Packing a blanket......suggestions?
 

Ok...since I am getting very creeped out by the bug issue....here is what I am thinking...

Pack a light clean white sheet to put entirely over the bed. I will be in the uk and italy in May, so it shouldn't be too cold.

Take my super light but super warm fuzzy blanket to use as a top blanket.

I mean, what exactly are bedbugs? Do they just stay under the covers...or do they crawl all over the place!!

Yikes! I am getting the willies!!!

At least a white sheet will show up the little bugs in the morning! Seriously I have never had a problem with bed bugs anywhere but I am a bit paranoid about pillows - I can usually smell the last occupier. I take a quilted pillow with me everywhere as it only smells of me!

Bedbugs usually hide behind things like furniture and wall art during the day, and come out to feed at night. So, bringing your own sheet probably won't be a deterrant, since the bedbugs crawl into bed from the walls anyway.

You could get a silk travel-sheet too, or even a travel-weight sleeping bag.

Those measures won't prevent bedbugs from getting to you if they're present; they're attracted by the carbon dioxide you exhale (if you don't, you die, so no point trying to stop it). Bedbugs crawl pretty much everywhere to get to the food source (your blood). That said, in all liklihood, you won't have to deal with bedbugs, and if you do, just think of them like mosquitos, a nuisance, nothing more (apparantly, they are NOT a disease vector, so you don't have to worry about that, so they're even better than mosquitos).

Don't know if tea tree oil prevents being bitten by bed bugs but it would work as an after bite.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...3_bedbugs.html
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bedbugs/DS00663
Sounds like the bedbugs mainly hang out in slummy places, so you shouldn't worry too much. But you can at least see a picture so you know what to inspect your hotel room for.

I have never had an issue with bed bugs - don't get too paranoid. Another suggestion would be to take large sarong which can also be used to wrap yourself in if the weather is warm enough in Italy (hmm maybe not depends where you are going)to lie on for a picnic and also be used as a sheet if you feel the need. This way you get more use out of one item. Ok so it will not be pristine by the time you have picnicked on it!! I really wouldn't worry - where are you planning on staying? Don't get the willies - just relax and enjoy.

If you insist on your own item of bedding, take one that is chemically treated to resist bedbugs:

http://www.gogogear.com.au/shopexd.a...amp;quantity=1

This question is bugging me. Do you mean fleas?

No, bedbugs are different. You can Google for pictures.

This article provides a protocol for dealing with rooms that have bedbugs (scroll near the bottom):
http://docforgey.com/faq/1.html

Bedbugs are still not very common in developed countries, even if they are more common than they used to be.

I think we call them dust mites in the U.K.

With all due respect...you've posted on here about bedbugs (twice), deodorant, public bathrooms, shared hotel bathrooms, feminine hygiene, and sleeping pills for the plane. I really think you should calm down and stop "getting the willies" about all of these potential, and not major, physical problems. If it's that worrying, are you sure you want to travel?

She's just doing her research in advance. I think it's cool that she asks all the questions everyone else is embarrassed to ask. Better to figure it all out from the safety of her own home and then venture out with poise, than to go without preparation and have all the unexpected issues freak her out in a foreign place.

Dust mites and bedbugs are definitely not the same thing; dust mites are only an annoyance when you inhale them, and are pretty much microscopic, while bedbugs are definitely visible, and more the category of mosquitos, leaving potentially annoying (though by no means fatal) bites.

Auldyins, bed bugs are not the same as dust mites. According to my allergist, dust mites are everywhere. Bed bugs are certainly not. And in the US we call dust mites dust mites.

Are bed bugs not fleas?

Not fleas either. Something else entirely.

auldyins: look at these websites and you'll see a picture of a bedbug.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...3_bedbugs.html
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bedbugs/DS00663

I think I will be scratching in my own bed at the thought tonight.

Nope, not fleas either. Just bedbugs (Cimex lectularius). Entirely different bugs (though still rather unpleasant insects).

