A holiday is a great time to relax and enjoy yourself but having items stolen whilst you’re away is sure to put an end to any relaxation you had planned.
If your laptop is lost or stolen, it’s not just the cost of the laptop you’ll lose if it’s uninsured, it’s any holiday photos, important documents you’ve been working on and more importantly of all, any personal details you might have on your hard drive such as passwords and bank account details.
Making sure that you don’t lose any of this important information doesn’t have to take over your holiday, however. The following tips can help you keep your belongings safe and out of harms way...
Protect your laptop with a password
There are some laptops that now come with biometric locking systems such as fingerprint scanners but for most people, locking their laptop with a password is sufficient. It’s also a simple, yet effective process; you can stop people accessing your information simply by protecting it with a log in password.
The only thing you have to remember is not to choose a password that’s too obvious, don’t choose your birthday or your child’s name as this is information that people can find out very easily. Another useful tip to remember is to choose a password with numbers and capital letters in it as this is harder to crack.
Don’t keep information that’s too important on it
It’s much more common than you may think for people to store all of their passwords on their computer. For example, does your email automatically login without the need to sign in? Some people even keep a document with all of their passwords in for when they can’t remember them. If you do any of these things then it’s important that you make sure it is password protected or better yet, not stored on your laptop at all, at least while you’re away on holiday.
Take out travel insurance
If you’re planning a holiday then make sure you don’t forget to take out travel insurance that protects your belongings when you’re away. Travel insurance is very reasonable if you search around for the best deal so try comparing offers online with comparison sites such as Moneysupermarket.com, who say "UK holidaymakers pay £1.3bn more than they need to on travel insurance each year. This is despite the fact that travel insurance appears to be relatively cheap - normally around £25 for each week abroad."
Avoid showing off your new laptop
Laptop theft is on the increase, so try not to draw too much attention to yours. Of course there may be times when you have to use it on a train or in a café etc, after all, this is what they’re for, just make sure you’re discreet.
Mind your food and drink
To make your laptop last as long as it can, make sure you keep any food and liquids away from it.
Make sure it doesn’t overheat
Overheating of batteries and the laptop itself can often be the cause of fires so always use your laptop on a stable surface with plenty of airflow and keep all vents clear of dust.
