Travel Tips: Keep Your Home Safe While You're Away

Taking a trip this summer? Whether you’re spending your vacation lounging on an exotic beach, hiking through the wilderness, or exploring a new city, there are two things we want you to know. One: we’re jealous, and two: be smart when it comes to securing your home while you’re away. The former should come as no surprise, but for many, the latter is not always considered as they prepare to fly the coop. If you’re planning on leaving your home unoccupied for several days we have a few tips for you to keep in mind. Check ‘em out below and help keep your home safe.

No News is Good News – Ask a friend or neighbor to pick up your mail. A stack of letters and newspapers on your front porch is a good indication that no one’s home, and the larger the stack the clearer it is that the house is unoccupied. Deter burglars by simply having your mail rerouted or picked up by someone you know.

There’s Such a Thing as TMI – If you’re going to be tweeting and gramming your vacation, make sure to be smart about how much information you share. It might seem harmless to post the following with friends and followers, “Off with the hubby & kids for a week! See you in 7 days #Cleveland! #JamaicaBound”, but even 140 characters can contain a lot of details - may as well add #EmptyHouse #SecurityCode4321. In all seriousness though, anyone reading that would know that your home would be empty for a whole week while you were out of the country, so please share responsibly (maybe even consider posting your pictures after you return).

Be Keen if things Get Extreme – Along with having someone collect your mail, ask a friend or neighbor to check in on your home if your area should get hit with any extreme weather. That way if a tree falls on your home it’ll receive timely attention instead of continuing to cause damage while you’re away.

Forgotten Food will go Rotten – Check your refrigerator before you leave and get rid of any items that will go bad while you’re away. There’s nothing worse than coming home to rotten food, trust us.

This yogurt parfait looks yummy now, but wait a week and you'll lose your appetite!

Leave the Lights on – Just as unopened mail can signal that a house is unoccupied, so can a lack of movement. Put some of your outdoor and indoor lights on timers to help feign life in your home while you’re gone. This simple automation is great for deterring unwanted guests.

These tips should help keep your home secure while you’re away, and make sure to check out the home maintenance items below to further protect your home. You should have taken care of these chores during your spring cleaning, but if you haven’t, finish them up before your trip.

• Gutters – Keep your gutters clear of dirt and debris so that water can move through them and away from your roof. If your gutters are in bad shape and there’s a torrential rainstorm while you’re away, you could encounter some water damage when you return.
• Downspouts – Make sure your downspouts extend at least 6 feet away from your home to direct water away from your basement and foundation. If they aren’t long enough water will discharge too close to your home, and in the case of severely rainy weather you could be looking at water damage.
• Caulking – Just as you want to deter burglars, it’s important to keep nature’s pests out. Caulking and sealing windows, doors, and foundational cracks will help keep water, rodents, and bugs out. This is a good whether you’re home or not!

There may be lots of some work involved in getting your home ready before a trip, but once you’re on vacation it’s all worth it. So if you’re travelling this summer we hope you have an awesome and safe adventure!

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Happy Camper: 10 Life Hacks for the Great Outdoors

If you are one of the many who prefer to spend the warmer months outdoors (either in a tent or cottage), we’ve got just what you need to make this the best summer ever! Check out our top 10 life hacks for the great outdoors and get ready to spend time in the woods the smart way.

Duct Tape Tip – Having duct tape on your trip? Good idea. Bringing the whole, bulky roll? Bad idea. Instead, try wrapping some around a water bottle, that way you can have what you need without touting along any unnecessary tape.

Image via Brian's Backpacking Blog

Sleep Smart – Many go on outdoor adventures to help find inner peace, so bringing your yoga mat camping makes sense. Plus, not only is it good for your soul, it’s also good for your body. Use it as a sleeping mat to help make the cold hard ground a little more comfortable. Namaste.

Image via Happy Money Saver

Perfect Portable Stove – Starting a fire can be hard, so why not bring your own portable stove camping? All you need is a soda can, a knife, scissors, and lighter fluid. It’s a little complex to make, but it’s very lightweight and inexpensive.

Image via eHow

Clever Clove Concoction – Keep mosquitoes and flies away with this odd creation: cloves and lemons. For whatever reason bugs do not like the scent these two things create, so they're a great all-natural bug repellent. 

Image via Get Rid of Flies Guide

Terrific Toilet Paper - Camping may not be the cleanest activity, but you can still keep the important things, like toilet paper, fairly sanitary. Instead of passing rolls from person to person as one needs to use them, consider creating a contraption like the one pictured below. It lets you hang your toilet paper when you need it, and keeps it sealed and secure when you don’t.  

