The Business Owner’s Guide To Holiday Travel (That Won’t End In A Data Breach)

You’re three hours into a five-hour road trip. The car’s a mess, the s

nacks are gone, and your daughter pipes up: “Can I play Roblox on your laptop?”
You look at her.
Then at your work laptop—the one loaded with client files, sensitive info, and access to your entire business.
You’re tired. You’ve still got miles to go. And honestly… peace and quiet sounds amazing.
What’s the harm, right?

Here’s the deal: Traveling during the holidays can mess with your tech in ways your normal routine doesn’t. You’re tired, distracted, hopping on sketchy hotel WiFi, and mixing work with “family fun.” But don’t worry—here’s how to protect your data and keep your family vacation from turning into a cybersecurity horror story.

Before You Hit the Road: 15 Minutes to Safety

Spend just 15 minutes before your trip doing these things, and Future You will be very grateful.

Device Checklist:

• Install those annoying software updates (they actually help)
• Back up your important files to the cloud
• Set your screen to auto-lock in 2 minutes or less
• Turn on “Find My Device” for your phone and laptop
• Charge up your power bank
• Pack your own cables and adapters (never rely on hotel spares)

Family Talk Time:

• Explain which devices are off-limits (a.k.a. your work stuff)
• Bring a family-friendly tablet or old laptop just for the kids
• If they must use your laptop, create a separate user account

Pro Tip: A $150 iPad for road trips is way cheaper than fixing a data breach.

Hotel WiFi: It’s Not as Safe as It Looks

You check in, the whole family jumps on the WiFi, and bam—everyone’s streaming and scrolling.
But here’s the thing: Hotel WiFi is shared by a lot of people, and some of them aren’t just there for the free breakfast.

Real story: A family connected to what looked like the hotel WiFi. It was actually a fake one set up in the parking lot. Every password, credit card number, and email? Snatched.

Stay safe by:

• Asking the front desk for the exact WiFi name
• Using a VPN for work stuff—it scrambles your data so creeps can’t read it
• Using your phone’s hotspot for anything sensitive (banking, client info, etc.)
• Letting the kids stream SpongeBob on hotel WiFi while you do work on your hotspot

The “Can I Use Your Laptop?” Dilemma

Letting your kid use your work laptop sounds harmless... until they download a weird game or accidentally email your boss a poop emoji.

Solution:

• Just say no. Seriously. Say, “This is my work computer, you can use this one instead.”
• If you have to share:
• Make them a separate account with limited access
• Watch what they’re doing
• No downloading random stuff
• No saving passwords
• Clear the browser history when they’re done

Best move? Bring a separate family device just for travel. Your laptop deserves a vacation too.

Hotel TVs and the “Oops I Forgot to Log Out” Problem

You log into Netflix on the hotel TV. You check out the next morning and totally forget to log out. Now the next guest is binging your account (and maybe testing your password on other sites).

Better ideas:

• Cast from your own phone or tablet to the TV
• Set a phone reminder to log out before checkout
• Download your shows before the trip and skip the TV entirely

NEVER log into hotel TVs for:

• Banking
• Email
• Work stuff
• Social media
• Anything with your credit card attached

Lost a Device? Here’s What to Do

Travel is hectic. Devices get left behind all the time. If it happens:

First hour checklist:

1. Use “Find My Device” to locate it
2. Can’t find it? Lock it remotely
3. Change your important passwords ASAP
4. Let your IT person or tech team know
5. If there’s sensitive business info on it, notify whoever needs to know

Before you go, make sure your devices have:

• Remote tracking turned on
• A strong password
• Automatic encryption
• The option to remotely wipe all data

Family member lost their phone? Do the same steps. No exceptions.

Rental Cars: Your Data Might Be Riding Shotgun

You connect your phone to the rental car’s Bluetooth so you can jam out to your playlist. Guess what? That car now knows your contacts, your call history, maybe even text message previews.

Before you return the car:

• Delete your phone from Bluetooth settings
• Clear GPS history
• Or skip the whole thing and use an aux cable

“Working Vacation” Boundaries (That Actually Work)

You told everyone this trip was about family time... but you’ve already checked your email 47 times, taken a few calls, and missed mini-golf.

Besides annoying your family, this kind of multitasking messes with your ability to spot cyber threats. You're tired, distracted, and more likely to click the wrong thing.

Set boundaries like:

• Only check work stuff twice a day at set times
• Use your phone’s hotspot for anything work-related
• Work in your room, not in public where others can see your screen
• When it’s family time, be with your family—not “just finishing this one thing”

Best security move of all? Actually take time off. Shocking, we know.

Make This Holiday Memorable—For the Right Reasons

Look, holiday travel is already a circus. You don’t need a laptop hack or data leak adding to the drama.

The goal isn’t to be perfect. It’s to be smart:

• Prep your gear before the trip
• Know what’s risky and what’s not
• Separate work life from family life (as best you can)
• Have a backup plan if something goes wrong

Say “No” to bad ideas like using hotel WiFi for banking. Say “Yes” to preparation.

Want help setting up smart travel tech policies for your team (or yourself)?
Book a free security consultation. We’ll help you lock things down without locking up your holiday cheer.

Schedule your free security consultation

Because no one wants this year’s holiday memory to be: “Remember when Dad’s laptop got hacked?”