How to secure your home before travel

Before a trip, one of the most important things you can do is make sure your home is secure and looks lived in. Here’s a full checklist so you can have peace of mind while traveling.

What should you do before you leave?

• Put a few lights on smart plugs or timers to set an evening rhythm. It should look like someone is home in the evening, but make sure the lights aren’t on all night. If possible, make your outdoor lights motion activated.
• Stop your mail or have someone available to collect mail and packages daily. A pile up on the porch is a clear sign no one has been home. 
• Tell a trusted neighbor your travel dates and make sure they have a way to reach you in case of an emergency. 
• Set your thermostat to a sensible temperature. An overly hot house in the summer could turn into a fire hazard if appliances like the fridge are overworking. A house with no heat in the winter could turn into pipes bursting.
• Confirm your home security system is set up. Is your system armed? Do you know what to do if your alarm goes off?
• Don’t announce your trip publicly. Posting on social media that you’re leaving for two weeks is just confirmation that your house will be empty. 
• Lock everything. This is a no-brainer, but has to be said!

What if you have someone coming and going while you’re away?

For many frequent travelers, it’s important to have trusted individuals taking care of things back at home. Dog walkers, pet sitters, and house sitters may need access to your home while you’re away. 

• Make sure the key or code to enter the home is working. The last thing you want is to be hundreds of miles away and the person you’re counting on can’t get in. 
• Tell them how to arm and disarm the security system to prevent false alarms and ensure continued protection.
• Agree on a rough schedule so you know when they might be there.
• Make sure they know how to reach you if something happens.

This is often a stressor for travelers. Every person you let in is also a person who can trip your alarm. And when you’re traveling, can you actually be sure the person who walked in is the one you’re expecting? A traditional system can't tell you the difference between the dogwalker and an intruder, which is how trusted helpers become the most common source of false alarms.

This is what the Trusted Visitors feature is built for. HomeAware recognizes the people you've cleared — the sitter, the walker, the neighbor with a key — so their arrival reads as expected, not alarming. And when someone shows up who isn't on that list, you know immediately, and you can take action. That’s home awareness. 

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