Experiencing a bedbug infestation: what it’s really like

Bedbugs are back in the headlines. Recent reports indicate they are plaguing Paris as the city gears up to host the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Viral videos on social media have shown bedbugs in Airbnbs, on public transport, and even at movie theaters, as French authorities rush to eradicate them before next summer, according to the Washington Post.

While unfortunate, bedbugs are a fairly common travel risk.

I have a deep-seated dislike for bedbugs since they invaded my suitcase — and my life — back in 2019. It was a nightmare I wouldn't wish on anyone. The bites you get during your travels quickly become the least of your worries if those pests come home with you and make your bed their new home.

Our struggle against bedbugs lasted for several months, cost us thousands, and led to countless sleepless nights. It was an incredibly distressing ordeal, draining us mentally, physically, emotionally, and financially—an experience that’s hard to explain to anyone who hasn’t faced it.

The most effective way to handle bedbugs is to prevent them from entering your home in the first place.

Although France is in the spotlight now, bedbugs can be lurking anywhere during your travels, so don’t think you’re safe just because you’re not traveling internationally. They are more common in hotels and other travel hotspots than many would like to believe, but there are specific steps you can take to lower your risk of facing them.

Here’s my experience with bedbugs and travel, along with tips to minimize your chances of encountering them.

Our encounter with bedbugs

Out of curiosity, I'll be straightforward: I won’t disclose the hotel where we encountered bedbugs a few years back. It’s been some time, and the hotel did respond to our concerns; they acknowledged that our room tested positive for bedbugs post-stay and assisted with treating our home afterwards.

Now that’s settled, our stay began like any other. After spending a few hundred dollars on our first night at the hotel, I woke up to a couple of bites on my legs. While they were mildly annoying and itchy, I didn’t think much of it.

As our stay progressed, the number of bites grew, primarily on the backs of my thighs. It was irritating and itchy, but I figured it might just be an allergic reaction given where the bumps appeared. I tend to react more than most people to bites and plants, and we had spent quite a bit of time outdoors during our trip. No one else in my family had any visible bites or issues, despite sharing the same room.

After returning home, we unpacked our luggage, washed our dirty clothes, and left the unworn items on the couch overnight. Our luggage remained in the corner of the bedroom for a day or two before being put away.

Regrettably, all of this created the ideal scenario for the bedbugs we unknowingly brought home to settle in.

On my first full day back home, I snapped photos of my bites from the trip as they had become increasingly bothersome and itchy, reminiscent of poison ivy.

I started searching online for information about bedbugs and my anxiety grew. However, my bites didn’t resemble the large welts shown in the (disturbing) photos I found online. They were merely small, red, itchy bumps that looked more like acne than typical bug bites. Still, since no one else in my family had any problems, I mistakenly assumed it couldn’t be bedbugs; I figured it was more likely due to something I had touched or encountered.

I took a few short trips away from home, and the bites began to heal. Yet, over time, new ones kept appearing.

Our discovery of the bedbugs

Once back home, another bite or two appeared nearly every day — still mostly on me. Eventually, in a state of desperation, I reached out to a bedbug extermination service. I urgently requested a bedbug-sniffing dog to inspect our home, as I hadn’t noticed anything beyond the mysterious, itchy bites. I was increasingly convinced we had an infestation after ruling out other possible causes.

A bedbug-sniffing dog wouldn’t be available for another week after my initial inquiry, so a human exterminator came instead. Within minutes, my bedroom was completely upended, and a professional who knew what to look for discovered both a bedbug exoskeleton and droppings.

It was official. We had bedbugs.

How we dealt with the bedbug infestation in our home

From the moment I suspected we had bedbugs to the point of confirmation, I reached out to the hotel and requested them to inspect our previous room for pests.

We filed a claim, and eventually, the property confirmed that our room tested positive for bedbugs. It took about a month from our stay for them to find the infestation. Just imagine how many travelers might have been affected in that time.

But we’ll revisit that later.

On the night we identified the bedbugs, we packed our essentials into plastic grocery bags, ran some clothes through the dryer to eliminate any potential bugs or eggs, and relocated to a nearby hotel. At that point, I probably had 20 to 30 visible and itchy bites and couldn’t bear to sleep in our house any longer.

Less than 24 hours after we confirmed the bedbug issue, we heated our entire home to 140 degrees using propane heaters, powerful fans, and various devices; these tools reminded me of the scene when the government comes for E.T., as bedbugs and their eggs can't survive for more than an hour at that temperature.

Heating our home to that temperature, room by room, was a colossal undertaking, but we were advised that anything less would likely fail. We were informed that heat was the most effective weapon against the bugs, rather than chemicals.

We had to eliminate items that couldn’t withstand such heat, but the more we removed, the higher the chance that something harboring bugs or eggs would go untreated, so most belongings remained. Some toys and items ended up damaged or melted. Ultimately, the first attempt was unsuccessful.

In the end, our home was treated at temperatures exceeding 170 degrees, three times, by two different companies because the bites persisted.

It seemed that just enough bugs or eggs were overlooked the first and second time, leading us to start all over again as the bites would gradually reappear.

Each time, we had to book a hotel, board the dog, and completely dismantle our home.

