AAA Travel expects record-breaking numbers for people travelling this holiday. If you are planning to leave town for July 4, there are things you don't want to forget like sunscreen, keys, and locking your doors and windows.

State police say it's that time of the year where house break-ins are higher.

It sounds like simple advice, but state troopers say it happens all too often: people maybe leaving a car behind and they'll leave it unlocked, giving thieves access to things like garage door openers — that make it easy to break into your home.

You may not think it can happen to you, but Trooper James O’Callaghan says that's the kind of thinking that could leave you vulnerable.

"I'm watching this on TV right now, but this will never happen to me,” O’Callaghan said. “I don't need to lock my doors, nothing has ever happened in this neighborhood or people around me — but all it takes is one night. One night of people walking through, checking those items, and next thing you know you are a victim, along with everyone else who did not lock their doors or secure their stuff."

This was true for one Buffalo resident, David Pinero, whose apartment was broken into last May. After that he installed security cameras, he found people trying to open his car or stealing packages from his porch more than once.

It happened so often he created a website where neighbors can post their security camera footage to help catch someone stealing.  

"Because they are drifting through neighborhoods and I think they become more aware it’s not the police they have to worry about,” Pinero said. “It's the people they have to worry about, that will make the big difference."

Trooper O’Callaghan says if you are leaving for vacation, you should request the post office to hold your mail for you. A full mailbox is a sign to a potential intruder that you aren’t home.

He also says people forget to bring their trashcans in from the curb before they leave for vacation. When your trashcan is the only one out there, that could be another sign to someone looking to break into a home.