Travel Tips
How to avoid bed bugs while travelling
Bed bugs are exactly the kind of souvenirs we don’t want to be taking home from our trip. And hotels provide the best possible location for these nocturnal nasties to thrive.
We’re going to take a lot at several general precautions you can take to avoid bed bugs when you’re travelling. Follow these rules and you certainly won’t be letting the bed bugs bite.
- Research before booking – After you’ve chosen a hotel, it pays to do a bit of research to see if the venue has had problems with bed bugs. Websites like Trip Advisor generally provide good information, but even something as simple as running a Google search with the name of the hotel and the search terms “bed bugs” can provide information of past infestations.
- Inspect the bed – Once you’re in the room make sure you investigate for some of the tell-tale signs of bedbugs. Pull back all the linens, check around and under the mattress and have a quick look behind the headboard. Aside from the bugs themselves, you’re looking for small black dots they may appear to be mould or ground pepper, or tiny blood stains.
- Check the areas immediately surround the bed – Even if your bed appears to be a bedbug-free zone, that doesn’t mean they’re not lurking somewhere around your hotel room and many cases bedbugs actually a found a few metres or so from the bed. A quick, precautionary check of any drawers, cushions and furniture is well worthwhile.
- Try to keep your bags in an elevated position – Make sure you keep your bags in an elevated position. Keeping your bags away from the wall will also greatly reduce the chance of a bed bug finding its way into your luggage and returning home as an unwanted souvenir.
- If you notice signs of bed bugs, let the front desk know – If you feel as though your room has an infestation, don’t hesitate in letting hotel staff know. You’re not being a prima donna and in most cases the staff will be more than happy to organise for you to change rooms. And if they’re not, that’s a sign you should be taking your business elsewhere anyway.
- Immediately launder your clothes when you return home – Just in case bedbugs have gotten into your luggage leave your bags in the garage when you return home. Once you get a chance to wash them do it and if you have a dryer run the items through that as bed bugs aren’t big fans of the warmer temperatures.
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