Summer travel season is upon us and there are a few things about keeping your home and property safe you should keep in mind when traveling.

It seems surreal to me to be writing about sun, fun and summer trips on this Memorial Day as I sit looking out at it raining and gray. I am wearing fleece-lined moccasins and a flannel shirt, debating turning on the heat in the house because it is so chilly. Confidence is high, though, that the weather will turn as you read this, and all of a sudden, it's in the 80s — just as the weather forecast predicted for this week.

So before you load up the car for a family trip, let’s make sure when you return home it's in the same condition you left it. If not you might have to call the police to report a home invasion — formerly known as a breaking and entering or burglary.

Then the only thing that will amuse you after reading this column is watching the beads of sweat form on the poor officer's forehead who is dressed in full uniform and bullet resistant vest as that poor soul dutifully records the property stolen from your now stuffy 85- to 90-degree home.

Having a back-up plan, such as a home security system, is one way to ensure you return from vacation to the home you left.

AP file photo

First and foremost, lock all of your doors and windows. This sounds pretty basic, but remember 70 percent of home invasions occur through unlocked doors. Lock up your home tight. That includes garage exterior doors and interior doors. Lock up sheds and outbuilding doors as well.

Before it's officially quarter-to-panic o'clock and you begin worrying about being late for your flight, check the locks on doors and windows and make sure they all work properly. If they do not, get them fixed. Install pins in window tracks and Charlie bars in the tracks of sliding glass doors.

If you have valuable or extremely sentimental jewelry, consider placing it in a safety deposit box at the bank, a firmly attached safe in your home or simply hiding the items. By hiding the items I do not mean in your dresser drawer, because all burglars look there.

Let’s take a lesson from criminals to hide valuables. Hide your really precious jewelry and valuables in commercially-produced stash cans, which look and feel like regular cans of soda, motor oil, deodorant, shaving cream or candied yams, but have a screw off top or bottom and hollow interior to place your valuables. The dopers have been using these things for decades trying to hide their drugs from the police.

Having searched many homes belonging to criminals, I can report it takes a tremendously long time to check every can and package in a home for drugs and contraband. Most criminals will not take the time or be that thorough searching for valuables because it is tedious, takes patience and is hard work.

Criminals by their very nature do not like hard work — that’s why they became criminals. It is much easier for thieves to steal your stuff than earn money to buy their own.

If you can not find “head shop” or party store where you can purchase a stash can, check the Internet or better yet, get out your trusty glue gun.

Take a box of frozen vegetables, preferably one you would not normally open — in my case, Brussels sprouts — and carefully open it and remove the contents. Place your valuables in an appropriate size Ziploc bag. Place your valuables in the box and replace some of the contents or use cotton, folded up newspapers or whatever material you have to fill up the box so the jewelry does not rattle and the box feels the approximate weight of the original item. Then, merely re-glue the package and place it in the freezer.

Make sure you write down the location of your valuables on a piece of paper in your wallet, drop yourself an email or place the location of your valuables on a note in your electronic calendar for the day you come back so you do not forget and panic. If you are concerned about the safety of your summer travel, you might tell your most trusted family member where the items are located, in the unlikely event you do not come home from your adventure.

Remember to place light timers on lights. Place multiple timers in different rooms to go on and off at different times when appropriate. You might even place a light timer on a radio tuned to a talk radio station in a back bedroom to simulate occupants inside talking.

Lastly, here is where watching out for your neighbors all year long can reap benefits to you. It is payback time. Ask a trusted neighbor to watch your home and collect the newspapers, mail or any flyers that get rubber-banded to your front door knob or placed in your door.

Make sure you give your neighbor contact numbers or specific instructions on what to do if your home is burglarized or severely storm-damaged. If you really trust your neighbor, give them a key, but not if they have teenage kids or adult children living in the home. You probably can trust John or Jane (your neighbor's) kids, but I do not trust their friends “Snake” and “Cutthroat” who might just borrow your keys to check-out and steal your stuff.

Before leaving on your trip, remember to contact your credit card company to tell them you are traveling and where you are bound. Some credit cards will close accounts for suspicious activities out of your normal area.

Once you have taken these steps, as well as a few crafty crime prevention precautions you thought up on your own, go enjoy your vacation! Especially if you have insurance, stuff can be replaced, but you will often not get a second chance at making memories that will last a lifetime.

Lock it up, don’t leave it unattended, be aware and watch out for your neighbors.

Rich Kinsey is a retired Ann Arbor police detective sergeant who now blogs about crime and safety for AnnArbor.com.