How to identify if you have bedbugs

For better or worse, I seem to have a quick reaction to bedbug bites.

It took my eldest daughter three weeks to start reacting, while my youngest took nearly a month. Even in those who do react, bedbug bites can take up to two weeks to become visible. Some individuals may not show any visible signs at all, making it challenging to recognize a problem. In my family of four, it took three weeks for anyone besides me to have a clear reaction, and one person never showed any signs.

This can make it quite difficult to identify a problem promptly, and it also means you can’t assume you’re in a bedbug-free room just because you don’t wake up with bites.

The missteps we made that led to bringing bedbugs home

In hindsight, we handled our travel and bedbug prevention all wrong. Here are some of our mistakes:

• I neglected to inspect the hotel bed and room where we picked up the bedbugs. To be completely honest, I had never really checked a bed for bedbugs before this incident.
• Even when I started getting bitten during the trip, I still didn’t check the room for bedbugs, driven by a mix of blissful ignorance and denial.
• Our luggage and dirty clothes were largely stored on the hotel room closet floor, making it easy for the bugs to invade and hitch a ride in our bags.
• When we returned home, we unpacked on the couch and stored our luggage inside the house.

Even if we messed up the first three points, we likely could have prevented an infestation by leaving the luggage outside and promptly placing the dirty clothes in a hot dryer.

Tips for avoiding bedbugs while traveling

Unfortunately, bedbugs are a persistent issue for travelers. They don’t discriminate and aren’t just found in shabby hotels — we picked up these pests at a very upscale hotel.

However, the risk isn’t limited to just beds or hotels. Bedbugs can also be lurking in airports and even on airplanes.

Keep in mind, the room we occupied still had bedbugs for at least a month after our stay. Just imagine how many more travelers encountered them and possibly took them home, to their next hotel, or onto a flight.

Our luggage, which we brought back home, contained hidden bedbugs, meaning we carried them through ground transportation, across the airport, and onto the airplane. It’s easy to see how these pesky critters can spread so rapidly.

To steer clear of bedbugs, you must assume they're everywhere and treat your luggage as if it's perpetually contaminated. It might seem extreme, but it’s necessary.

Here are some strategies to lessen the chances of bringing bedbugs back from your travels:

• Never place your luggage or dirty clothes on the floor (be it hardwood or carpet), the bed, or similar surfaces in a hotel. Use metal luggage racks and the bathtub instead. Keep your belongings away from bedbug-friendly areas in the room, like beds and sofas.
• Inspect the room for bedbugs. It may feel awkward, but pulling back the covers and mattress pad to check for bugs or signs like dark streaks can help. However, this isn't the most critical step. I never spotted a live bug in my house, even with daily checks. While you can't rely solely on sight, it’s a useful starting point.

• If you notice bites during your trip that may be from bedbugs, inspect the bed again and ask hotel staff to assist with the check.
• Never bring your luggage inside your home. It’s inconvenient, but manageable in many situations. Store your luggage in a sealable plastic bin in the garage when not in use. If you lack a garage, keep it in a sealable plastic bin indoors.
• Heat your luggage and clothes after the trip. Bedbugs die in extreme heat, so if you can heat your belongings, you lower your risk. When you return home, immediately put your clothes into a hot dryer if possible. In summer, use the sun and black trash bags to heat your bags outside. Alternatively, consider purchasing a luggage heater. After experiencing a bedbug infestation, spending $300 to $400 on an electric heater designed to raise the temperature of your suitcase to a level that kills bedbugs will seem worth it.
• Use bedbug-proof covers for your mattress and box springs at home. While this won’t prevent bedbugs, it will keep them from burrowing deep into your mattress or contain them if they’re already there.
• Place insect interceptors under the legs of your bed. While this won't stop you from bringing bedbugs home, it makes it harder for them to climb into bed with you. Plus, you can check periodically to see if any are caught in there.

The takeaway

Our direct expenses for bedbug treatment reached nearly $5,000, with indirect costs surpassing that figure. Yet, that’s not even the worst part.

Dealing with bedbugs is infuriating. You scrutinize every bump and bite on your body and your children's. Armed with flashlights and magnifying glasses, you inspect your bed before sleep. Doubts creep in, as these elusive pests are hard to find, and you desperately wish it isn’t true. You think you've won the battle, only to feel crushed when you realize you have to start the fight all over again after a failed treatment.

If hotel staff, pest control professionals, or anyone else dismisses your concerns or fails to locate the source of the bugs, the struggle becomes even more draining against an invisible foe.

Drifting into a deep sleep at night, knowing that you and your children will likely be bitten before morning, feels nearly impossible.

Our encounter with bedbugs years ago didn't deter us from traveling, but it fundamentally altered our approach to trips. Now, packing and unpacking happens outdoors, which is a bit of a hassle. Packing cubes have been a lifesaver, as we can toss them in the dryer right when we return, allowing us to bring them inside easily by simply placing the packed cubes into our luggage. (Just make sure to use packing cubes that can withstand dryer heat — here are my favorites.)

Managing my family's luggage and belongings as if they're perpetually contaminated is both stressful and time-consuming. However, if it helps prevent another bedbug ordeal for my family, it's a small price to pay.