Family Vacation Security Tips

Having a little family vacation security goes a long ways towards giving you peace of mind while you are away from home. There are a few simple steps you can take to ensure the security of your home while you are gone and the security of your family while you are vacationing.

Home Security while you are gone

As soon as you walk out the door of your home, your family is open to getting robbed. You need to take some simple precautions to prevent your home from being a target. The most important thing is to make your home look like you never left. Here are some simple tips:

* Keep your window shades and blinds in their normal position.

* Get a neighbor to pick up your mail every day or have a hold put on your mail at the post office.

* Put a couple of your house lights on a timer; to turn on and off when you are normally home.

* Have your lawn mowed while you are gone.

* Lock all your doors and windows.

* Ask your neighbor to park their car in your driveway a few times during the week, so your home looks lived in.

Family vacation security packing

Planning what you will bring along on your family vacation getaway is important. Here are some security tips that most police officers will counsel you to take along:

* Go through your purse or wallet and leave behind any non-essential credit cards and identification papers. Try to use traveler's checks (make sure you have their id numbers written down) and cash whenever possible.

* Men should never carry their wallet in their rear pocket, rather move it to their front pocket, remember you emptied it out, so it should be a lot smaller and lighter! Women, you want to carry your purse close to your body at all times and keep a good grip on it.

* Try to avoid packing large, heavy bags that slow you down and make you a candidate for getting robbed.

* Like the above, you also want to pack your luggage into bags that are not designer bags. You are advertising yourself and your money to robbers (i.e. they start licking their chops)!

* Write down all your credit card numbers and phone numbers on a piece of paper, have it laminated and keep it on yourself and your spouse in a hidden spot, that way if you get robbed, you can cancel your credit cards immediately.

* Keep a record of the contents in your luggage (perhaps you should take a picture of your open suitcase before you go). This will make it easier for you to file an insurance claim if you get robbed.

Going out and about

When you are on your family vacation getaway, you must remember that you tend to stand out amongst the crowd. A robber can target a tourist from a mile away and family vacationers tend to make easy targets, because they are usually distracted by their children.

* Do your best to blend in with the crowd.

* Leave your expensive jewelry at home and put your camera away after using it, especially if it is a nice camera.

* Study the map and know where you going before you leave. Families that keep circling around blocks and generally acting like they don't know where they are, make prime targets for robbers.

* When you leave your car, lock all the valuables in the trunk or out of site. Be especially careful about hiding any maps or guidebooks, this really advertises who you are.

If you are travelling abroad, make photocopies of your passports and have them laminated. Try to use this whenever possible and keep the real passports, secure and in a safe spot. If you carry a purse or wallet, throw a couple old expired credit cards into your wallet along with some cash but keep the real credit cards in a separate place. If your wallet gets stolen and a thief tries to use an expired card, the police can begin tracking them quicker and the theif may get frustrated and throw your cards away, because they know that lots of people carry "dummy credit cards" now-a-days.

If you are ever the victim of a hold up, give them your "dummy wallet" right away. Many times this dummy wallet will satisfy the robber and they will run off. If this doesn't satisfy them, dig in your pockets and give them what remaining cash you have. Don't risk your life over money, it is not worth it.

When you stay at hotels, try to get a 2nd floor room. Most robberies happen on the first floor, because of accessability. Also teach your kids to never open the door to anyone they don't know and always deadbolt the door when you are inside. Take advantage of the hotel safe and store your valuables inside. Too often, family vacationers will leave their valuables out on the table thinking their hotel room is safe, this is not true.

Your family vacation security is important and you should have a plan in place with your children in case you become separated or lost. Pick out a meeting place and make sure your children know how to get back to it in case everyone is separated.

Make your family vacation a fun, safe and memorable one by following these important family vacation security tips!