AVOID BEDBUGS WHILE TRAVELING
After having disappeared for years, bedbugs are back, for the great misfortune of travelers… As their name suggests, these insects live in beds and bedding. They are commonly found in backpacker hostels and other budget accommodation, though they can also occur in more expensive hotels. They are parasites feeding on human blood. Their bites leave characteristic red marks on the skin, and the affected area can be very itchy. If you don’t want to bring back those undesirable insects as souvenirs, some precautions must be taken when traveling.
PACK YOUR BAG CAREFULLY
When packing your bag, put your clothes, your toiletries and your shoes in separate plastic bags, and open them only when needed, to prevent bedbugs from going inside. Many travelers have the bad habit to throw their bag on their bed or on the floor as soon as they enter their room. But this is to ban, as if bedbugs are present in the bed or in the room, they may infest your bag. It is advised to put your luggage, handbags, backpacks and camera bags in the bathroom, until you are sure there are no bedbugs in the room.
METICULOUSLY INSPECT YOUR ROOM
As soon as you arrive at your accommodation, carefully check your room and your bed for bedbugs. If you have no idea what a bedbug looks like, just search for tiny flat and oval insects measuring between 1 and 7 millimeters, with brown and black spots on their body. As bedbugs love to stay in the folds of the bedding, as well as in the small cracks and crevices of the bed and the nearby furniture, inspect every nook and cranny of the bed and the room. Don’t forget to pull the sheets and the blankets, and to check the pillows, the mattress, the seams, the bed base, the bed head, under the bedside table, around the lamps and in the folds of the curtains. If necessary, use a torch lamp. Note that bedbugs may also be found behind frames and mirrors.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU FIND BEDBUGS ?
If you find bedbugs in your room or in your bed, don’t touch them. Immediately notify the staff of your accommodation. If they give you another room located below, above or next to the infected one, don’t accept it, as bedbugs can easily travel from one room to another.
AFTER TRAVELING
When you return home, meticulously unpack your bags and check all your clothes and belongings for bedbugs. Special attention should be given to the seams and the pockets. It is better to do this outside of your house or in the garage, as if you unfortunately brought back bedbugs in your luggage, they could rapidly infest your bed and multiply if you unpack your bags in your room. You can also do it on your balcony or in your bathtub (as bedbugs have difficulties moving on smooth surfaces). After checking your clothes, wash them at high temperature during at least 30 minutes, this will kill the bedbugs you could have missed.
