News of a spreading bed bug infestation throughout Paris in recent days has triggered phantom itches and vivid memories of my own French bed bug encounter back in 2011.
Exhausted from a long day of travelling, we checked into our hotel late at night, slumped onto the bed and fell straight to sleep.
Panic ensued when we woke just a few hours later, itching and realising too late that the room was riddled with bed bugs.
We slept the remainder of the night in the bath lined with newspaper and as dawn broke made our way downstairs to tell the receptionist in a mix of broken French and charades.
"De marché, de marché!" I exclaimed, walking fingers up and down my arm. "They crawl, they bite … THERE ARE BED BUGS IN THAT ROOM."
He was the least bit sympathetic, offering no advice or compensation as we checked out.
On a mission to buy bug spray from a department store nearby, with little French under our belts, we accidentally bought fly spray and applied it topically (do not recommend).
Rapidly reproducing tiny pests
Over the weeks to come, we hopped from hotel to hotel, disposed of the majority of our belongings, and washed our clothes daily in an attempt to get on top of the rapidly reproducing bugs.
Without a smartphone at our disposal, we relied on information from relatives at home and online searches at internet cafes to guide us.
The biggest takeaways that I still practise to this day while travelling are placing any luggage in the bath while thoroughly checking the room, including searching the seams of the mattress and any blankets for blood spots or visible bugs.
Bed bugs live in crevices around beds and furniture and can travel on your clothes or luggage. Current reports from France include infestations on trains, in airports and theatres, too.
Amid crisis talks, the French Health Minister Aurélien Rousseau has been stated on local radio that there's no need for panic as they "haven't been invaded by bed bugs".
Did we bring them back home with us?!
Despite now seeing some humour in my experience, having bed bugs is incredibly unpleasant and they can be very hard to get rid of.
I imagine there are many people like me who have experienced this and feel a visceral sense of dread seeing the mere words bed bug, let alone pictures or details of mass outbreaks.
It's important to remember they are not a sign of bad hygiene and do not carry diseases, although bites can become infected.
The risk that was always in our minds was bringing the dreaded bed bugs home, which I am thrilled to report we did not.
Some bed bug tips
If you happen to get bed bugs in your travels, be sure to wash any contaminated clothing or bedding at 60 degrees.
I dare say having a better grasp of the local language would also have made this much easier to navigate, so I'd recommend any fellow travellers put in the extra time to learn a few basic phrases before jetting off!
Before our travels, the centuries-old rhyme "sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite" was the extent of my understanding of the tiny pests, however, as the current outbreak demonstrates, they remain an ever-present travel risk.
Daisy Baker is a freelance journalist and podcaster living in Bridport, Tasmania. Her podcast The Mindful Isle features stories of sustainable living in Tasmania.
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