Keeping vacation dates "close to the vest"

[slappy magoo]

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?

 

[G00fyDad]

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....

I feel the same way about this site. No one can place where I live from WDWMAGIC. But I still do not post info about vacations on Facebook. However, it wouldn't matter too much if I did. My house is protected by ADT, a Boxer and a German Sheppard, and a Glock 23. My brother house sits for us while we are gone and would gladly "deal" with any intruders.

 

[slappy magoo]

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!

Not to sound ominous, but there are plenty of police reports for victims who thought they were more anonymous on an internet forum than they thought they were.

 

[rsoxguy]

I don't Facebook or Twitter. I have announced a trip or two on this forum, but I only do so when I plan on staying at WDW for more than one day. Most of my trips involve just one day. I never worry about this forum because my "true identity" is unknown (I sound like a super hero, yes?).
I honestly never worry about the whole issue because of my anonymity. That, and I figure that nobody would bother robbing a home full of Red Sox memorabilia.

 

[Lisalyn]

Facebook? yeah some things left better unsaid LOL However on here...not that worried about it plus I am the only one in the household going to WDW....others are at home and so is the dog and 4 killer cats so we are good :ROFLOL:

 

[SoonerbeinDW]

Hey! I have lurked on this site for a while and saw this post and wanted to add that if some of you use your same user id for several different sites, they can be googled and information can be pieced together by people with bad intentions. :fork: Google your user id and see what information is out there on you. :shrug:

I don't want to upset anyone, just check it out. One person at random I googled had house pictures and address and real name. Be careful out there!!

 

[k.hunter30]

I don't post on fb ahead of time when we will be out of town. But there is no stopping my husband from posting updates while we are gone, which of course gives our location away.

But we have a house sitter and a pretty intimidating dog (...and a pug--watch out!) so I'm not too worried about it.

 

[rsoxguy]

Hey! I have lurked on this site for a while and saw this post and wanted to add that if some of you use your same user id for several different sites, they can be googled and information can be pieced together by people with bad intentions. :fork: Google your user id and see what information is out there on you. :shrug:

I don't want to upset anyone, just check it out. One person at random I googled had house pictures and address and real name. Be careful out there!!

I did it just now, and some kid uses it on Youtube and Red Sox type of forums. If someone comes after me, I'm safe. They'll get the kid.

 

[disney1077]

I never post on fb when i am going on vacation.

 

[bethram]

I've been thinking about this lately. Like others have said, I'm not worried about posting on here because of the lack of information in my profile. I am a bit concerned with fb, so I've been working on trimming down my friends list. I'd like to be able to post status updates and pictures for my close friends while we're at WDW, but I'm going to try to refrain until we are home. Our cul-de-sac is pretty close and we all watch out for each other so I know someone would notice if things at our house were disturbed.

 

[ShookieJones]

I will do it here any time but not on face book.
Something that has nothing to do with social media that I Never do that advertises "I'm away from home - and this is where I live" is luggage tags - never understood that - name and address on something a whole bunch of local baggage handlers and airport personel are seeing.... Nope!

 

[MickeyPeace]

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?

How many of your friends on Facebook are going to rob your house? None of mine would. I don't think..maybe I should think about that next time...my God, my home! Damn you Facebook friends!
And if anyone can figure out where you live because you posted here while on Disney property then they qualify to work for Homeland Security. Or the CIA. Or the FBI. My God. Damn you Disney bloggers! You're out to get me. Everyone is out to get me. Aaaargh.

 

[wilkeliza]

Whenever I am away there is always someone staying at my house because I don't take my dog with me and I refuse to kennel her. If a person goes on my private locked down facebook or here and can figure out my exact building number, exact street and exact apartment number and figure out how to get into my apartment building let alone the double locked door on our apartment then I guess they needed my stuff more than I did. This is saying that they also choose the rare time that no one is at the apartment seeing as we almost always get a in house dog sitter or our roommate is home. There are a lot easier hits than either of the places that we have things as one is always being monitored by a security company and well the other is just a random apartment in a major city. If I was ever to be robbed at my apartment I would just assume it was random and find a new building.

