Phila Airport Parking Vacations

Even the best luxurious five-star hotels and resorts can occasionally get an infestation of bed bugs. This is sometimes unavoidable because many hundreds, or even thousands of travelers and tourists can be staying at a hotel or resort at any given time. These little blood drinking critters can easily hitch a ride on unsuspecting travelers or hide in their luggage. Hotel and resort managers are very aware of this problem and do their best to prevent this from happening.

What do these blood sucking pests look like?

Bed bugs are tiny, flat, wingless bugs. Their size can vary from a head of a pin to approximately one-quarter of an inch in length when fully grown. They’re oval shaped and look similar to small watermelon seeds. Their color varies from translucent yellow to dark reddish brown. If they have just dined on a traveler’s blood their color may look dark brown or black.

How easy are they to detect?

Most travelers are not aware of bed bugs until they see the red bite marks on their bodies and start scratching their itchy wounds. Bed bugs can be extremely difficult to find if the infestation is light. Their eggs are very tiny and about the size of a grain of rice which are even harder to observe. To make matters worse they tend to be nocturnal so they are waking up and looking for a blood breakfast when most vacationers are going to sleep.

When you check into your room it is advisable to roll the bed sheets, blankets and comforters all the way down to see if you can find any bed bugs. A tell tale sign that they are there are dark fecal spots or drops of dried blood on the bed linen, pillowcases, or in the seams around the mattress or box springs. You may also find what appear to be shells of bed bugs which are in fact the skins that they shed as they mature. If you find any signs of their presence, call down to the front desk and ask for another room. You may be able to get a discount on your room rate for the upsetting experience and inconvenience.

However, bedbugs do not reflect on the cleanliness of hotels or resorts. These insects do not eat crumbs or dirt, or anything we may associate with unsanitary hotel room conditions. They only feed on blood. In terms of a vacationer’s health, current research indicates that these insects do not appear to spread disease even though they can harbor well over twenty-five different pathogens.

Not everyone gets bitten by bed bugs. Sometimes, if there are two travelers asleep in the same bed, only one may get bitten. However, bed bugs don’t discriminate. Given a chance they will gladly drink anyone’s blood. Bed bugs are attracted by the heat of our bodies and the carbon dioxide that we exhale when we breathe. They also release chemicals that attract each other. These night crawlers move quickly and are excellent climbers. They can easily tag along in a traveler’s luggage or on their clothing.

What can you do to avoid these pests when you travel on vacation?

Unfortunately, apart from checking the linen, mattress, box springs, bed frames, behind the headboard, all upholstered furniture, and along the baseboards in your room, that’s about all you can do.

Bed bugs are a universal problem and can be found in motels, hostels, bed and breakfasts, hotels, resorts, pod hotels, hospitals, airplanes, trains, buses, cabs, cruise ships, etc. These tiny blood suckers can be located near any readily available source of blood, like tired travelers. Bed bugs can also hitch a ride home with you, turning your home sweet home into a living hell.

What can you do to get rid of pesky bed bugs?

You should leave the job to a professional pest control company as these pests are very difficult to get rid of. It’s expensive and can take time treating an infestation of bed bugs which usually involves using steam and pesticides. This process may have to be repeated a number of times before the very hot steam and pesticides kill all of them. Keep in mind that the insects must come into direct contact with the hot steam and pesticides for these tactics to be totally effective.

As far as your house is concerned, prevention is easier and far less costly than a cure. In your home, you do not have to throw your mattress and box springs out. You can cover your mattress and box springs with zippered plastic coverings that will prevent bedbugs from hiding in the cracks and crevices of your mattress. There also are zippered plastic protectors that are just as effective in protecting your pillows. This will prevent any bedbugs that are inside from getting out. And at the same time it will prevent any new infestations from getting in, thus eliminating the mattress and box springs as a problem. However, this is only one part of the bed bug solution. You will still need to use steam and pesticides to fumigate any room of the home where they could be hiding.

There is a new and exciting revolutionary product that looks very promising for monitoring and eliminating bed bugs. It is called the NightWatch Bedbug Trap designed by Bio Sensory, Inc.. This small, easy to use product has a kairomone, carbon dioxide, and heat lure that traps and kills bed bugs. Under a monitored field test this product captured and killed over a thousand bed bugs. The company’s website is Biosensory.com.

The mosquito is a major cause of a number of serious diseases throughout the world. Five of the most prevalent mosquito-borne diseases are Malaria, Yellow Fever, Japanese Encephalitis, Dengue Fever, and West Nile Virus .

Malaria is the most common serious disease caused by mosquitoes. Over a million people die from this disease worldwide each year.

Female mosquitoes deposit their eggs into your bloodstream when they feed on your blood. These parasite eggs incubate and grow in your liver and then attack your red blood cells. The first symptoms usually show up within twenty-four hours. Some symptoms are shivers and chills, a high fever, as well as nausea and vomiting. This is generally followed by a deep sleep and then a flare up occurs. If these symptoms continue to repeat themselves every two or three days, you must seek medical attention.

