Travel season is part of life in Southwest Florida. Whether you are leaving a Cape Coral canal home for a summer trip or closing a Naples residence for several weeks, an empty house needs a deliberate security plan. Most break-ins of vacant homes are still crimes of opportunity: an unlocked side door, a hidden spare key, or a yard that advertises nobody is around.
A Good Locksmith has helped local homeowners prepare for travel since 1994. Use this checklist before your next trip, and schedule any rekeying or residential locksmith upgrades before suitcase mode begins.
Travel security is mostly about reducing obvious opportunity. You do not need an elaborate gadget wall. You need locks that work, keys that are controlled, and a home that does not advertise emptiness for days at a time. The checklist below is designed to be completed the week before departure, not while the rideshare is waiting.
Start With the Doors You Actually Use
Walk every exterior door, including the garage entry, lanai access points, and any gate that reaches a side yard. Lock them, then tug firmly to confirm the bolt fully seats. A door that only looks closed is still an open invitation.
If a deadbolt is loose, a latch barely catches, or a key feels unreliable, fix it before you leave. Travel day is the wrong time to discover a failing lock. Our article on replacement warning signs can help you decide whether a quick repair is enough.
Sliding doors deserve special attention in Florida homes. Confirm the lock engages and consider a secondary security bar if the door is a known weak point.
Include detached structures in the walk-through when relevant: cabanas, sheds, and exterior storage closets. A cheap padlock on a shed full of tools can undermine an otherwise careful house lockdown if thieves are looking for quick resale items.
Solve Key Control Before You Leave Town
Count the keys that exist for your home. If you cannot account for them, rekeying is smarter than hoping a forgotten copy stays forgotten. That is especially true after renovations, realtor showings, or a long list of vendors.
Give one trusted neighbor or family member clear access instructions. Avoid vague spare-key hideaways under mats, fake rocks, and above door frames. Those hiding spots are widely known and easy to check in seconds.
- Rekey if keys are missing or too widely distributed
- Provide access to one trusted local contact
- Remove outdoor key hiding spots
- Test codes on any keypad or smart lock before departure
Need a refresher on timing? See How Often Should You Rekey Your Home?.
If a house sitter will visit, decide in advance which doors they should use and which codes or keys they receive. Random access through every entrance makes it harder to notice when something is left unlatched.
Make the House Look Lived In Without Advertising Valuables
Timers on a few interior lights, paused package deliveries, and a maintained yard do more than social media silence alone. Ask a neighbor to collect flyers and notice if a storm knocks something against a door or window.
Do not leave expensive equipment visible through open blinds. Store bikes, tools, and electronics out of easy sight lines from the street or canal. If you use cameras, verify they still record to the cloud and that your alerts reach a phone you will actually check.
Smart locks can help some travelers with remote status checks, but only if they are installed and tested properly in advance. Compare options in Smart Locks vs Traditional Locks.
Hold mail and deliveries or use a package plan. Boxes stacked at the front door are a quiet announcement that nobody is home. So are overflowing recycle bins left at the curb for several days.
Garage, Vehicles, and Secondary Entry Points
Garage doors and side service doors are frequent weak points. Close and lock vehicles inside the garage, remove garage remotes from cars left in driveways when possible, and confirm the entry door from garage to house is locked as seriously as the front door.
If you are leaving a car at home, do not leave spare house keys in it. Drivers who also want fewer vehicle surprises can review How to Prevent Car Key Problems Before They Strand You.
Check ground-floor windows, especially older latches on lanai-facing rooms. A simple latch upgrade can be inexpensive compared with the hassle of a forced-entry cleanup later.
For homes with attached garages, confirm that the garage door emergency release cannot be easily snagged from outside through a gap. It is an uncommon but known bypass on neglected setups, and a quick visual check is inexpensive insurance.
After You Return: A Five-Minute Reset
When you get home, do not assume everything remained perfect. Walk the same perimeter, test doors, and verify that any temporary codes created for sitters or vendors are removed. If a key was loaned out, collect it immediately.
If anything looks disturbed, pause and evaluate before cleaning up. Then call for professional help if locks, frames, or doors no longer feel solid. Travel security does not end at takeoff; it ends when the house is back under normal household routines.
A Good Locksmith can help with any repairs or rekeys discovered on return, including urgent help through our emergency locksmith service.
Create a Short Pre-Flight Security Routine
The best travel security plan is short enough that you will actually follow it. The night before departure, lock and test every exterior door, run the dishwasher and trash routines that prevent odors, and send your trusted contact the itinerary and alarm details if you use one.
On the morning you leave, do one final walk with your phone checklist. Homeowners in Estero, Bonita Springs, and San Carlos Park often keep that checklist saved in a notes app so seasonal trips do not rely on memory.
If anything on that walk fails, call A Good Locksmith before you head to the airport. A same-day hardware fix is far less stressful than getting a neighbor call about an unsecured door after you have already left Florida.
Share your return date with the trusted contact and ask them to do one mid-trip visual check if you will be gone more than a few days. Local eyes catch storm damage, open gates, and unexpected notices faster than a camera alone. Residents near Naples and Fort Myers often trade this favor with neighbors they already trust for hurricane prep.