Bed bugs are a disgusting travel epidemic, and can follow you home and infest your furniture when you get there. There are a few simple steps you can take to avoid this issue. When you first get to a hotel, put your luggage in the bathroom (it’s the least likely area to have bed bugs). Keep your shoes on and check out the bed. Pull the linens back -- bonus general health tip: put the comforter in the corner of the room; hotels rarely wash them -- and check your sheets and in between the mattresses. If there are little rust-colored smears or small black dots that look like black pepper, you most likely have a bed bug problem. Call the front desk and tell them about the issue, then ask to be moved immediately to a new room. Your new room should not be next to, above, or below the room you’re moving out of. Do not open your luggage until you’re in a new room.
