It has become widely accepted that one of the main reasons for the bed bug resurgence that we have been experiencing in Canada over the last 2 decades is due to increased world travel. Now a days it is so common for Canadians to travel to destinations all around the world for business or pleasure, staying in shared accommodations such as hotels, hostels or short term rentals.
In these shared short term accommodations there will always be a higher risk of coming in contact with bed bugs since so many people prior to you have used the same room, some of which may have unknowingly introduced bed bugs into the room. Considering how good bed bugs are at hitchhiking by attaching to a hosts clothing or luggage, staying in a bed bug infested room can cause you to unknowingly bring them back to your own home as well. Once they have settled in your home, they will begin to multiply before you even realize that you have a bed bug infestation on your hands.
Knowing that bed bugs can infest your home simply because you wanted to go on a vacation, there are some things you can do to significantly reduce the chances of bringing them home with you. Here you will find some tips on how you can reduce your likelihood of coming in contact with bed bugs while travelling, and some protocols you can take when returning home to ensure none of them have decided to hitch a ride with you.
How To Stay Away From Bed Bugs While Travelling
Although it is impossible to fully eliminate your potential exposure to bed bugs while travelling, there are some things you can do to significantly reduce your chances. Since you will be staying in accommodations that are constantly seeing new people, the chances of a previous traveler introducing bed bugs into your room can be quite high.
Considering that you will likely only be in the room for a short period of time, you won’t be able to fully inspect the room for a bed bug infestation. To help you out, here are some quick checks you can do, along with some protocols you can take to ensure that bed bugs won’t be able to hitch a ride back home with you:
- Prior to booking a room, do some fact finding on the place you will be staying at. Check if the hotel name comes up in any local bed bug registry online or call them to ask if they have ever had problems with bed bugs in the past.
- Inspect your room for bed bugs on arrival by looking in some of the common hiding spots found in this article. While doing so, keep an eye out for common bed bug warning signs as well. If you do find even one bed bug, leave the room immediately and possibly even the hotel if you can since they are known to spread easily from one room to the next.
- Avoid creating any clutter in your room by packing your clothing in sealed plastic bags and/or hanging them up in the closet. This will make it very difficult for any undiscovered bed bugs to latch on to your clothing.
- Put your luggage in the bathroom which is a very unlikely place to find bed bugs since there usually aren’t very good hiding spots for them in there.
One Last Check Before Returning Home
Bed bugs are very sneaky creatures so even if you took all the precautions above, there is still a slight chance that an undiscovered bed bug could have latched on to your clothing or luggage just waiting for you to introduce them to their new home. The reality is that only a bed bug expert with vast experience can determine in such a short amount of time whether or not a room is infested with bed bugs. As such, before you enter back into your home there are some additional precautions you can take to ensure that any unsuspecting bed bugs that may have come home with you are killed. Two of these precautions are:
- Thoroughly inspect your luggage and clothing to look for any live bed bugs or bed bug warning signs. This is best done before even leaving the hotel room to avoid taking them in transit back home.
- Prior to going into your home, wash all your clothing (and luggage if possible) on high heat to kill any bed bugs that have managed to sneak past all your other checks.