There’s an anti-malaria drug that can be taken to help protect you when traveling on vacation in mosquito infested tropical climates. For you to receive maximum protection, this medication should be taken before, during, and after your trip. However, these pills may not always be completely effective.

Pharmaceutical drugs such as Chloroquine, Fansidar, Mefloquine, and Doxycycline, can be prescribed to treat malaria, but again, they are not always completely effective. Ask the doctor more about the dosage and length of time that you should take any of these prescription medications.

You can protect yourself from yellow fever by getting vaccinated by a physician at a local health authority before you travel on your holidays. This vaccination lasts about ten years and is very effective.

Japanese encephalitis is a viral infection that’s transmitted through a bite from an infected mosquito. This disease can be prevented with a series of three vaccinations.

Dengue fever is a viral disease that is spread through mosquitoes. At the present time there is no vaccination to prevent this disease.

West Nile Virus is also spread through infected mosquitoes. At present there’s no vaccine to protect you from this disease.

Please keep in mind that when it comes to serious mosquito-borne diseases, prevention is always better than a cure, even if there is one. It is always the best policy to limit the chance of being bitten and infected by mosquitoes in the first place. Always wear loose fitting, long-sleeved shirts and slacks between dusk and dawn and use a DEET containing insect repellent when mosquitoes become active near dusk. Be sure to kill all the mosquitoes in your room before going to sleep, and use mosquito nets as well as coils when camping or sleeping outdoors.

Many professional thieves hang around hotels and resorts, especially the lobbies, looking for tourists and travelers that may be easy pickings. Here are some travel tips that may help you feel safer and more secure in your hotel room when you are traveling on vacation.

If you can, try and book a room that is on the second, third, fourth, or fifth floors, as ground floor hotel rooms are more susceptible to break ins. Always keep in mind that hotel rooms above the fifth floor may not be accessible by many fire engine ladders if a fire breaks out in your hotel.

Make sure the door to your hotel room locks properly, and that all windows or sliding doors open and also lock securely.

It may not be a good idea to hang a “please clean the room” sign on the door knob when you go out, as it signals to a would be thief that there is probably no one in the room.

It is prudent to not give out your room number to anyone that you don’t know and trust.

There is a small, motion-sensitive, battery-operated, burglar alarm that can be hung on the inside hotel door knob, or there is a wedge-shaped alarm that you can wedge under the door that accomplishes the same thing. If someone tries to open your hotel room door, an alarm will sound.

Two less sophisticated methods you can use are moving a chair in front of the hotel room door, or wedging a standard rubber door stopper under the door. Either one of these methods are also effective.

The fear of flying is called Aviophobia, and millions of air travelers and potential flyers worldwide suffer from it, to a greater or lesser extent.

You should enroll in an intensive treatment program if you feel that your fear of flying is severe. However, if your fear of flying is not severe, there are some things you can do that may help remedy the problem.

Firstly, sit in a seat over the airplane wings, preferably not a window seat so you can?t look down at the ground. When you sit over the wings you will also experience a smoother ride.

If you can, you should leave your seatbelt on as much as possible, so if air turbulence suddenly occurs, you won?t get jarred or bounced about as much.

If you can, avoid eating or drinking any food or beverage that contains sugar, caffeine, or alcohol.

It will help a lot if you try to stay positive and always think only positive thoughts.

You may feel less stressed if you can fly at off-peak times as there are usually fewer airplane passengers to contend with.

Many airline passengers also suffer from the fear of heights and claustrophobia, in addition to the fear of flying, which can easily compound the problem.

For more valuable information and advice on how vacationers as well as business air travelers can overcome their fear of flying, visit FlyingWithoutFear.com.

What causes deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and can this in-flight medical condition be a serious risk for air travelers?

Deep vein thrombosis happens when a blood clot forms in the lower leg. If the clot breaks off, it may travel to the lungs. That can then be fatal. If you have symptoms such as pain, redness and swelling in a leg, you should seek medical help as soon as possible.

What can contribute to the above symptoms?

DVT can happen in your lower legs at anytime, usually when you sit in one position for a long time without moving. Some research indicates that you are at three times the risk of developing this serious medical condition when you fly. Even driving, traveling by bus or train, or relaxing in your favorite easy chair at home can also cause it.

How can air passengers prevent this life-threatening condition from happening?

You can help prevent this condition from happening by increasing circulation in your legs. A number of experts suggest wearing loose clothing and avoiding tight fitting pants or stockings, move and exercise your legs frequently when sitting, changing your sitting position often, not sitting with you legs crossed, walk up and down the aisle every half-hour or so and drinking lots of water so you will not become dehydrated.

Obesity, or using oral contraceptives can increase the risk of DVT.

If you think you may be predisposed to any of the above risks, especially swelling of your legs and feet, you might want to book an aisle seat to give you a little more room to move and enable you to get up and walk around anytime without bothering your fellow passengers.