I recently had an email from a loyal TBTP reader who is planning an extensive trip around the U.S. and Canada. He was concerned about frequent media stories regarding the prevalence of dreaded bed bugs in hotels. While I assured him that I have never personally seen bed bugs while traveling in North America, the reality is that a growing problem does persist at all levels of accommodations. For what it’s worth, I was able to share the very helpful website The Bed Bug Registry, which has been tracking infestations for more than a decade. The crowd sourced database offers more than 20,000 reports on hotels and other rentals across the U.S. and Canada. There’s even a free iOS app you can download before you book your rentals.