Travel & Leisure - Your Personal Security - On Vacation And At Home.

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Your Personal Security - On Vacation And At Home.

Ray Mack

Every year we spend our hard-earned salaries on achieving a perfect vacation, often taking for granted our personal security at two levels - while we're actually in that sunsoaked resort, and of course back in our vacant home, which forlornly awaits our return!

Zeroing right in to the issue, there are three key danger areas which you should keep in check; Your home; the vacation beach and on resort streets.

Before you leave your home to start your hard earned vacation, you should carry out a simple routine that will give you peace of mind as well as the best chance possible that your home and belongings will still be there when you return.

We all have things delivered to our homes. Two top deliveries are our newspapers and our mail. These should be cancelled or picked up on our behalf. If you have a trusted neighbor or friend give them a key to check your home while you are away.

There are things they can do on your behalf to make your house look occupied. Pulling curtains periodically is effective, as uncovered windows are a giveaway. Ask your neighbor to park a car in your driveway. Using timers to activate lights at various times is another good tactic.

Once you've arrived in your vacation resort you will want to visit the beach on a regular basis, and each year many vacationers lose cameras and cash through negligence on the beach. Opportunists are ready and waiting to relieve you of valuables that are easy to sell.

A top tip,(if you MUST bring such items to the beach) is to use a waterproof bag which can be buried near your towel, and suitably marked for retrieval later. I advise against asking a neighboring sunbather to keep an eye on your things - not necessarily because they might steal them, but because sometimes people forget, or fall asleep!

On some resort streets around the world, your main risk will be the pickpocket. My own experience of this was running up some stairs in a railway station. As my wallet shifted in time with my running, I simultaneously felt a slight upward movement. Turning around, I was being closely tailed by a young woman who had cleverly been tapping the wallet through my back pants pocket! She was trying to make it fall out with my running motion providing cover.

Front pockets are definitely the place to keep your wallet. If you carry a purse, don't hang it on your restaurant chair. Always beware of developing "scenarios" like disturbances, or people fainting unexpectedly - sadly, professional pickpockets use these kinds of ruses to create diversions, during which they can target the belongings of unsuspecting vacationers.

You shouldn't take your entire credit card collection out with you as you sightsee. Limit your cards to one, and just a reasonable amount of cash. If your condo front door key has a large plastic label with the address - take it off. This is one way pickpockets gain access to condos and villas where the spoils are huge and just waiting for them to collect.

Remember - vacation insurance generally doesn't cover beach or pickpocket "negligence" so don't get caught out.

Vacations are fantastic de-stressers - but only if you keep your senses and protect your property at home and away. Your personal security is exactly that - personal. Don't be scammed!

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Ray Mack offers www. Sunsoaked-Florida-Resorts.com as an information resource on life across the Florida Resorts. Visit for tips to enhance your experience. Check out the full overview.

This news arrived on: 09/19/2008

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