Bed bugs are a growing problem in recent years. As travel increases and people fly for their work or fly to wonderful vacation destinations, bed bugs find the perfect way to hitchhike around the globe. In fact, this is their only mode of transportation. They will climb aboard your luggage, into your purse and computer bag, or onto your shoe or pant leg and ride free of charge to their new home. They are very elusive and experts at hiding; and their eggs are even more difficult to spot (and don’t require their mothers in order to hatch) which means that those that are offering these little pests a ride don’t even realize that they are doing so.

However, when you are flying home from your perfect vacation spot, you don’t have to bring these pests home as a souvenir. With a little knowledge and a little effort, you can leave these bugs to hitchhike another day on another person.

Following these tips can help to save you a huge headache and a lot of itching!

• Be sure to inspect your bus, train, or airplane seats for signs of bed bugs.

• Inspect your hotel room before you bring your bags inside.

• Pull back bedding near the head of the bed (the spare bed too!) and look for groups of black spots on the mattress (A sign of fecal stains from bed bugs!).

• Check underneath mattress tags and around seams of mattresses and box springs.

• Check the back of the headboard – especially the screw holes where they can hide.

• Check the hotel closet using a flashlight before hanging clothes.

• Leave your clothes in the suitcase – never use hotel bureaus.

• Keep your shoes in the open rather than under the bed or in the closet.

• When you get home unpack in a garage or mudroom – never in your bedroom

• Be sure to immediately wash your clothes on the hottest setting possible.

• Inspect your suitcase using a flashlight.

If you inadvertently bring bed bugs home from your vacation and you live in our extensive service area, give us a call. Here at Thomas Pest Services we can discreetly and effectively eliminate bed bugs from your home. Our certified pest specialists offer inspections, identification, and bed bug response planning. Treatment may include heat, mattress encasements, and Climbup® Insect Interceptors – all done discreetly under the watchful eye of our trained technicians using state-of-the-art equipment.

Do your best to avoid bringing bed bugs back from your vacation by following our helpful tips; but if they do find a way into your home, get quick, effective, discreet relief by partnering with Thomas Pest Services.