Protect yourself from Bed Bugs while Traveling

How to find bed bugs in hotels/motels and what to do about it if you find them!

• Before getting settled in your hotel room, thoroughly inspect the room for bedbugs or prior bedbug infestation. Look for dark spots or light brown exoskeleton skins that bedbugs shed as they grow. These critters like to feed on peoples’ exposed skin while they’re sleeping, so check hiding spots that are 5 to 10 feet from sleeping and sitting areas. Since bedbugs don’t like light, they’ll be hiding in areas that are usually dark or have very low light.
• Keep your suitcases elevated off the floor. When you’re ready to leave, double-check your luggage and its contents for any infestation. This may be bothersome, but it reduces the chances of hitchhiking bedbugs coming home with you.
• If you do find bedbugs, report it to management and stay at another hotel, or ask to be given another room that isn’t directly adjacent to, above, or below the infested room.
• Once home, launder your clothing in the hottest water safe for fabric and dry on the highest recommended setting. Vacuum the interior and exterior of your suitcases and backpacks. Then thoroughly clean the vacuum’s dust canister, or discard the used vacuum bag in a sealed plastic bag before vacuuming another room.
• Before your next stay, check out Bedbug Registry, a free public database where travelers report bedbug experiences they’ve had at hotels in the United States and Canada. You can search by hotel name, city, and state to see if your hotel has had any reported incidences of unwanted guests.