There are two types of people who own different mindsets when leaving their home alone to go traveling, for a few days, a week, or even a few months: The one person doesn’t give a crap about safeguarding their home because they feel locking the doors and windows is just about the right amount of reassurance they need to leave their house without feeling guilty or worried AND the anxious wreck, who will worry about their homes throughout the majority of their journey away, possibly tarnishing the enjoyment of their trip. Being so far away from home can leave some people feeling powerless as they are not in a position to head home if something terrible happens.
This post is for the second mindset. Here are a few points for preventing your nerves from taking over your travels, and in the worst-case scenario cures just in case the prevention side of things doesn’t work out. Before you go away, here are some things you can put in place to maintain some control over your residence.
House Sitters
If you have a responsible, willing parent who hasn’t set fire to theirs or anyone else’s house in the last decade, you may want to invite them to stay in your pad, to give you the gift of safety and watch over your castle. You can stay in contact with them, and they might even contact you a few times to ask where you keep the towels, cumin, and the contact details for cleaning and restoration services to take care of a small flood in your home. Having someone you trust to stay in your home may prevent your anxiety from going haywire on your travels.
CCTV/Door Entry
If you don’t have any friends or you feel the fear of your mom rummaging through your stuff far outweighs the worry of leaving your house unarmed, you could consider an alternative in creating a big brother system for your home. Attaching security cameras to your home and/or a door entry system that you can preview in real time on your mobile will enable you to see the goings on around your house. Installing such devices will give will allow you to keep a watchful eye of your dwelling and means you can alert the police if someone shady is lurking around your property.
Automated Lights System
Unless someone is hawking your home likened to the robbers on home alone, they’re unlikely to notice that your lights switch on at precisely the same point every single night. You can set up your auto lights system before your departure abroad. This will present the illusion that someone is in your home, and could act as a deterrent to ward off robbers and youths mucking around your area.
Car Keys
Ah! The car key conundrum, there’s much debate over whether you should take your keys with you abroad, or leave them in plain sight in the porch for burglars to smash and grab and prevent colluding around the entirety of your home. The thought process behind leaving easily accessible car keys is; it could stop robbers sabotaging your things. Such as, marking their territory, graffitiing and doing whatever else robbers feel necessary while searching for your car keys. This will also prevent an ensue of panic and obligatory emergency calls and google searches for situations such as, ‘water damage cleanup in my home’ and ‘how to fix the coffee table.’
Where you leave your keys is dependant on your circumstances. For instance, if your car is ancient, burglars are unlikely to need the keys at all to break in to and start the vehicle. If you have a garage you can use, lock your car away to prevent ease of access. If you have a super expensive car, maybe move it to one of your family members or friends garage so that they may take care of it (and most likely drive it in your absence). If these options are not possible, and you value your home and its contents over your car, maybe leave the car keys somewhere accessible in the house to prevent further damage being caused.
The worst-case scenario is your vehicle is stolen, and you will need to contact the police/insurance company in the hope that either your vehicle is found, or you can claim the money back for your loss.
The options mentioned above are just a few of the things you can install and initiate to increase the safety of your home, and it’s protection in your absence. Investing in the above points will hopefully prevent your anxiety taking away the fun from your trip.
