Long travel days have the ability to sweeten with the landing or sour with the arrival. We began our long travel day with a ferry from the island of Paros to Crete. By the time we arrived to Crete’s capital of Herkalion, night had fallen. Our journey had just begun as we made the two-hour drive to the city of Rethymno. Without a GPS or even so much as a simple map, we attempted to navigate into the old city to find our hotel for the next few days. Hungry, tired and appropriately cranky, just before the night turned into morning, we spotted our hotel. It would appear the long travel day was at last over and our landing was in fact sweet.
Whenever I check into a hotel, I always try to do a bed bug check. However over the course of the honeymoon, my obsessive bed bug checking habits took a slide. With so many hotels in short periods of time, I failed to check all of my rooms how I normally would. At this particular property, everything looked immaculate and modern. After a long day, we wanted to just pass out. As I went to pull the curtains back to block out the morning light, I saw something, something I had never seen in a hotel room before, the dreaded bed bug.
Hotel room or bed bug haven?
It moved like no bug I had ever seen, darting up the curtain before my husband could have a look himself. With a quick smack, this bed bug would bug no more but surely he had friends, friends in high and low places. I looked at the clock and saw 1:15AM staring me in the face. The woman that checked us in had said how the front desk closed at midnight, leaving us virtually trapped with a new speedy friend. This was the icing on the cake after a long travel day.
I have read plenty of reviews of those who cry bed bug at hotels when it is a beetle or a gnat. However, with Wi-Fi at our disposable we could examine our fallen friend. He fit the bill for a bed bug. After some careful research, there was no denying it anymore as much as I wanted to hear it was a harmless beetle. I envisioned a ruined suitcase, the search for a Greek laundromat and roaming the streets of a foreign city at 2AM for another hotel. This was my travel nightmare in a bug shell.
And yet as I type this today, I can proudly say I dodged the horrors of bed bugs and the hassle of trying to get rid of them by following a few basic steps. Should you meet one of these pesky hotel guests on the road or even just to avoid them, hopefully my tale of survival will keep the bed bugs from biting you too.
Place Luggage in the Bathroom
Due to a fear of bed bugs at hotels, I never place my suitcase on a bed, chair or anything that could be accommodating bed bugs. In this case, my suitcase was on a luggage rack. I acted quickly once I spotted the bed bug and placed our luggage in the bathroom. With nothing but tile in the bathroom, I knew our bags would stand a better chance of surviving this bed bug sighting.
Check Everywhere in the Room
Once I spotted the bed bug on the curtain, I promptly began looking for his friends. We searched the other curtain panels, all throughout the bed and neighboring chair. We even checked all of the furniture such as nightstands and armoires. We could not find another. This bed bug appeared to be the scout for the others or a lone ranger. Due to the hour of the sighting, we decided to wait until morning to move hotels, especially as there was no one at the front desk until breakfast time. I only felt comfortable doing this, as I didn’t see bed bugs in the bed and due to the late hour. You can’t just think bed bugs lurk in beds. They can be in curtains and throw pillows, just waiting for you to turn out the lights. You need to check everywhere when you step into the room.
This room checks out for bed bugs.
Separate the Contaminants
Having spotted the bed bug, I knew what clothes and items of mine might have come in contact with the lone ranger’s friends. I separated the articles of clothing that could be carriers into a plastic bag, away from my luggage. Once I reached a hotel with laundry services, I had these articles cleaned before I even put them back in my bag. If you think you might have come in contact with a bed bug infested room, separate any contaminants from the rest of your luggage to avoid problems down the road.
Get Out When You Can
We couldn’t leave until morning realistically. Having only seen one bed bug, there was the chance that it was just one. However, I didn’t want to risk it. We checked out as soon as we could and headed for the mountains of Crete instead. I took the lone ranger bed bug as a sign to get out before he invited the rest of his friends. If you identify a bed bug, get out when you can to avoid searching for laundromats in foreign cities.
Happy to be out of bed bug central
Have you encountered bed bugs on the road? What tips did you implore to survive or dodge an infestation?
Oh god I literally think I would have a panic attack if I saw bed bugs. 🙁
YIKES! Just reading this gives me anxiety so I can’t imagine actually discovering one in my sheets. Great tips though, thanks for sharing!
Happy travels 🙂
I also read that they don’t really like light (or are less active in light) so if things are REALLY bad, you could sleep with the lights on. Not ideal, but I actually did it in Mexico and it seemed to work.
Really good tips – especially putting your luggage in the bathroom. My biggest fear when it comes to bed bugs (aside from their general grossness) is the idea of having to get rid of all of my clothes just to end the infestation.
That place looks so pretty, too!
I only had a bedbug problem once. I sat in a chair and didn’t sleep all night. Not exactly fun.
Ugh. I am currently staying in a hostel with bed bugs. Unfortunately, I’ve already been bitten to pieces and the alternative hostels in the city have gotten recent bad reviews, stating they also have bed bugs. How long can the bugs stay on your clothes and luggage? I think I have to spend one more night here but tomorrow I’m definitely looking for a new place!
yes, we have. and we were so tired because we had traveled everywhere that it didn’t dawn on us that we were sharing the room with bed bugs. We don’t put our stuff on linens either. We opt to hang it up. Normally we also spray for bed bugs on the bed and check the mattress before hand. When we got home, we washed everything in hot water.
Everything.
Even the backpack.
I actually encountered one bedbug twice. Once in Bagan, Myanmar and once in Daitong, China. Both of the time they must have been loners.
I was bitten by them twice at other places. I think both of them were in Myanmar. If there are three bites on your skin in a line, then it was a bedbug. They especially like my legs, it seems.
I only carefully went through my belongings in the hotel before check out and put my bag on the balcony back home for a while and washed everything.
So these reports about infesting may be true, but somehow I have the impression, that some people panic too much about it.
Or was I just overly lucky? I don’t know …
I never looked for them (even though I knew I should) and when I was in Iceland in June with a friend she looked at our beds (thankfully before our luggage was in the room) and they were full of bedbugs! It would have resulted in a nightmare – I’m so grateful to her! And it was tired and late at night too but we were able to get another room at a different place. I even mention it in today’s post about Iceland!