When you are traveling, it is only natural that you are going to worry about your home and whether it is secure or not. In fact, worrying about home security is one of the most common causes of travel stress. You can’t enjoy your trip if you are constantly worried about somebody breaking in or a fire starting at home, so it’s important that you take steps to protect your home before you leave. These are some of the best ways to keep your home safe while you travel.

Move Valuables Into Storage

If you are taking a long trip and you are worried about somebody breaking in, there are a lot of things that you can do to secure your home. But before we consider how to keep your home safe, it’s important to remember that there is always the chance of a break in, no matter how well protected you are. That’s why it’s a good idea to move valuables into a convenient self storage unit while you are away. That way, you can relax because you know that, even if somebody does manage to break into your home, all of the most valuable items are protected. Burglars will usually look in through windows to see if they can see anything worth stealing, so moving valuables out of the house makes you less of a target.

Deal With Mail

When burglars are looking for houses to break into, they will often check to see whether there is a lot of mail piled up on the doorstep. If there is, that’s a sign that people are out of the house and their house is a good target. It’s important that you ask a neighbor to pop round and pick up your mail, so it’s not so obvious that you are away. Having somebody go to the house and check for any problems will make it a lot easier for you to relax as well.

Make sure the outside of your home looks cared for

One of the things that burglars look for in a home that looks unkempt from the outside. This is because such a lack of care often indicates additional vulnerabilities such as poor security measures.

Also, those with nefarious intentions love it when there is plenty of cover around a home such as bulky trees and bushes, as well as old items of furniture that haven't been disposed of properly. After all, it makes it that much easier to get into and out of your home unseen, while you are away.

With these things in mind, tidying up the outside of your home if you are going away, especially for a longer trip is vital. Be sure to clean up the front of your home so it looks well cared for. Get rid of any excess foliage, and be sure to donate any old items of furniture to charity too. You can even make use of a Donation Pickup service here to make things easier. Then you won't have to move a muscle and they will come and get any unwanted items of furniture for you from your address.

Be Careful On Social Media

Burglars often scan social media to find people that are away, so they can break into their homes. A lot of people don’t realize this and they post lots of pictures of their trip on social media while they are away. Even though you want to share your trip with friends and family, it’s best to wait until you get back, so you don’t put yourself at risk. It’s especially important that you don’t post a picture of your boarding pass because criminals can find out a lot of information about you, even if you blank out your name and address.

Use Timers On Lights

If the lights are never switched on, that’s an obvious sign that nobody is in the house. But you can get around that problem easily if you just use timers on your lights. You can get some great timer plugs and plug a lamp into them so the lights come on in the evenings and make it look like the house is occupied.

Follow these simple safety tips and you can make sure that your home is secure while you travel.

*contributed post*