Has anyone had to deal with bed bugs on a sit? I have a slight paranoia about this since a friend went through it on the Santiago walk. Wondering what people did between sits and how they communicated with both home owners.
It’s also my personal paranoia after walking 5 weeks on the Camino de Santiago carrying my own pack in 2016, and I now look on the bed bug hotel map if I visit NYC and other bed-bug hot spots. When arriving at any Airbnb/hotel my first action is to place my bags in the bath so as not to pick up any freeloading travellers, then I check the mattress margins closely with a torch looking for evidence of bugs.
If you are bitten you need to alert the HO immediately, all your clothing needs to be washed at 60° then put through a hot dryer. I would possibly then rent a tent to stay in the garden or decamp into a local hotel after doing my laundry until the HO could book a fumigation service. I would not continue to stay inside the house I’m afraid but I’d continue to care for the pets until alternative arrangements had been made by the HO.
2 Likes
Great suggestions. Thank you and I’m glad to see I’m not the only one.
1 Like
And to continue…… bed bugs also live in soft furnishings so the couch/chairs/clothing in wardrobes could all be infested. Another issue is that a sitter can just as easily bring bed bugs into a home by travelling on trains/buses where there’s an infestation. This is why I always place my luggage/bags/coat/outer clothing in a bath and inspect it carefully before unpacking.
You might think this is paranoid but getting a bed bug problem in your home is a disaster and costly too as usually ALL soft furnishings have to be destroyed.