Stay Safe This Summer While Traveling With These Great Tips

Summertime is the time of year where a lot of people travel.  Traveling can be great, but it can also open you up to some danger from a variety of things ranging from crime to weather and car problems while you are away from home.  Here are some of the most important safety tips that you need to follow when you are traveling this summer.

• Make sure you have a friend, loved one or neighbor collect your mail and watch after your house for you while you are gone.
• Set timers on various lights around your house to turn them on and off at certain times.
• If you must publish on social media that you are making a trip and will be away from home, make sure that your profile is set to private or that the posts relating to the trip are only seen by close friends.
• Keep a close eye on weather conditions both for the traveling itself and when you get to your destination.  Pay close attention to thunderstorms, hurricanes and tornados.  Be prepared to change your plans if you need to.
• Make sure that you have an emergency fund set up for unexpected events such as a broken down car or extra night in a hotel.
• Keep funds in a few different places, such as having different cards and cash carried by different people or keeping some of your money in the safe back at the hotel.

If Traveling by Car:

• Have roadside assistance in place before you leave and make sure that you have all the information about getting services with you at all times.
• Keep up with your car’s servicing, such as oil changes.  Also make sure before you leave that your tires are properly filled and your oil and other fluids look good the day you leave.
• Print out maps of where you need to go in case there is a GPS problem and make yourself familiar with your trip before you leave.
• Use special caution when in an area where you are unfamiliar or tourists don’t often go and keep your doors locked while you are there.
• Do not keep valuable items in the visible area of your car when leaving it in a parking lot.
• Remember that it is the law to use a seatbelt in Florida.
• Keep an emergency kit in your car, especially if you are heading for a rural area.

If Traveling by Plane:

• Do not talk about your trip to people while you are on the way to the airport such as cab drivers, gas station attendants or people you meet on an airport shuttle.
• Arrive early to the airport to give yourself extra time for check in and security.
• Do not pack anything valuable in your checked luggage such as jewelry, prescription medications, credit cards, cash or electronics.
• Keep your luggage in sight at all times until the airline has taken control of it.
• Do not pack anything that someone you do not know asks you to carry for them.
• Do not put all of your personal information on your luggage tags, just enough for the airline to find you if your luggage is lost.

Make sure you follow these tips to ensure you have the best and safest summer trip possible!