5 Ways To Protect Your Home While You’re On Vacation

One of the worst things that can ruin your vacation is the constant worry that you’ve left your house completely unprotected.

Assume you’re relaxing on a beach somewhere overseas when your mind wanders to whether or not someone has broken into your house.

Is there a way to know for sure? And is there a way to prevent this occurrence from happening?

Well, we’ve curated a list of the top five things you can do to protect your home and put your mind at ease while you’re away on vacation. Read on to learn all about it.

Hire Someone to Housesit for You

Did you know that there are apps, house sitting websites, and other online services that will connect you to house sitters around your area?

It’s a win-win! You provide free rent for the house sitters, and they ensure yours (and pets if you have them) stay well cared for!

For example, if you need someone to bring in the mail, water the plants, or look after a pet, then house sitters are great. Now, ‘bringing in the mail’ might sound like a trivial thing.

But a mailbox that’s overflowing with letters, newspapers, and leaflets is a dead giveaway that nobody’s been home in quite some time.

You can use the following popular and trusted house sitting services to find your next house sitter:

• Trusted Housesitters
• Mindahome
• Aussie House Sitters
• American House Sitters

Plug-in Light Timers

What if you’re not worried about your letterbox appearing full, or don’t need someone to take care of your house or pets while you’re away? Then house sitting may not be the perfect option for you. But how else can you make it seem like someone is living in your house while you’re away?

Well, there’s a very affordable option for you. You can easily buy a timer for your lights in any hardware or department store near you. Security light timers allow you to program a time for your home lights to turn on automatically.

This means that at a set time, it’ll look like someone is switching the lights on in your house when it gets dark. This is a great way to deter burglars from targeting your home while you’re away. 

Light timers can cost you anywhere from $10 to $30, so they’re a great investment if you want to ensure the safety of your home. However, these timers aren’t just limited to controlling the home lights. 

You can also find timers that allow you to plug a radio in. This way, it’ll turn the radio on and off on a preset schedule so it can sound like people are either talking or listening to music in your house.

Refrain From Sharing Too Much Information Online

Finally, the last thing you want to do is announce that you’re going on vacation. As well as disclose the fact that your home will be unoccupied and vacant for a certain period.


While it’s tempting to let everyone you know on social media that you’re having fun, this can make it easy for intruders to make your home their next target.

Instead, you should make sure to take photos and videos of your time on holiday and simply not post them right away. Instead, wait until your trip is over and you’ve returned home before posting anything online.

Install Security Cameras and Alarms Around Your Home

Visual deterrents are very effective against burglars and intruders. Usually, homes that have a built-in security system will have a security company’s sticker placed on their windows. These stickers are a very effective way of informing others that your home is perfectly secured. 

But the sticker isn’t the only thing that will help protect your house. A security alarm will immediately sound and scare any unwanted individuals from entering your home. Some security alarms and systems will even contact local reinforcements as soon as the system detects an intruder. 

And security cameras will make sure to catch any potential culprits. And if you spend a little bit more money, you can even get yourself a security camera that connects to your wi-fi. This way, you can check what’s happening in or around your home at any time as long as you are connected to the internet.

Let Those You Trust Know That You’ll Be Away

Let’s say that you don’t exactly want someone to live in your house while you’re away. But you’d still appreciate having someone take care of it while you’re away.


Then you can also easily enlist the help of any of your friends, family members, or even your neighbors. In case you intend to be gone for quite some time, you can always ask them to check in on your home just to ensure that everything is okay.

You can even request that your next-door neighbor park their car in your driveway rather than their own. This gives the impression that someone is at home. They may even assist you in bringing in any letters, newspapers, or leaflets that may have accumulated in your letterbox.

Travel With Peace of Mind

We hope that you found our top five tips for keeping your home secure while away to be helpful. It’s easy to be anxious about leaving your home and traveling far away, but you really should let this ruin your holiday.

Your best option is to have someone in the home, using house sitters, is a great free way to ensure your home is well protected.

Need a House Sitter?

Below are some of our favorite places to find a house sitter.