Bed Bug Travel Tips: Do I take my own advice?

Sitting in a hotel room writing some brand new content for this site, this question occurrs to me:

Do I practice what I preach?

The answer is: mostly.

Now that I’m back, let’s see how well I did using my Bed Bug Protection Tips for Travel article as a best-practice example.

The table below shows what I recommend and then shows what I actually did.

RECOMMENDATION	WHAT I DID
Before you go.
Research Hotels and Hostels Ahead of Time	I checked tripadvisor.com, hotelchatter.com and bedbugregistry.com before I booked the hotel.
Choose The Right Luggage	I already have the usual style soft luggage. I lose points for not going the hard luggage route.
Protect Your Clothes	I did not bag clothes before I left but I brought bags just in case.
When you check into your hotel or hostel.
Protect Your Luggage	I never unpack or keep luggage on the bed. I keep it on a desk, coffee table or a luggage stand.
Check Your Room	When I walked in the door, I put my luggage on the desk chair and thoroughly inspected the room. This included: Pulling apart and inspecting the bedding. Pulling off the mattress cover and inspecting the mattress, taking care to check the seems thoroughly. Inspecting the underside of box-spring. Pulling the headboard off the bed and inspecting it and where it affixed to the wall. Pulling out nightstand drawers and checking them top and bottom. Checking the phone and clock near the bed. Checking the wall trim at the floor and the pictures near the bed. Checking the curtains/drapes in the room. Checking the furniture cushions. Maybe I get a little carried away but this is bed bugs we’re talking about!
Before you leave.
Check your room (again).	I forgot and just left after I packed.
When you get home.
Unpack Safely	I brought my luggage downstairs and unpacked all my clothes directly into the washer.
Launder Clothes Immediately	Yes. I did not use hot water but I dried them on high heat.
Treat Your Luggage, Then Store It Safely	I didn’t treat it although I always keep it in storage, packed in an air-tight bag.
Help Spread The Word	If I found any bed bugs, I would have reported them to the sites (above) to warn others.

Overall I did ok. I’m confident in my ability to find and identify bed bugs so I take some risks such as using soft luggage and not treating it after traveling.

If you do your homework before you leave and thoroughly inspect the room before you settle in, you’ve reduced an enormous amount of the total risk.

Tagged: bed bug hotel, bed bug prevention, bed bug protection, signs of bed bugs

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