Security

I enjoy posting reports of my travels more or less as they occur. I think people read a blog expecting it will be timely. But we live in a world tied closely by electronic communication. Well, I guess that also explains why we can have such things as blogs. I hate to say it again but, "when I was young" things were a little different. Diaries, travelogues or letters (remember those old fashioned missives?) were the accepted way to keep track of and report on travels and other life experiences.

Well, in addition, people conversed more in those days. Dinner time, back fence, front porch or barbershop conversations were even more personal ways to pass along experiences and opinions. It seems those ways of exchanging information have faded in favor of instantaneous electronic communication. I'm not sure that's an improvement but progress(?) is hard to stop.

But back to timeliness, immediate communications and security. As a couple of my friends have pointed out, when I post to my blog that my wife and I are traveling in Mexico, or Canada or Eastern Westonia, it's a pretty good indication to the nefarious reader that our house is empty and might be easy pickings for the casual thief.

We live in a fairly dense neighborhood, we have a block watch group of neighbors, access to our backyard is difficult and we have an alarm system. Does that mean I can post our absences on the internet with impunity? I don't know. I see people posting their comings and goings on Facebook apparently without much regard for the lurker with evil intent.

I have considered posting only after we return home and sometimes I do just that by default since it's more difficult to post in real time when internet connections are spotty or expensive. But to complicate the issue my blog host now offers an app for portable devices which allows shorter posts with smaller pictures while on the road to Mandalay, or wherever in the world the user might be.

What to do? What to do? Maybe the precautions I've taken are enough. Maybe I should make the blog private requiring a user name and password? Maybe I should hire a house sitter each time we travel?

If it were you what would you do? Is a password and user name too complicated? I'm open to suggestions so please give me your ideas in the comment section, below. Click on the red "no comments" or "# comments" and you can contribute your thoughts.