How to avoid picking up bed bugs in your luggage while traveling

How can I avoid picking up bed bugs when traveling? 

One thing that I always like to do when I’m going to a new area, staying in a hotel, is I put my suitcase usually in the bathroom, or on some surface that is made of a hard, non-porous material. Some desks, for instance, might work. 

However, typically in a bathroom you’re dealing with something like tile, or some type of other non-porous surface, and that’s really not a great place for bed bugs to harbor. Not to say there’s never going to be bed bugs in those areas for sure, but it definitely is a lower likelihood than putting it directly onto a piece of furniture, for example, in a hotel room, or on the bed, for example. Those bathroom areas can work out really well for storage of your belongings. Keeping your suitcase closed is also very important. Bed bugs—a lot of people travel with hard-sided suitcases. Again, not exactly a bed bug’s favorite surface to crawl on. 

However, if your suitcase is laying wide open and your clothes are right there, full of your scent, they are going to be more likely to get in there than if your suitcase is zipped up. 

Again, this isn’t the perfect system where you’re going to 100% protect yourself against every bed bug, but it’s just a precautionary thing you can do when you’re traveling.