“Sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite.”

I know I didn’t really know what a bed bug was to be honest.  I mostly thought of some type of insect lurking underneath my bed.  It was like a spider, it would come crawling under my covers as I drifted into sleep.  Then it would suck my blood or perhaps crawl into my unguarded mouth and take residence in my brain.  Yeah, I was a kid with a active imagination but it turns out my brain imagery was not so far off.  Sleeping with vampires is real!

Much like the vampire they come in the night, find a appealing spot to bite you and begin to suck your blood.  Your completely oblivious to the attack due to a anesthetic the bite delivers.  With a serious infestation many of these little blood sucking vampires can bite you hundreds of times in one night.

So whats your chances of having one of these unwelcome intruders?  Don’t you have to invite a vampire into your home anyway?  Well, turns out these pest don’t need a invitation and guess what, they like to travel.  Perhaps your traveling with one now.  Luck you, lets recap where you’ve been and take a quick look at the top 15 Bedbug infested Cities in the U.S.  as compiled by Terminix.

Top 15 Bedbug infested Cities

1. New York
2. Philadelphia
3. Detroit
4. Cincinnati
5. Chicago
6. Denver
7. Columbus, Ohio
8. Dayton, Ohio
9. Washington, D.C.
10. Los Angeles
11. Boston
12. Indianapolis
13. Louisville, Ky.
14. Cleveland
15. Minneapolis, Minn.

This picture don’t jog any recent memories of the last hotel you stayed in does it?

You see, this is a problem for the traveler because bed bugs aren’t real picky when it comes time to choose a victim.  Upscale, downscale, high rise, low rise, 4 star, 1 star it just don’t matter.  As long as your breathing and exhaling CO2 then your a nummy treat.  Everyone becomes Sookie Stackhouse and guess what, Bill the vampire,…err i mean bed bug is coming over for dinner.  So what can you do?

1.)  Accept that your bed bug traveling pal has seen more of the world than you.  From the hostel in Europe to the hotel in the U.S and then back again to that home in Italy.  Bed Bugs are well versed little travelers and definitely part of the exchange program.

2.)  Look for signs.  Its unlikely that you will actually see the critters themselves as they are expert hiders but look for signs.  Bed bugs typically leave tiny reddish or black streaks on sheets.  Also lift up the seam of the mattress and check for dark spots of dried excrement, eggs or even bed bugs themselves.  Nothing yet?  Keep checking everything from the pillow case linings to the box springs.  If you see signs ask for another room or leave the hotel.  The headache now will save you a much bigger headache if you end up bring them home.

3.)  To late for the signs above?  Then we are looking at bites.  Bites typically look like a small red welt and normally burn and/or itch.  Wash the bites with soap and water and then apply a ice pack.  You can also apply some no-itch or antihistamine cream to the area.

4.)  Don’t put your backpack on the bed, chair furniture, etc.  If you can try to hang it from somewhere like a suitcase stand, rack, hanger or whatever you can find.  Be careful hanging it around any crevices in the wall though, they like these.  If you can’t find anything consider the tub, I have.  Make sure you close everything when not in use and keep articles of clothing off the bed, floor and furniture.  Everything should be packed away.  This is a precautionary measure.  If you see signs of bed bugs then like above, ask for another room.

5.)  It’s to late, I spent the night sleeping with vampires.   It’s OK, sometimes it happens.  Traveling can be exhausting and sometimes you just get to the end of the day and you want to crash and you don’t care if your sleeping with pit vipers.  Still, your gonna have to do some clean up now.  Vacuum every possible nook and cranny of your suitcase, backpack, camera case, etc including seams.  Wash all your clothing you were carrying in hot hot water.  This should be all done before you consider bringing the traveled items into your home.

To late, they are in my home.  Eww, I’m sorry but that’s gross.  Maybe if you weren’t such a sloppy person.  No, I’m just kidding but I do feel bad for you.  The safety and comfort of your house can feel like its taken away.  Unfortunately bed bugs can be a terrible nuisance to eradicate from ones home.  People can spend a ton time and money exhausting methods before finally calling in a exterminator.  You will have to strip everything down and the exterminator will likely give you some instructions on what you should do before he/she arrives.  You may just end up having to toss heavily infested mattresses and furniture.  Peace of mind is priceless.

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In this post I will cover:

- Getting free internet on your holiday / backpacking trip.

- Working the system to get the cheapest travel insurance possible.

- THE cheapest international calls

- Cheap cheap cheap Accomodation

- Specific info for each city

Getting Free Internet on you Backpacking trip

When it comes to cheap backpacking, this tip will save you a lot.

I picked up an old Nokia phone with Wifi (EU75) from a gypsy market in Bulgaria two months ago, and I’ve been sponging off other peoples open wifi connections ever since!

The beauty of this is that each time I use my new free internet connection instead of paying Euro 2-5 (sometimes 10!), eventually that money saved means that I will eventually make the cost of the phone back and then start actively saving/making money.

I’ve also downloaded a nifty program called fring, which lets me call others on skype/google talk etc for free or landlines/mobiles for a small fee when at a wifi hotspot. The fee is much less than what you can expect to pay with the normal ‘cheap’ international phone cards.

Working the system to get the cheapest travel insurance possible

Rule number one for having a cheap backpacking experience:
NEVER buy travel insurance from your travel agent! Until you follow the steps below first!
Buying travel insurance from travel agents is like buying Armani from a supermarket. It’s just not cricket ~
Because it is a point of convenience, most people don’t think about shopping around and just go for the first price they get. Which is always a rip off.
My first quote for travel insurance for a 6 month trip to Europe, Middle East and Africa was over AU$600 from my travel agent. No thanks.
I then did a search on the web for the absolute cheapest I could find with (and this is very important) comprehensive, unlimited health insurance, which is all I was interested in. I ended up getting a quote for AU$200 from a company backed by a major international bank. I then took that to my travel agent and they matched and beat it.  So I ended up paying AU$180 instead of AU$600 for the same product!

