alert and exercise street smarts. Avoid dark or poorly-lit passageways, if you see something say something, if you get an ooky-spooky feeling go with your gut, and whenever possible, travel in pairs even if it’s just to get ice.