The most important aspect an owner needs to be concerned with is that their home does not look vacant while they are away. Statistics report that generally a home is burglarized every 12 seconds. It is important that you leave your curtains open when you leave. Closed curtains indicate a vacant home. You can also purchase light timers. They will turn on and off different lights in your home throughout day until you return from your trip. It is also good to invest in motion sensor lights for outside. As added protection, you may want to keep a radio on somewhere in main part of house. The volume need not be very loud, just loud enough to fool an intruder. It is also good to have an alarm system. Make sure that it is turned on when you leave.

Do not leave house keys under rocks or flower boxes around your home. Make sure they are all removed prior to your departure. Never leave a message on your phone that you are away. That is just asking for an intruder.

You need to also be aware that your lawn can also give signals that you are away and your home is vacant. If you are leaving during warmer months, clip your lawn prior to your departure. Arrange in advance to have someone come and cut your lawn while you are away, as well. It is also good to cut back plants or shrubs that would provide a good place for an intruder to hide, or lurk behind. If you live in a cold climate and it is winter, be sure that you make arrangements to have someone you trust come and shovel snow while you are away. Nothing gives a clue that no one is home more than a driveway and side walk that is piled under 6 feet of snow. If it is pool season arrange for someone to clean your pool while you are away.

Make sure that all outside work buildings or sheds are locked. Mowers, bicycles, and tools need to be secured inside. It is important that you do not leave your garage door opener inside any vehicles that will be left on driveway. You can even arrange to have someone move your vehicles around periodically in your driveway to give your home lived in look. Check all windows prior to leaving, as well as outside doors. Dead bolts on doors, and key locks for windows are safest. Just make sure that keys are removed from window locks before your trip. Do not forget your skylight windows, or small fanlights that may be in your bathroom. If an area is small enough for a head to fit through, it needs to have a lock on it.

You need to contact your local post office and have all mail kept there until your return. Cancel all newspaper subscriptions, as well. This is not an uncommon practice, and it will ensure that you don’t have papers piling up on your walk, or mail spilling out of your box. That is an open invitation to an intruder.

It is also important that you are careful during casual conversation with clerk at store, dry cleaners, clubs, etc. Do not let anyone in general public know that you are planning a trip. You never know who might be listening. It is also important that you do not list your address on your luggage. You would be surprised at how many homes are burglarized because a future burglar saw your address on your luggage at airport. They simply follow you to departure gate and ransack your home that evening.

When Ruth and Esther Ramos embarked on their labor of love, creation of a wide- ranging resource of information about Dominican Republic they just knew that a feature focussing on Dominican Republic's captivating capital City, Santo Domingo, was more than a must! Santo Domingo is often referred to as 'the oldest city in New World' for it was here that Christopher Columbus, smitten by many charms of Hispaniola - Isle he thought most beautiful land in World – eventually made his base. Having abandoned La Isabella their ill-fated first settlement (whilst Columbus was addressing a request by Queen to return to Spain) - Columbus' brother Bartolome embarked upon foundations of what has become today's capital city, in area now known as 'Zona Colonial'. Indeed, Columbus palace still stands in midst of this, oldest part of Santo Domingo, city this famous family not only founded but also 'presided' over for several years. But Santo Domingo, like Dominican Republic itself, has had a chequered history. In many ways it might be considered a City of 'dubious firsts'! It was from Santo Domingo that 'conquistadores' first set out to dominate rest of what has since come to be called 'West Indies', or Caribbean, as well as most of Americas. From here these Europeans invaded 'New World' generally usurping local natives, slaughtering, pillaging and vastly enriching Spanish empire in process. Santo Domingo also has infamous claim to being original home of 'the slave trade' as it was here that Africans were first 'forcibly imported' and set to work as enslaved labourers on burgeoning sugar plantations which made Hispaniola such a valuable asset to Spain for so many years. Even today Capital of Dominican Republic may still be judged a mixture of good, bad and ugly! But let's start with something positive...and there are some truly excellent aspects to this vibrant, thronging city of life, color and sound - Santo Domingo. The old colonial district, for instance, is a wonderful place, there is no doubt. Its antiquity is almost 'crystallised' as there are still so many well preserved aspects of original City of Columbus' time that survive. Many of those travelers who have ventured into Santo Domingo on their first trip to Dominican Republic have become entranced by its atmosphere and ambience. Like an illicit substance, many have found themselves drawn back again and again by addictive spell city seems to cast upon their soul.