Beware Bugs: Tips to avoid bed bugs on your next vacation

Experts offer advice for not bringing home bed bugs from your next trip

Courtesy photo from Bug Out Service

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Good night. Sleep tight. And don’t let the bed bugs bite.

In honor of Bed Bug Awareness Week June 3-9, Bug Out Service has compiled a list of tips to help summer travelers avoid the pests on their next vacation.

Recommended Videos



Bed bugs are parasitic insects that feed on blood, according to Bug Out Service. They are brown or reddish in color, oval-shaped and about the size of an apple seed.

Individuals can develop red welts and experience itching and swelling after being bitten by bed bugs, while some experience no symptoms at all, according to Bug Out.

Bug Out Service provides travelers with the following recommendations:

  • Inspect the hotel room or rental before unpacking
    • Look under sheets and around the mattress for live bed bugs
    • Look for reddish stains on sheets or mattresses where bed bugs have been crushed
    • Look for pale-yellow eggs that are roughly the size of a grain of rice tucked in the creases of the sheets and on mattress tags
    • Check the bed, furniture and all upholstery – bed bugs love these spaces
    • They can also be found in drawer joints, electrical outlets, under loose wallpaper, at the junction of the wall and ceiling and in the head of a screw
  • Place luggage on clean, hard surfaces and not upholstered or carpeted services
  • Notify management of any pests and change rooms or property immediately
  • Inspect and vacuum luggage upon arrival home