The cheapest international calls are not where you think

Most of us who are looking for a cheap backpacking experience know not to call home from hostel/hotel phones etc and usually buy calling cards.
Whilst this can be cheap, some countries don’t have the cheap international calling cards, or if they do are not so cheap.
The other option is using a feature called ‘skype out’ – this is part of the normal skype program, except instead of just calling a skype computer, you can call actual landlines and mobiles. For cheap!! : )
For example, I go to an internet cafe in Bulgaria and call home for the skype rate of AU 2 cents per minute instead of AU 26 cents per minute which I would be charged with a calling card/special internet phone booth.
That’s 1/10th of the price! Yahoo has an even cheaper option with their chat program.
Or if the person you are calling has Skype/Yahoo messenger, you can call for free obviously : )

Cheap Accommodation

The worst thing you could do when aiming for a cheap backpacking experience is booking a hostel through hostelworld.
Having worked at a hostel I can tell you they own 80% of the market and can get away with charging you US$2 on top of the 10% booking fee.
Why pay the US$2 every time when you can book free at hostelbookers (dot com)? You get exactly the same thing without being taken advantage of!
Another thing that is handy to know is that that 10% deposit only goes to the website not to the hostel!
Knowing that, why not google the website of the hostel you want and email them directly, asking them if you can keep the 10% if you book through them directly? I’ve done this several times and its especially handy for long term stays.

Specific info for each city : )

Whilst the preceding four points are good general tips, one more thing that will save your hard earned money is to find blogs which cover cheap tips for the city / place you are about to visit.

Have any more good tips for backpacking on the cheap? Please share them with the rest of us below : )

Lewis is an Aussie that got bored with the 9-5 job and has been backpacking cheaply through the Middle East and Europe since January 2009, and like most Aussie backpackers, loves a good bargain. Travelling for so long he’s learnt how to stretch his Aussie dollar as far as it’ll go. If you would like more tips on how to enjoy cheap holidays, visit his blog.

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Photo by Carlo Nikora (Flickr)

Having been on the road since January 2009, I’ve got to say I’ve pretty much seen and experienced a lot of it. Now I’m traveling with the girl I love and I couldn’t be happier. Whether you are looking for a few hookups, or something deeper, here are some tips that might get you what you want:

>>Atmosphere of the hostel
Having worked at a couple of hostels, this is perhaps one of the most crucial choices you will make. When looking through Hostelbookers or whichever site you use, pay close attention to two things – atmosphere and location. Here’s why: Atmosphere indicates the level of connection people felt when they were there – is it simply another chain hostel there trying to jam as many people in as possible, to make as much money as possible? Or was the profit motive balanced with good common areas where people found it easy to connect with each other?

And its not just about having a living room – its got to have an element where people can do things together without knowing each other yet, which will give them an opportunity to begin by engaging in small talk. Examples of this can be as simple as two Internet/computer terminals side by side, a pool table, a TV with a comfortable lounge etc etc. They all give opportunities for small talk and then it evolves from there.

Location of the hostel
The other really important tip, especially for hookups (:P) is, where is the hostel located is it in the middle of the city where people are likely to go off and explore and do their own thing for a couple of days, or is it in a pleasant but somewhat isolated area? The wildest hostel I’ve ever been to purported to be in the action, but in reality was 15 minute bus ride away. This meant that all the people that came to have fun, made fun with each other in the hostel itself.

When you have less distractions (ie Ancient Temples, Museums etc etc), you are more likely to stay in the hostel and make connections with the people who are around you. This builds a stronger group, when there is ‘us in here’ not so connected with ‘them out there’.

Go where you know people of your own culture are staying

I know this is going to get a lot of frowns from real backpackers who know the entire point of traveling is to experience different cultures, but the fact is, even tho people want to experience something different, they are still more comfortable with the familiar.

No matter how progressive and open minded you consider yourself to be, you are far more likely to hook up with someone of your own culture (generally speaking) or Enneagram type than with someone who speaks a foreign (especially if English is not your first language) simply because it is human nature to be more trusting of a person if there is a familiarity to them.
Being fluent in the same language also means you are better able to communicate with them – and if you are looking for love and not just sex, then this can be important.

This is not to say it applies all the time. Just most of the time, to most people.

Obviously, drink booze
This is an obvious but really important one – don’t get completely off your face where you regret what you did last night, but a little booze can really oil the wheels of communication and fun Drink at the hostel rather than going out – its not only cheaper, but having a comfortable bed is a lot more likely going to allow a girl to say yes than if the best you can offer her is the romance of a McDonald’s toilet, or the seedy back alley of a nightclub

Whether you’re male or female always carry some condoms. There’s no worse way to ruin a good holiday than to come home with a permanent sexually transmitted disease. Holidays are temporary, diseases can be permanent. Also, its a fact that a lot of girls say no to sex without protection.

Top places to have a good shag in a hostel
Places which tend to be deserted in the middle of the night include the kitchen, the roof, laundry room, or, you could be boring and get away from prying eyes by hiring a private room. I have a friend who became such good friends with the hostel owner, that the owner let him borrow a private room free of charge for a few hours every so often for his shag marathons.

Lewis is an Aussie who has been backpacking and living overseas continuously since January 2009. He presently writes for Gear Up and Play, but also has a Lonely Planet feautured travel blog which focuses on tips for backpacking on the cheaphttp://backpackingonthecheap.blogspot.com

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