The end of a vacation is always a little stressful. You pack up your memories and souvenirs with your clothes, start dragging your mind back to into the “real” world, and prepare yourself to jump back into the rat race. You don’t want to add to your post-vacation stress by bringing home a few bed bugs with your souvenirs.
Even if you’ve carefully inspected your room and taken every precaution, it is possible to miss the signs of an early bed bug infestation. If bed bugs have crept into or laid eggs in your luggage, the precautions noted below will help you manage laundering and proactive clean-up when you arrive home.
How to Have a Bed Bug-Free Vacation Moving Out Packing to Come Home
Fall in. Sort your belongings into piles based on wash loads: whites, colors, dry cleaning.
Bag and tag. Please each pile in a separate heavy-duty disposable trash bag and place in your luggage. Use trash bags that are at least 2 mils thick to prevent tears or holes. If a tear or hole develops, double bag the load. Tightly seal each bag with wire twist ties or, even better, duct tape.
Protection detail. To prevent gifts or personal items from becoming infested, seal them into clear air-tight bags (Ziploc or similar) before adding them to your luggage. This will allow you to inspect the contents for bug activity before unpacking and disposing of the bags.
Final inspection. Inspect the outside of your luggage for bed bug signs. Even if you don’t see anything, if you’re travelling by car, encase your suitcases in heavy plastic bags and seal closed with duct tape.
Next time: Protecting the Homefront: What to do when you return home.
Don’t let bed bugs spoil your summer vacation. When you get to your destination, before you even take your luggage out of the car, inspect your room. If you arrive by taxi or hired car, keep your luggage tightly closed and place it in the middle of the floor away from furniture or walls where bed bugs may harbor. If you’re traveling with the family, limit potential exposure by having the children wait in the car or lobby while you inspect the room.
How to Have a Bed Bug-Free Vacation Scouting the Enemy What to Do When You Arrive at Your Destination
Know your enemy. Here’s what to look for: Shed skins – Like snakes, bed bugs shed their skins as they grow, so look for tiny, dry husks. Spotting – Black dots indicate fecal spotting. Live bugs – Bed bugs are small, flat oval bugs about the size of a pencil eraser when full-grown. Color is light brown when young, turning dark brown with maturation.
Muster the troops. You don’t want to injure yourself or damage the property, so enlist the management’s aid in inspecting mattresses and moving furniture away from the wall.
Inspection. Grab the disposable gloves and flashlight you packed and give the room a thorough inspection. 1. First take a look at the walls, particularly near door frames and air vents. When a room becomes heavily infested, bed bugs will seek to expand their territory, congregating in these areas. 2. Bed bugs like to hide in cracks and crevices so check the baseboards behind the bed, dresser and nightstand. Completely remove and look inside and underneath drawers. 3. Remove bed linens and inspect the mattress, particularly along seams, rolled edges, handles and tags. 4. Check behind the headboard and anywhere the mattress abuts the wall. 5. Check dust ruffle seams. 6. Look underneath the mattress and at the box springs, especially where the dust cloth is stapled to the frame and around plastic corner guards. 7. Check all furniture and objects in the room, particularly in cracks,crevices and undisturbed places.
If the room passes muster, you’re likely to have a bed bug-free vacation. However, in early stages, bed bugs are so tiny, you may not be able to detect their presence. You may want to take a few extra precautions:
Keep your possessions in your suitcase and keep it closed and zipped as much as possible.
Keep your luggage off the bed, away from walls and off luggage racks.
A glass table with metal legs is the safest place for your possessions.
Push the shower curtain to the side and hang clothing in the middle of the rod.
Next time: Moving out: Packing tips for coming home.
