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Y2K Travel Tips
Err Travel · March 14, 2000

Last week I addressed Bruce Welford's concern about returning home from Puerto Vallarta on January 1st. (Note: I changed Bruce's last name for reasons that will become clear in a moment.)

My advice: Bruce, go, enjoy, whoop it up. Any problems that you might face are more likely to show up on your return home. According to the Travel Industry Association of America, a Washington-based research and lobby group, around 37 million Americans are expected to ring in the New Year while out of town.

This statistic has not been lost on industry providers who have been planning for months on ways to wring out the most from these travelers. Nor has this statistic likely gone unnoticed by criminals.

Indeed, the New Year's holiday will probably be a working weekend for many of America's burglars.

The bad guys will be in the 'burbs cruising for empty houses. And with 37 million people away from their homes, there will be plenty of opportunities. Burglars are hoping that home alarm systems will malfunction - either becoming disabled or going off all over the place - and that cops will be too busy to patrol the homes of vacationing residents.

To discourage those who will be "working" your 'hood, Bruce, here are a few precautions you may want to take before leaving home.

- Lock all doors and windows (duh), and if you have an alarm system, turn it on.

- Unplug electrical appliances that aren't necessary.

- Unplug your garage door opener so that it won't open accidentally.

- Use a couple of variable timers to light the interior of your home and to turn on a radio.

- Have calls forwarded to a friend who will be around for the weekend.

- Arrange for your mail and newspaper to be held or picked up regularly.

- Ask a neighbor to put out your trash cans on pick-up day.

- Hide or remove from your car registration information and any other documents that include your address. And take your garage door opener out of your car so that, if it is stolen from the airport parking lot, crooks can't access your house.

- If you are lucky enough to live somewhere that still needs it, arrange for lawn care. If you're not, make plans for snow removal.

- Alert the police and/or your neighbors of your travel plans so they can keep an eye on your house.

- Finally, don't include your name in an email to a security guy who may just post it in his column on a popular Internet Web site. Burglars log-on too. (Oops.)

These hints should help, but they are no guarantee against getting ripped off while you're sipping Margaritas. So upon returning home, if you find that you were nailed by a burglar, don't rush into your house to investigate the crime. For all you know, the burglar could still be in there. Get out, and notify the cops.

By the way, I have one piece of good news. I was able to quash a story circulating that criminals, planning on doing such a lively business during New Year's, had already booked up rental trucks in anticipation of hauling away tons of loot.

I called local U-Haul truck rental centers in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and I called Ryder truck rental centers in Riverside, California and Richmond Virginia. The story I got from each rental location was that there has been no rush to reserve trucks over that weekend.

But given that, like you, criminals may read this column ...

Dr. Terry Riley is a psychologist and travel security authority. His column appears on Wednesdays. He is author of the popular book Travel Can Be Murder. Visit his site at http://www.appliedpsychology.com or e-mail him at terry@ticked.com.