Preventing Bed Bugs While Traveling

Who doesn’t love a vacation? Whether it’s a trip to another town or state or even a long-haul trip across the world, there’s something really incredible about setting down your luggage and exploring another part of the globe. Well, bed bugs are big fans of a trip, too. These notorious hitchhikers love to catch a ride on an unsuspecting human, then explore and even infest their homes upon their return.

In fact, travel is one of the most common ways to encounter bed bugs. That’s why international cities—like London and New York—have some of the highest incidences of bed bug infestations in the world. These places are a hub of people from all parts of the globe coming together, using mass transport, and staying in hotel rooms. Thus, any bed bugs that they’ve picked up along the way can spread and multiply quickly without easy detection.

Where am I most likely to encounter bed bugs?

When it comes to bed bugs, nowhere is immune to these little critters. However, there are some places where they’re more frequently encountered. And this is not a new problem. In fact, a huge resurgence of bed bugs since the 1990s - partly due to the rise in international travel - has caused them to be an ever-present scourge of all sorts of accommodations and vehicles, with frequent infestations reported across the world in places like cruise ships, airplanes, hotels, and trains. [1]

Bed bug infestations are common in all kinds of hotels, hostels, and guest houses. Though hostels get a bad reputation for bed bugs, everywhere from a $5 per night hostel to a 5-star, $500 per night hotel can be hotspots for bed bugs. [2] Somewhere may look clean and feel comfortable, but they are not immune to this issue. Similarly, you might be on the fanciest cruise, in the first-class compartment of an overnight train, or simply in your plane seat and still come across a bed bug. That is why it is important to take preventative measures to protect yourself and your home from these traveling critters.

What Measures Can I Take To Prevent Bed Bugs While Traveling?

Identify Potential Infestations

Forewarned is forearmed, and one of the best things that you can do to prevent bed bugs while traveling is to educate yourself on the appearance of these bugs and the signs of infestations. Though bed bugs are prevalent in all kinds of overnight accommodation worldwide, only one-third of people actually check their accommodation for signs of bed bugs, and almost half of American travelers cannot correctly identify a bed bug on sight. [3]

So, one of the best things that you can do while traveling in order to prevent bed bugs from ruining your trip or potentially infesting your home upon your return is to educate yourself in advance. It is important to understand what a bed bug looks like so that you can identify them quickly and easily. Adult bed bugs are around 4-5mm long and a reddish-brown color. If they’ve eaten recently, they will be rounded; if not, they will appear more flat. Juvenile bed bug nymphs may be almost clear in color if they’ve not recently eaten and are very small, so they can be much harder to spot. Their eggs are minuscule and creamy white in color. They are often found in the seams of bedding and mattresses.

Upon arriving at your accommodation, check your room thoroughly. Though bed bugs can live on all kinds of surfaces, it is particularly important to check the bed for signs of an infestation. Examine the bed and sheets in detail, particularly any seams. [4] If you spot any bugs or tiny blood spots (a bed bug’s fecal matter), it is imperative that you take action. Other commonly infested places are curtains, sofas, and closets. If you do spot any evidence of a bed bug infestation, change your room—or ideally your hotel—as quickly as possible, and treat your clothing and belongings with a natural bed bug killer, as they may already be hosting a bed bug or two. [5]

Treating Bed Bugs Quickly and Effectively

If you find any sign of bed bugs, there are measures that you should take to ensure that your clothes and luggage are bed bug-free. Using our bed bug prevention products will help to kill existing bed bugs and protect your clothes and luggage from any future infestation. Our Bed Bug Patrol Travel Protection Pack contains a UV light for the easy detection of bed bugs, as well as a handy travel-sized bottle of our clinically proven Bed Bug Blaster Travel Spray and an in-depth guide to bed bugs. Made of all-natural ingredients, including peppermint oil, clove oil, and citric acid, our Bed Bug Blaster Travel Spray is easy and completely safe to use around humans and pets. As an added bonus, it smells great too!

Spray the solution liberally onto potentially infested areas like pillows, duvets, mattresses, bed frames, headboards, furniture, purses, and luggage. Be aware that bed bugs like to hide in cracks and crevices, so if you spot any easy bed bug hiding places, it’s worth blasting them, too. Repeat this process twice a day in your accommodation, and treat your luggage when returning home, too. Though the solution will kill any bed bugs and nymphs it comes into contact with, remember that eggs may hatch and require repeat treatment.

Our solution can also be used as a preventative treatment when traveling: a spray of Bed Bug Blaster in your new hotel room will ensure that you can sleep easy, knowing that you won’t wake up to find out that you’ve become a bed bug’s midnight snack!

Preventing Bed Bugs from Invading Your Home

Even if you are fairly certain that you’ve not come into contact with bed bugs on your travels—and especially if you know that you have - it is important to check your luggage when you return home to avoid an infestation. [6] If you do, unfortunately, find that you have come home with an unpleasant souvenir from your trip, do not panic. The most important thing is that you are aware of the problem; this means that you will be able to treat it quickly and effectively. This blog gives you step-by-step instructions on how to check your luggage.

A bed bug infestation can cause a whole lot of anxiety, largely due to the cost of extermination services and the worries about introducing toxic chemicals into your home. However, there are safe and effective solutions out there. We have a full range of bed bug products, including our full-sized Natural Bed Bug Patrol Killer Spray, as well as mattress protectors and heavy-duty steam cleaner to leave your home safely and naturally bed bug-free. Our complete guide to killing bed bugs naturally in your home has all the information you need to make bed bug infestations a thing of the past while ensuring that your home, family, and pets are completely safe in the process.

Our natural, plant-based Bed Bug Patrol Killer Spray provides an all-natural solution to infestations of bed bugs, as well as fleas, spiders, and other common indoor bugs. Our 100% natural solution is made in the USA. It relies on the power of natural ingredients like citric acid, clove oil, and peppermint oil to naturally deter these bugs from living in your furnishings and upholstery. Just spray our solution on affected surfaces twice per day, and it will get to work on exterminating your bed bugs and preventing their return. To keep you safe from bed bugs on our travels, arm yourself with our Bed Bug Blasting Travel Spray, which comes in a handy travel-sized bottle for your convenience.

[1] Delaunay, P. (2012), ‘Human travel and travelling bed bugs.’ Journal of Travel Medicine 19(6). [2] Ibid. [3] Penn, J.M., Penn, H.J., Potter, M.F., and Hu, W. (2017). ‘Bed Bugs and Hotels: Traveler Insights and Implications for the Industry.’ American Entomologist 63(2). [4] Delaunay, 2012. [5] Ibid. [6] Fuentes, M.V., Sainz-Elipe, S., Sáez-Durán, S., and Galán-Puchades, M.T. (2010). ‘Bedbug infestations acquired whilst traveling in the European Union.’ Rev. Ibero-Latinoam. Parasitol. 69(2).