A Holiday Travel Guide For Business Owners (Without The Risk Of A Data Breach)

You’re about three hours into a five-hour holiday road trip when your daughter pipes up: “Can I play Roblox on your laptop?” She means your work laptop — the one loaded with client documents, financial information, and access to your entire business. You’re worn out from packing, there are still three hours left on the road, and the idea of keeping her distracted actually sounds pretty tempting. Really, what could it hurt?

Here’s the reality: traveling during the holidays opens you up to security risks you don’t usually encounter. You’re tired, distracted, hopping onto unfamiliar networks, and juggling family time with “just a quick look at work.” Whether your trip is for business, leisure, or an uncomfortable mix of both, these steps will help you safeguard your data without spoiling the holiday.

Before You Head Out: The 15-Minute Preparation

Set aside 15 minutes before your travels to ensure you’re fully prepared:

Device essentials:

• Make sure all security updates are installed
• Ensure all critical documents are backed up to your cloud storage
• Turn on automatic screen locking and set it to no more than two minutes
• Make sure “Find My Device” is switched on for your phones and laptops
• Make sure your power bank is fully charged
• Bring your own charging cords and adapters

The Family Conversation:

• Let your kids know which devices they’re allowed to use (and which ones are off-limits)
• Designate a family tablet or secondary device specifically for entertainment purposes
• If the kids need to use your laptop, make a separate user account for them

Pro tip: When your children need screen time on the road, take along a tablet that is NOT linked to your business profiles. Spending $150 on an iPad is far cheaper than the fallout from compromised data.

Hotel WiFi: Most People Use It The Wrong Way

Your family settles into the hotel room, and within moments every device is hooked up to the WiFi — phones, tablets, laptops, even gaming consoles. Your teen jumps straight into Netflix, your partner starts checking email, and you’re trying to go over that proposal for tomorrow’s meeting.

Here’s the issue: A hotel’s WiFi is packed with other guests, and you can’t assume everyone connected is playing nice.

Real example: A family joined a WiFi network they believed belonged to their hotel. In reality, it had been created by someone sitting in the parking lot. For two days, every password typed, purchase made, and email sent was quietly harvested.

Steps to Stay Secure:

Confirm the official network name – Check with the front desk for the exact WiFi ID. Never rely on guesses.

Use a VPN for work access – If you have to look at work email or pull up business files, turn on your VPN. It protects your connection by encrypting it.

For anything sensitive, switch over to your phone’s hotspot – Handling banking info, client files, or anything private? Use your phone’s mobile data rather than hotel WiFi.

Keep work and fun apart – If the kids want to stream cartoons on the hotel WiFi, no problem. But when you need to pull up client data, switch to your hotspot.

The “Can I Use Your Laptop?” Dilemma

Your business computer provides access to sensitive information such as email, financial accounts, client files, and company systems. Your children, however, simply want to stream YouTube, play games, or chat online with friends.

Why this is an issue: Kids may download things by mistake, click pop-ups, give friends their passwords, or forget to sign out. It’s normal kid behavior — but on your work laptop, it becomes a security threat.

The fix:

Don’t allow kids on your work devices – “This is my business computer, but you can use [alternate device].” Apply this policy consistently.

If you have no choice but to share:

• Set up a limited-access user profile so they can only use the basics
• Keep an eye on their activity while they’re on the device
• Make sure they aren’t downloading apps, games, or files
• Avoid storing any of their login information on your computer
• Erase the browsing history and temporary data once they’re finished

Safest route: Bring a travel device reserved for family use, ideally an older tablet or laptop with no links to your business accounts.

Hotel TV Streaming: The Log-Out Issue

Your family opens Netflix on the hotel’s smart TV and logs in using your account. When you check out the following morning, the account remains signed in because no one remembered to log out.

What happens then: The guest who checks in after you now has full access to your Netflix account. And even worse, if you reused that password for anything else (hopefully you didn’t!), they could try logging into your other accounts too.

