As the economy began bouncing back from the recession, the frequency of travel increased. Adults over the age of 50 are some of the United States’ most frequent travellers. Make sure you can remember just the happy moments by staying safe during your trip.

1. Keep your belongings safe by preparing in advance. Copy your travel documents and keep a few backup copies in different pieces of luggage. Also, scan the documents and email them to yourself.

2. Don’t keep all of your money sources in just your purse or wallet. Keep at least one credit card somewhere else, like locked up in the safe in the hotel room or tucked away in the closet in a bag. The idea is to always have one money source that you’re not carrying on your person.

3. Take advantage of the safe in the Cancun hotels. You can store anything you don’t need for the day, like extra cash or jewellery.

4. Prepare your home for your time away. Unplug major electronics so that they stay safe during a storm. Turn off the primary water supply. Also, ask a trusted friend or family member if they’ll check in on your house a few times while you’re away. If you have a security system, that can give you a lot of peace of mind, especially since you can monitor cameras from your phone or computer and setup automatic updates. Set timers on your lamps so that they’ll go on and off throughout the evening, which will make it seem like somebody’s home.

5. Don’t bring along unnecessary items, like your Social Security card or any credit cards you won’t be using. This will help prevent identity theft.

6. Don’t use public WiFi, if you can avoid it. If you have to use WiFi, don’t enter any of your private information on any websites you visit.

7. Use your credit card for purchases instead of your debit card. Credit cards often have better fraud protection that debit cards.

Whether you’re heading out on a cruise for a few months or you’re going on a simple road trip for a few days, make sure that you take necessary safety precautions.