Keeping vacation dates "close to the vest"

slappy magoo

Well-Known Member
Hey there hi there ho there...

I'm sure I slip up once in a while, but I'm always amazed when I see people on the forum give the specific dates that they plan on going to WDW. I feel the same way when any of my friends mention their vacation plans on facebook, or actually post while on vacation. For me, it's like advertising "I'm not home! Thieves looking for an empty house to rob? Have at it!"

Last trip I took to WDW, I would occasionally check out the forum and add a comment, but I never mentioned in those posts I was onsite, until I was offsite, back at home. I probably did on previous vacations, but eh, I was a carefree sprite back then, now with kids I feel like I have more to lose and it's important to keep the house safe, which means having a home security system, have friends or relatives come over for a few minutes to get the mail, make sure nothing seems out of place and that the refrigerator didn't stop working, etc.

So, no one has to be explicit unless they want to, a "yes" or "no" will suffice: Does anyone here refrain from cyber-announcing their next trip to WDW?
 

I_heart_Tigger

Well-Known Member
I don't post on Facebook that I will be away if my house will be empty. For this trip I have been posting though because I'm going with my girlfriends and my boyfriend is taking advantage of me being gone and having the band over to record their next album in our home studio.

If someone wants to break in they will be surprised to find 4 members of a heavy metal band waiting for them :lol:
 
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Spikerdink

Well-Known Member
I wouldn't mind putting that info on this board - there isn't enough information available to 'find' me in real life and pillage my meager belongings....

However, I do not put things like that on Facebook and other sites since people know me and where I live.... but I do have an alarm system so I do feel a bit more at ease....
 
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bamillerpa

Active Member
I've put dates on this site but as another poster stated, there isn't enough info on here for anyone to know where my house is. I do post on facebook when I'm gone but my account is set to private and friends only and I'm the type that only friends actual friends. I personally know and trust everyone on my list and they already know that I'm going. I'm sure someone really trying to find something out can. I'm always more concerned with the post office knowing I'm gone when I stop the mail or the people who work at the dog kennel where my dog goes knowing but I can't help them knowing. I take some solace in the fact that I live in a very small community where all of my neighbors help watch my house and my Dad and best friend are always stopping in to feed our rabbit, and to water the plants. During our next trip the kids will be here most days too with my Dad since I'm going with my husband on his business trip. I feel my house is well watched but perhaps if I lived someone else or had my fb more open I would worry more. Maybe I'm just naive too.
 
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unkadug

Follower of "Saget"The Cult
Yeah, cause finding a typing monkey's house somewhere on the Jersey shore is so easy. :lol:

(and I only mean that from the avatar!) :wave:

I do agree with the Facebook thing though!
 
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I_heart_Tigger

Well-Known Member
I've put dates on this site but as another poster stated, there isn't enough info on here for anyone to know where my house is. I do post on facebook when I'm gone but my account is set to private and friends only and I'm the type that only friends actual friends. I personally know and trust everyone on my list and they already know that I'm going. I'm sure someone really trying to find something out can. I'm always more concerned with the post office knowing I'm gone when I stop the mail or the people who work at the dog kennel where my dog goes knowing but I can't help them knowing. I take some solace in the fact that I live in a very small community where all of my neighbors help watch my house and my Dad and best friend are always stopping in to feed our rabbit, and to water the plants. During our next trip the kids will be here most days too with my Dad since I'm going with my husband on his business trip. I feel my house is well watched but perhaps if I lived someone else or had my fb more open I would worry more. Maybe I'm just naive too.

I'm in a small community, too. Rural Nova Scotia...yee haw! Not saying that anything like this would happen to you but a friend of mine had his house broken into twice while he was away. He doesn't even have FB so that wasn't the issue.

Turns out it was his brother-in-law and best man at his wedding who knew he had a lot of guitars and amps in there. The BiL also happens to run one of the towns insurance offices.

Small town scandal at it's best :lol:
 
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bamillerpa

Active Member
I know things can happen, and more often than not it's probably someone you know even if just remotely, but I feel I am careful with the info I give out no matter where I am. I pick my friends carefully and they are the only ones that really know my info:)
 
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disneyrcks

Well-Known Member
I do list my dates in my sig and post on FB when I am on vacation. However, we are in an apartment in a private house so there is always someone home when we are away. When we have our own house, probably not.

For those doubting FB though......I was always under the impression that when you have your privacy settings set right, then only your friends can see your posts. Is this not accurate?
 
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I_heart_Tigger

Well-Known Member
I do list my dates in my sig and post on FB when I am on vacation. However, we are in an apartment in a private house so there is always someone home when we are away. When we have our own house, probably not.

For those doubting FB though......I was always under the impression that when you have your privacy settings set right, then only your friends can see your posts. Is this not accurate?