Image via Fast Code Design

Speak Easy – And when you’re done with the roll, make sure to hang on to the tube! Don’t bring your fancy portable speakers into the woods with you only to have them dirtied or damaged, (plus the batteries always run out anyways). Instead, cut some strategic holes in a toilet paper roll and you’ve
got yourself the ultimate disposable speaker. 

Images via May Richer Fuller Be

Watch Yourself – Should you ever find yourself lost in the woods, this is great to know. Although you do need an analog watch for it to work. So just make sure to bring an analog watch with you on your next outdoor adventure!

Image via Lifehacker

Lifehacker says: "Hold a watch with 12:00 at the left. Move your arm so the hour hand points at the sun. The spot halfway between the hour hand and the 12 is south."

Savvy Soap Slip – Showering/washing at a campsite or cottage is often a little tricky. The bathrooms tend to be less clean than you’re used to, or there might not be a bathroom and so you’re trying to clean yourself in a lake. All of these seem a bit counter-intuitive, but not if you have the right supplies, like a soap pouch! Instead of bringing soap and a washcloth, sew your soap into a washcloth. This seriously lessens the potential for you to drop your soap and washcloth, is simpler to pack and keep track of, and is a super fun sewing project.

Image via Whimsy Love

Solar Powerful - Flashlight batteries die and gas lighting is so 1910, so light up your camp or cottage the smart way. Making a solar lantern is easy to do and such a clever idea. Bringing lanterns with you that will light up as the sun sets, so you’re not hunting around for them in dark, is genius. Plus there’s no risk of their batteries dying because they’re solar powered. These are a definite must pack for your next trip.

Image via Camp Wander

The folks at Camp Wander suggest putting some emergency items inside your lanterns to make sure you don't lose them.

The S’more You Know – We saved the most important hack for last: how to make the best s'mores. If you thought they were great already you might want to sit down for this. Instead of using the traditional graham cracker, try chocolate chip cookies and get ready to have your mind blown. 

Image via Cooking Classy

We hope these simple hacks help you and your loved ones have more fun on your outdoor escapes, and that everyone has a safe and fantastic summer!

And remember, the early bird gets the worm, so make sure you buy your Home Shows tickets early! Right now you can get 2-for-1 tickets to a Marketplace Events Home Show happening near you. Visit our Facebook page to learn more and get your discounted tickets.

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Safety First: Simple Tips For Holiday Safety

With the growing excitement of the holiday season it's easy to spend a little more, eat a little more, and do a little more than you had originally planned. Getting into the festivities is great, it's called the most wonderful time of the year for a reason, but it's also important not to lose your head where it matters: you and your family's safety. We've outlined below some simple things to keep in mind this season to help protect yourself and your loved ones.

1. Don't leave candles unattended - This tip might seem incredibly obvious, but the holidays are a time filled with distractions. Between the last minute guests, irritating requests from in-laws, tons of cooking, and more, it's easy to leave your candles alight when you leave the room.

Image via Buzzfeed

2. Travel smart - If you're going out of town for a few days to visit with friends and family or to escape this horrible cold weather there are some precautions you should take to secure your home. Consider:

• Putting your lights (indoor and holiday) on timers to make your home appear occupied.
• Recruiting a friend or neighbor to collect your mail and newspapers; nothing says "no one's home" like a collection of papers and unopened letters.
• Being careful about sharing #TMI. Predators can access your social channels and take advantage of the information you post. So please refrain from tweeting "On the way to #Hawaii! Not back til Dec 30 @ 2pm! #EmptyHouse #KeyUnderMat"

3. Test your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors - When was the last time you tested and changed the batteries on your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors? If you can't remember the last time you did it, do it now! They should be tested about two or three times a year, with the batteries changed as needed.

Image via Pretty Handy Girl

Expert tip: Did you know that smoke alarms have an expiration date? They last approximately 8 - 10 years, after which point they become far less sensitive to smoke.

4. Shovel the right way - Shoveling your driveway and walkway can be really hard on your body. It's a high intensity workout, done in harsh conditions, at a heightened pace. A frequent cause of cardiac arrests and cardiac episodes in the winter is shoveling. Don't hurt your heart or your body: warm up before you shovel, take breaks as you need them, and shovel frequently as opposed to lifting mountains of snow.

We hope the simple advice above helps to keep you and your family a little safer this season. Are there any other safety tips you think readers should know to help them prepare for the holidays? Let us know below!

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