The clogged skimmer basket while on vacation and leaving the pool unattended has always been a concern of mine as well.

We resolved it last year by cutting a piece of fiberglass window screen just slightly larger than the rectangular opening to our skimmer. We then undid the screws that hold the skimmer frame in place, inserted the fly screen over the opening, and replaced the frame. No debris got in the skimmer basket, nothing could clog it. Yes, we had some leaves and bugs on the bottom of the pool but that wasn't a big deal to scoop up.

We were able to let the timer run the pump during our absence and let the chlorinator inject just a minimal amount of chlorine to keep the water from turning green.