The fix:

• Stream from your personal device and cast it to the TV (a much safer option)
• If you absolutely need to sign in on the TV, set a reminder on your phone so you remember to log out before you leave
• Even better: download movies or shows to your devices ahead of time and avoid using the hotel TV altogether

Avoid signing into any of the following on hotel TVs:

• Banking or financial apps
• Business or work-related accounts
• Email accounts
• Social media profiles
• Any service that stores your payment details

Steps To Take When A Device Is Lost

Holiday travel can be hectic, and it’s easy for gadgets to get left behind in restaurants, hotel rooms, rental cars, or even airport security trays.

If one of your devices goes missing…

During the initial hour:

1. Use your device’s tracking feature (like “Find My Device”) to pinpoint its location
2. If you can’t get it back quickly, activate a remote lock to secure it
3. Update passwords for important accounts using another device
4. Reach out to your IT team or managed service provider to remove the device’s access to company systems
5. If the device stored sensitive business information, inform any individuals or clients who may be impacted

Essential device must-haves BEFORE Traveling:

• Remote tracking turned on
• Robust password or passcode security
• Remote data-wipe feature enabled
• Data encrypted automatically

Family member misplaced their device? Follow the same steps. Lock it remotely, update passwords, and try to track it down.

The Hidden Danger In Rental Cars

Syncing your phone with the car’s Bluetooth to play music or navigate can leave your contacts, call history, and message previews saved to the vehicle.

Once you return the car, that personal data may still be available to the next driver.

Before you hand back the keys, do this quick 30-second step:

• Remove your phone from the vehicle’s Bluetooth pairing list
• Erase your recent locations or destinations from the car’s navigation system
• Even better: use a simple aux cable or avoid connecting your phone altogether

The Boundary Issues Of A “Working Vacation”

You swore this trip was dedicated to family, yet you’ve checked your email 47 times, taken three “quick” work calls, and spent an hour on your laptop while everyone else enjoyed mini-golf.

Beyond the family frustration, jumping back and forth between work mode and vacation mode makes you far less alert about security. When you’re distracted or rushing, you’re more likely to click something risky or connect to a network you shouldn’t trust.

Reality check: if fully unplugging isn’t possible, establish clear limits:

• Limit work email to two check-ins a day at set times
• Use your phone’s hotspot for any work-related activity instead of hotel WiFi
• Do your work in the hotel room, not in public areas where others can see your screen
• When you’re with your family, focus on them completely instead of half-working

The truth is, the safest approach is to genuinely take time off. Your business isn’t going to fall apart in a week, and you’ll spot security risks much more easily when you’re rested instead of run down.

The Security Mindset For Holiday Travel

Here’s the truth: Keeping work and family totally separate during holiday trips is messy. Sometimes your kid genuinely needs to hop on your laptop. Sometimes you really do have to check an urgent email while your spouse is behind the wheel. That’s just real life.

The aim isn’t to be perfect — it’s to make conscious choices about the risks you’re taking:

• Get your devices set up and secured before you start your trip
• Know which actions carry higher risk (like doing banking on hotel WiFi) and which are safer (such as checking email over your hotspot)
• Whenever you can, separate your work data from family use to reduce exposure
• Have a clear response plan ready in case something goes wrong
• Be prepared to say, “Not on this device,” and stick to that boundary

Ensure Your Holiday Is Memorable For All The Right Reasons

The holidays are meant for enjoying time with the people you love — not scrambling to deal with a data breach or having awkward conversations with clients about compromised information.

With a bit of preparation and a handful of straightforward rules, you can keep your business protected without disrupting anyone’s trip. Your family gets their holiday, your company stays secure, and everyone comes out ahead.

Looking to establish effective travel-security procedures for your organization (and yourself)? Book a complimentary assessment. We’ll work with you to develop actionable policies that safeguard your business while keeping travel simple.

Schedule your free IT Systems Assessment

Because no one wants their standout holiday memory to be, “Remember when Dad’s computer was compromised?”