Yes you can set it so only your friends see your posts but a lot of people aren't that choosy when it comes to their friends. For example I really don't think my 17 year old cousin has over 2,000 "friends".

Some people "friend" every person they've ever met along with the nighbours' cousins' best friends dog sitter...kind of sad, really
 
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Raven66

Well-Known Member
I post on here and I post on facebook if I have someone actually staying in my house to watch my dogs. If they are going to the kennel then I don't say anything. I really don't have much to steal anyway. :D My husband used to travel a lot and I would post on facebook when he was away. My mom got so mad at me. She told me I was to stop saying when he wasn't home. I told her that I was an adult and I would do what I want and what I want is to stop posting when my husband is not home. :p
 
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wdisney9000

Truindenashendubapreser
Premium Member
slappy magoo brings up some very good points that most people forget about. Bringing up subjects like these is always a good reminder for people to stay sharp and be safe. Thanks magoo.
 
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mickeysshoes

Well-Known Member
Heck..I stop my mail when I am way from home for more that 3 days. My mailman or whom ever is filling in for him on his day off knows I am away. I sure hope I can trust my mailman. :eek: Never thought about it this way.
 
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durangojim

Well-Known Member
Last year there was a programmer that made a web site called something like "stealmystuff.com". He wrote a program that compiled data from facebook, twitter, some other social network sites, and gps data embedded into photos that had been posted and used all the info to show on a map homes where people were going out of town or vacation based on posts they had left on the internet. I'm always amazed at how much info people put out about themselves on the net.

Here's a couple of examples:
http://gizmodo.com/5636025/robbers-used-facebook-to-see-when-people-werent-home
social-media-burglars-infographic.jpg
 
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Pooh'sBuddy

Well-Known Member
Yes you can set it so only your friends see your posts but a lot of people aren't that choosy when it comes to their friends. For example I really don't think my 17 year old cousin has over 2,000 "friends".

Some people "friend" every person they've ever met along with the nighbours' cousins' best friends dog sitter...kind of sad, really

Not only that, but, if I'm not mistaken, if I post a comment or picture and my friends comment on it, there is some new "feature" - a ticker of some kind - that allows FB friends of my friends who comment on my post to see my post. It's not that private if you ask me.
 
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Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
I do not worry too much when it comes to posting travel information on this site as there is a certain level of anonymity. Granted, anyone who really wanted to could spend the time and effort to pull back that veil and find out who I am and where I live but that risk is relatively low.

Facebook, on the other hand, is a different matter entirely. Depending on your security settings and what information you include in your profile it takes mere seconds for someone to know your entire address, work schedule, travel habits, etc.
 
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popcenturylover

Well-Known Member
I do not worry too much when it comes to posting travel information on this site as there is a certain level of anonymity. Granted, anyone who really wanted to could spend the time and effort to pull back that veil and find out who I am and where I live but that risk is relatively low.

Facebook, on the other hand, is a different matter entirely. Depending on your security settings and what information you include in your profile it takes mere seconds for someone to know your entire address, work schedule, travel habits, etc.

I totally agree with you. The only thing that eveyone can see about me on this site is that I'm from Ohio. I don't like Facebook so, I don't have to worry about anything there.
 
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sweetpee_1993

Well-Known Member
I don't Facebook. Nuff said there. The houses in our gated neighborhood are super-close together. All of us know each others habits in the neighborhood. We're all well armed, too. If someone wants to break in here while we're away, good luck. The contents of my house are well insured. Considering the bulk of our disposable income goes to our travels there's not a lot here to impress thieves unless they collect dolls. Lol! The hubby's boat is probly the one thing I'd love to have someone take but it's stored miles and miles from home. Tv's? Take em. Stupid plasmas put off too much heat anyway. I'd rather get some LEDs. Plus, it'd be less crap to move after we get home in May. Maybe I'll put an ad in the paper announcing our vacation dates.... :hammer::lol:
 
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Disney61

Active Member
Since I'm anonymous on the forum, it does not concern me about posting the exact dates of my WDW visits. As for Facebook, I post nothing regarding my personal life or anything to do with my family. The less info you put out on social networks, the better off you'll be!
 
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Howdy

Lurker extraordinaire
Premium Member
We have four dogs that live in our kitchen un-crated so we never travel without someone house-sitting, and we have an ADT security system set up cellularly (if that's a word) so I don't concern myself TOO much with this, but I still don't generally make it a point of making sure that everybody knows that I will be gone. Once we are on vacation I never really worry about it though because I figure that anybody who knows me at all knows that there isn't anything worth chancing an attack by my (very friendly if you are invited, not so much if you weren't) German Shepard, Yellow Lab, and Pit in my house to steal. The Min-pin would just sit in the corner and bark
 
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