How To Keep Your Home Safe While Traveling

You’ve submitted that PTO at work and booked a hotel, round-trip flight and car rental– all that’s left is to relax and enjoy your vacation! The last thing you want to worry about during your sacred time away is what’s happening at home when you’re gone. Whether you live in an apartment or a house, protecting your space is a big responsibility and, naturally, you want to keep it safe while you’re away. Follow these tips for keeping the inside and outside of your home secure while you’re off making memories to last a lifetime.

Protecting Your Home’s Interior

• Indoor Security Cameras: There is no better way to achieve peace of mind than by having a reliable indoor home security camera system. We love Google’s Nest Cam 2nd Gen Indoor Wired Security Camera because it’s designed to fit any home style and gives homeowners the ability to access footage 24/7! Not to mention, it connects seamlessly with your Google account so you can access all of Google’s enhanced safety features.
• Timed Interior Lights: Always remember to plug indoor lights into timers. The great thing about doing this is that it gives the illusion that you’re home to any potential intruders who may be on the watch. Timers are very easy to set up and provide that extra peace of mind. Are you home, or are you off enjoying a tropical escape? No one ever has to know!
• Smartphone Monitoring: There are some handy apps out there that will help keep your home safe while you’re away. A few of our favorites for security monitoring specifically are: ADT Control, SimpliSafe Home Security and Vivint Smart Home. Pet monitoring apps are also a purr-fect idea for those who have to leave their fur babies at home while traveling. The most popular app on the market for pet monitoring is the Furbo app, which allows you to speak to your pets and reward them with treats! Keep in mind, you must purchase the camera unit separately. But, if you only need to keep an eye on your pet pals, the Nest Cam is great for that too.
• Social Media Safety: This is more of a suggestion, but we find this tip useful when wanting to keep your home off anyone’s radar. Go for it, capture all your amazing vacation memories on your device, but it’s best to wait on posting all of those fun pics on the ‘gram’ until you’re back home.

Protecting Your Home’s Exterior

• Outdoor Security Cameras: While the interior camera option listed above is great for the inside of your house, you’ll need something a little more durable for the outside. One of our favorite outdoor options right now is the Google Nest Cam With Floodlight. This camera has incredible features like an attached floodlight that can detect motion and the ability to speak through a microphone if you notice an animal or unfamiliar person. Also, it’s ideal for your indoor and outdoor camera system to be able to connect seamlessly so that you can access everything in one place.
• Smart Door Locks: You’ve probably heard this before– hiding the keys to your house under a doormat or around the entrance is always a bad idea. For this reason, we recommend having a smart lock system installed for your front and back doors. Easily allow a trusted neighbor to pop in with the code while preventing others from entering.
• Plant and Pet Sitters: During long trips, you want to avoid the appearance that your home is left vacant. The grass can get long and plants start to wilt, indicating the owner of the home is on vacation. Whether you need someone to mow the lawn, pet-sit or water your plants, you probably want to know the best place to find the right people for the job. Rover is a top-rated app for pet-sitters. The sitters are ranked with badges and reviews so you can feel at ease entrusting your pets to them. As for plant and lawn maintenance, LawnStarter is a great tool. It connects you with the best and most affordable landscaping services in your region. Trusting who takes care of things while you’re away allows you to take that next step into a worry-free vacation.

We hope these tips and home safety product suggestions offer you that rest and relaxation you deserve, because worries have no place on any vacation! At Victra, we are excited to provide all of the safety tech suggestions you need to prepare your home, from security cameras to app recommendations and devices. Your local Verizon Victra store has you covered.