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| Of course you won't find a hotel room like this, but some can feel this dirty. |
Mildew and Mold Are Everywhere
I don't care how fancy and expensive the hotel is. They may have the best cleaning staff in the world but people make mistakes. If you cannot get out of your room and there is a bad smell, you may be glad if you carry something to deal with that.
International travelers should make it a point to stop and buy some cleaning supplies as soon as they get off the plane or boat. If you're spending at least one night in a hotel or country you have never stayed in before, "better safe than sorry". I found that some travel wipes and alcohol swabs will usually sanitize surfaces for me.
I've never stayed in a foreign hotel room with a pungent odor but I did once find myself in a room without a toilet. Fortunately I was able to book a room at another hotel.
Believe it or not, my grunge adventures usually occur right here in the good old US of A. I've stayed in hotels with sewage problems, "non-smoking" rooms that had obviously not been properly detoxed, and rooms that had a funny smell.
I'm not the only person who has booked a bad hotel room. Vacazilla tells you how to survive in a filthy hotel. After reading that article my only thought was, "Why not just drive another 50 miles to find a better hotel?" But I guess if you're tired that would be too dangerous.
If you're packing suitcases that might get damp, throw some silicon gel packets into them. You can buy them on Amazon real cheap. I've heart Walmart and Target may carry them, too.
If you're camping a lot you will eventually see some mold or mildew growing on your tent and maybe other stuff. Here is a good article that helps you clean things up.
I've also found that packing a spritzer bottle with 4 parts water and 1 part rubbing alcohol helps. Just spray the tent once a day.
And you might consider buying some Damp-rid and storing it inside your tent when you camp and next to the tent when it's in storage. Works wonders for me.
Cleaning Tents and Cars is A Good Idea
Washing down the tent may sound like a chore. Okay, it is a chore, but it's a good preventive task. Keeping your tent clean and dry is important when you pack it up and store it.Your car or truck can also be a nightmare to deal with. I once borrowed a friend's truck and was so disgusted by how filthy it was I immediately took it to Target and bought a car cleaning kit. After I wiped down everything inside I took it to a car wash.
Hey, I promised him I would do that anyway, but I had thought I would do the cleanup at the end of the loan, not the beginning.
When I travel through the muddy outdoors I take my vehicle through a washup before arriving home. Yes, I'm tired and the kids hate being out longer than necessary, but if we're returning from a weekend trip I know it will be a week before I can clean up the vehicle.
Basic tent cleaning is not that hard to do. Here is an article that explains what you should do. I've known a couple of people lived in their tents for a few months. They both cleaned up every now and then but not as often as I would have liked. So I'll grant you it's work but just because you're living outdoors doesn't mean it's okay to live in dirt.
That's the way I feel about it.
You Should Not Have to Clean a Hotel Room, But ...
If your choices are limited and you have to stay the night in the room, you can ask for room service. The front desk might say they have no one available. If so, make a note of that and don't stay there again.You can also explain what you object to and ask for another room. Maybe the hotel has one. I've changed rooms a couple of times and found the new rooms to be more bearable.
If you have small pets and are staying at a pet-friendly hotel, they may let you stay in one of the non-pet rooms. Either way, we bring paper towels and cleaning stuff so we can take care of messes right away. We also carry a non-aerosol disinfectant spray to ensure we make a good faith effort to leave the carpet sanitary.
Some people carry their own towels. That's for budget hotel travel. If I'm staying in a $100-a-night hotel I expect the towels to be clean. Once we went into a room where the towels had not been changed. We immediately requested fresh towels. They came and cleaned the bathroom for us right away.
If you're carrying a disinfectant with you it's probably a good idea to use it judiciously if you're suspicious the room is not 100% clean. I've found a few waste baskets that I wasn't sure about. And we spray the drawers if we put clothes in the dressers.
