Are you planning to travel at Christmas or during the winter break? You should never discuss your travel plans on social media websites until you are back home. If you want to show your friends photos of you skiing at Lake Tahoe on Facebook, do it after you return, not before you go or while you are there! Professional burglars are constantly scouring the internet looking for houses to rob! No foolin.’ They really do that! Criminals have software that allows them to identify people who are traveling and then identifying where they live. Yes, people actually do get burglarized this way.  Also remember that a lot of burglars look for houses to rob the old-fashioned way, by driving around and looking for houses with obvious signs that nobody is home. (Did you see ‘Home Alone’?) Before you travel, arrange to have someone check your porch regularly for signs that nobody is there, like parcels sitting on the porch or Post-It notes on your front door from FedEx. Burglars also look for houses that are dark, night after night. I can lend you a lamp timer if you want to make it look like someone is home in the evening while you are gone.