Travel Safety Tips

I'm not going to deny it ... I have the travel bug. I hear a lot of people say: "When I retire, I want to go to FILL-IN-THE-BLANK!" I can't wait until I retire to travel ... because I'm not quite sure if I will ever retire. I don't want to wake up some day years from now and have The Travel Regrets. When a travel opportunity knocks, I answer. I have been fortunate in my adult life to be able to travel to many exotic destinations. Each time I take a trip, I go through my mental list (now a physical list) to make sure my home and everything that I have left behind ... and that I (along with everything that I take with me on a trip) ... stay safe and sound.

Things you can do before you leave:

• Have the post office hold your mail. You can actually do it online at https://holdmail.usps.com. It takes less than 2 minutes ... and you don't have to worry that your mail is going to stack up on your front porch ... announcing that you are away. You might have a friend or neighbor check your mailbox ... because the Hold Mail system is not 100% fool proof ... and sometimes items are delivered on accident.
  
• Place your newspaper on hold also ... so they aren't piled up in your yard.

• Connect lights in your home to a timer. I found a couple easy-to-install models at Kansas City's local Westlake Ace Hardware Store: Woods Flip Switch Timer for only $20.99 and Coleman Cable Indoor 7 Day Digital Timer for only $16.99.
• Have a friend or neighbor check on your home periodically.
• Have someone maintain your lawn or shovel snow from your sidewalks and driveway to give your home the appearance that someone is home. If you don't want someone to shovel your drive, you can always ask someone to drive up and down your driveway to make it look like someone is coming and going.
• Contact your alarm company to inform them that you will be out of town, to make sure your contact information is still accurate, and to give them instructions on what you would like them to do if your alarm goes off. For instance, I inform my alarm company to call the police department immediately ... rather than go through the list of people to call.
• Call your credit card companies to inform them that you will be out of town. A lot of credit card companies will deny charges that occur outside of your home address ... unless you notify them. I tell my credit card companies the dates that I will be traveling and the specific locations that I will be visiting. I even go as far as telling them which airports I will be traveling through as to make sure my cards will work if I am stuck on a layover.
• If you are traveling out of the country, call your cell phone service to see if you will have service ... and at what price. I have been to a few countries where my cell service was charging $7.99 and $5.99 per minute for phone calls. The last thing you want is to return from a vacation with a hefty cell bill. Right before my last trip, T-mobile announced that they were going global ... which meant 20 cents a minute for phone calls and ... wait for it ... wait for it ... FREE text messaging! It seemed too good to be true ... but when I received my statement, I was NOT shocked with exorbitant fees.
• Move expensive items, like jewelry or cash, out of sight if they are visible from the window (this should become a habit even when you are home).

• Unplug any electrical devices that are unnecessary while you are away. Unplug your television, computer, toaster oven, and other appliances to protect them from power surges. Do this to save power as well. According to the Consumer Energy Center, many appliances use power even when they're turned off.
• If you live in a cold region of the world and your pipes are in danger of freezing during winter, you have another compelling reason to leave a house key with a friend while you're traveling. Ask your friend to stop by and check your faucets. If he or she turns on a faucet and only a few drops of water come out, your pipes may be frozen. Take other precautions like making sure your pipes are properly insulated or keeping your heat on while you're away. Another small step that I take is that I leave all of the doors open to my cabinets holding the pipes so that heat can reach them. Show your key-bearing companion the location of the water main shut-off in case a pipe breaks.

• Be careful what you say on your answering machine and/or voice mail. Callers don't need to know that you're not home -- they just need to know that you can't come to the phone.
• Leave your curtains exactly as you usually keep them when you're home, since noticeable changes could hint that you're not around anymore.
• Program important phone numbers in your cell phone before you leave. Make sure to add all of the toll-free numbers associated with all of the credit/debit cards that you are taking with you. Add your hotel's front desk, the number of your home country's nearest embassy, and the nationwide emergency number (such as 911 in the US and Canada, or 112 in many parts of Europe).
• Make 2 copies of your passport and credit/debit cards: leave one copy at home with a friend or family member and take the other with you on your trip. Be sure to keep the copy that you are taking with you in a separate place than the originals in case of theft.
• If you are going to be gone for several weeks, ask someone to start your car and possibly drive it around the block a few times to make sure your car battery stays charged. It sucks to come home to a dead battery (I've made that mistake at least once).

Things you can do while you are away:

• Use your initials on your luggage tags.
  
• Use your work address because your luggage will be seen by a large number of people that know you are out of town (baggage handlers).
  
• Secure valuables in a safety box at your hotel.
  
• Always use security locks on your hotel doors.
  
• Do not answer the door unless you are expecting company and you are certain who is there.
• Stay in hotels that have quality 24-hour security

• Check that your hotel room windows and doors are locked/secured
  
• Minimize your valuables. Don't take expensive jewelry or excessive amounts of cash.
• When you leave the room, leave the TV or radio on and/or put your "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door; both of these tricks will give potential thieves the impression that you're still there. You can contact the front desk to arrange a housekeeping visit even if the "Do Not Disturb" sign is up.
• If you do experience a crime during your trip, don't simply complain to your hotel -- file a police report as well. Your homeowners' insurance policy might cover certain loses during your travels, and the insurance company will need a copy of the police report and any other relevant documentation.
• After everyone leaves the hotel room, do one last sweep to make sure nothing has been left behind. Double check power outlets ... especially for phone chargers and computer chargers.
• Before exiting a taxi, double check the floor and seats to make sure you aren't leaving anything behind. The likelihood of ever seeing that taxi again is slim to none.
• If you have a rental car, avoid leaving anything in the front or back seats. Even if you consider something invaluable, a thief doesn't know the difference. An empty bag to you could mean valuable items to a thief. A thief doesn't know that something is worthless until after the window is broken and your personal belongings are rummaged through ... and then often taken and dumped in a trashcan never to be found.