 

[Ex-Floridian]

Get a grip!

 

[chrissyw14]

I'm not worried because I live with my parents and sister and I went to Disney with my bf so my family was home.

my family is very cautious about this stuff and we always make sure to get lights on timers cars around the house, if we had a car service take us to the airport we'd have them pick us up at my grandmothers house. It does scare me though, I always worry even just going to school and having the house empty for a couple hours.

 

[G00fyDad]

How many of your friends on Facebook are going to rob your house? None of mine would. I don't think..maybe I should think about that next time...my God, my home! Damn you Facebook friends!
And if anyone can figure out where you live because you posted here while on Disney property then they qualify to work for Homeland Security. Or the CIA. Or the FBI. My God. Damn you Disney bloggers! You're out to get me. Everyone is out to get me. Aaaargh.

But your Facebook friends have friends don't they? I'll assume they do. And you know all of them? I'm not saying it is incredibly likely but it is more likely that they find out where you live by FB than here on a forum.

 

[tarin24u]

I am amazed a what people post on Facebook! As for this board, no one here knows my name or where I live and I don't know anyone here (at least I don't think I do)... I am surprised when people post pics of their kids but that's a personal choice. As for going on vacation I do all the things our local police officers told our neighbors to do at our neighborhood block party:

-unplug my garage door opener (those remotes can work on other doors)
-do not stop my mail
-lock my windows
-time my lights to go on at different times

**And I really enjoy my vacations

 

[bamillerpa]

So I googled my username and my exact address came up because we had listed our house for sale. I guess facebook doesn't even matter now after seeing this. The only good thing is that everything I found is with our OLD address so I guess that the people that bought our old house should be worried when I'm gone. Since my new house has an unlisted number and since my last name is pretty common I couldn't find anything recent that releated directly to me.

 

[slappy magoo]

How many of your friends on Facebook are going to rob your house? None of mine would. I don't think..maybe I should think about that next time...my God, my home! Damn you Facebook friends!
And if anyone can figure out where you live because you posted here while on Disney property then they qualify to work for Homeland Security. Or the CIA. Or the FBI. My God. Damn you Disney bloggers! You're out to get me. Everyone is out to get me. Aaaargh.

It's not like I hope bad things happen to people here...most people here... :lookaroun

But this sort of thing does happen, people give sensitive information on the internet, and not just on vacations, but where they are at any given moment. It afford people with bad intentions that can piece together where you love to know when you're out of the house...or if you have a "fan," they might try to get to where you are.

I'm not telling anyone to change a thing about what they do, I was just curious as to how many people plays it safer.

Me, I've had a few extremely minor experiences with stalkers, someone that "loved" me...and someone that decidedly didn't. And while I'm sure I don't have the most secure internet habits, I did find it better not to tell the world where I am, and to get a house alarm when my dog passed away, stuff like that.

 

[Howdy]

How many of your friends on Facebook are going to rob your house? None of mine would. I don't think..maybe I should think about that next time...my God, my home! Damn you Facebook friends!
And if anyone can figure out where you live because you posted here while on Disney property then they qualify to work for Homeland Security. Or the CIA. Or the FBI. My God. Damn you Disney bloggers! You're out to get me. Everyone is out to get me. Aaaargh.

I am by no means overly tech savvy, nor do I have the brain capacity to think like a thief, but it really isn't hard to find information these days, at all.

Just out of curiosity, is your middle initial N and are you a Sr?

 

[Howdy]

Also, I never give out my address on facebook, and if I have an event set up where "our house" is the location I make people text me for the address... That being said, everybody knows what city I live in and if you have my first and last name (which are on my facebook) and just google "first name last name city state" my address is the first thing that pops up.