Ewweeee.... Yeuch, blech... all of that stuff. I have personally never seen one thank God. If I am going someplace where there will be mozzies, I usually spray the room with bug killer and leave for a few hours. Now will we have to spray the bed and hope the chemicals dont kill us?

Bedbugs won't kill you (unless you've died from the minor irriation of a mosquito bite).

no, I meant the bug spray on the sheets.

Whatever you do don't watch Arachnophobia! If just talking about bugs gets you going, that movie will freak you out.

Im still trying to get over the bug scene in Indiana Jones a gazillion years ago!

I'm trying to get over a spider in the bath right now.

Yeah, that one was pretty bad too. I would've needed a stunt double.

Apparently if the bites are bad enough you can get septicemia (blood poisoning). Also, you can be disfigured for months and scarred for life, based on some reports I've read.

I know everyone is different, but I like to work through worst-case scenarios for everything. It makes me feel calmer if I've developed a strategy for dealing with that sort of thing.

I just thought of a practical suggestion. Pack a small tube of hydrocortisone cream or ointment. I react very badly to flea bites, and that's what I do. Though now I'm thinking that maybe I'm too conservative about the threat--maybe I should bring a blowtorch and set fire to all the carpets and furniture where fleas might lurk.

I don't mean to say that bedbugs are fleas. I know they're not. I was just reasoning(?) by analogy.

"disfigured"? Oh My GOD!!

Well, if you really want to worst-case everything, don't forget brown recluses, scratches (you can get septiciemia from them if they get infected), sprained ankles from stepping off curbs wrong, hit-and-run drivers, hepatitis A, sunstroke, earthquakes in Italy, looking the wrong way while crossing in the UK, plane crashes, train crashes, vipers.....

...slipping in the shower, electrical fires during the night, getting hit by lightning, vertigo, flying debris scratching your eye, hypothermia, war, pestilence, plague....

Why are we talking about bedbugs? Has anyone EVER encountered them in Europe? Even in hostels? Neither I nor my kids (who do stay in hostels) ever have. The only time I have even heard of them was from people who stayed in the dorm in a mountain climbers' hut in Austria.

Birthdaygirl, if you are worried about the cleanliness of the places you will stay, carry a silk sleepsack; it won't take up much room in your luggage. Putting a sheet over the top of the bed won't do much.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7829176/

"Even upscale hotels are not immune...and bug specialists say the pests can thrive even in a spotlessly clean room."

Since there's really nothing you can do, I wouldn't sweat it.

I certainly would not bother bringing your own bedding. If by some bad luck you do encounter bedbugs, you'll just introduce them into your luggage and end up bringing them along with you to your next destination, and eventually home.

As the article explains, increased travel is why there's a rise in infestations.

No carrying your own sheet and blanket (which is ridiculous IMO) will not do a thing to keep the bed bugs (should there be any) away from you.

What kind of places are you planning on staying anyway?

There are about a million things you can worry about before a trip, this is a particularly weird obsession you've come up with.

What is a silk sleepsack?

Yikes! I didnt think of hepatitis A---i got vaccinated for B, but I think my vacinnation for A didn't stick.

But, you can get hep A anywhere...can't you? And is hep A as bad as hep c ?

Bedbugs can be found in any "level" of hotel (basic to deluxe). They don't seem to be disease transmitters from what I have read.

The only times I have heard about bedbug experiences have been here in the US....so, if you are going to worry, then this is not a "Europe thing."

Yes, it is icky (and I think we had bites from a nice place in Florida, but I'm not absolutely sure) BUT, if I worried about every possible bad thing that could happen, I would never go anywhere. So, be as prepared as possible, then try to relax and HAVE FUN!

Happy travels!

Look in any mail order catalog with travel supplies, like Magellens or something. Silk sleepsacks are what is commonly used by people who stay in hostel dorms.