Alabama’s Top Travel Destinations Crawling With Bed Bugs

I hate to be the bearer of bad news.

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How many times have you heard that one before?

Well, it is true in this case.

I love a couple of these places and have trips booked to visit later this year.

TRAVEL IS BIG!

Nothing seems bigger at the moment. A recent survey that we see each year asks folks what kind of prize they want the most.

For the last two years a "Vacation/Trip" has been the #1 choice.

How many warnings have we seen from AAA about a "record number of travelers"?

Quite a few. Last year, around 30 million people visited the state of Alabama.

Estimates vary but most say around 150,000 Alabamians traveled to vacation or business destinations over the last couple of years.

Before we get to the places we visit the most, let's talk about the problem.

BED and BUGS.

Or bed bugs.

They are nasty little demon-possessed critters. Hard to kill as well.

Bed bugs are usually resistant to any of the big pesticides that we are familiar with in our stores.

They are a serious pain to deal with once a place is infested.

Check this info out, according to Wikipedia:

Disposal of items from the contaminated area can reduce the population of bed bugs and unhatched eggs. Removal of items such as mattresses, box springs, couches etc. is costly and usually insufficient to eradicate infestation because of eggs and adults hiding in surrounding areas. If the entire infestation is not eliminated prior to bringing new or cleaned personal and household items back into a home, these items will likely become infested and require additional treatment.

Treating clothing, shoes, linens, and other household items within the affected environment is difficult and frequently ineffective because of the difficulty of keeping cleaned items quarantined from infestation. Many bed bug exterminating specialists recommend removing personal and household items from the infested structure. 

Yeah, it's not fun at all.

Let's look at the cities we visit the most in recent years.

The #1 city we visit?

Well, according to census data that city is....

ATLANTA

The place known for peaches and the Peach Bowl.

At least that's what I think of when Georgia comes to my mind.

I certainly don't think about any bulldogs. But, that's not important right now.

After that, well, here comes that bad news part of the story.

According to the annual Orkin pest control bed bug report, all of our top destinations are on this list.

Atlanta is 13th.

Nashville is 30th

Orlando is 46th

All three of those cities are in the top 5 destinations for Alabama travelers over the past few years.

Other cities on the list include Charlotte, Denver, Raleigh, Charleston, and Greenville. I would not have thought those cities would be on this bed bug list. However, they are on it.