Travelers’ Night In — Nature vs. Human Impact on Travel!

On this week’s round of Travelers’ Night In , the interactive Twitter discussion for avid travelers and travel lovers, the theme was Nature vs. Human Impact on Travel!  As always, ten questions were asked, people responded while tagging their tweets #TNI , and learned quite a bit about some new destinations!

Once more, I’d like to draw your attention to the #TNI Cookbook .  Organized by Jodi Harrelson ( @StarfishTravel ) and Stephanie Diehl ( @traveldesigned ), the cookbook will be featuring recipes by us — yes, everyone on #TNI and beyond! — and the donations will benefit Planeterra projects around the world.

Every week, we all have so much to share, particularly about food.  This is a chance to share in more than 140 characters!  To contribute a recipe or find out more information, please email the creators .  Submissions are due by the morning of Tuesday, July 6. Thanks!

Q1. Has Mother Nature ever changed your travel plans? How?

yTravelBlog Was planning to go to New Orleans for thanksgiving and then Katrina hit

dogjaunt Massive snowstorm last year kept us in NYC another day — loved it, loved cheer and calm of snowbound Manhattan.

CityStyleGuide Spent a week in Italy thanks to Eyjafjallajokull and one in Paris bc of a blizzard back in NYC. Could have been much, much worse!

CoTravelGirl Once spent a week in a cheap hotel room, trapped by a hurricane. 6 people + 1 bathroom + too much tequila = memorable trip.

My sister and I were in Bruges, Belgium, for our third day in a row and were going crazy with boredom.  The only thing left to do was to ride bikes to the North Sea — and then it rained, so we couldn’t even do that!

Q2. Destinations you avoid because of potential natural disasters/health concerns?

BridalTravelGuy My kitchen if my wife is cooking… Big Fires!

TravelEditor Wouldn’t head into an ebola outbreak but otherwise not really.

GlobalBasecamps Well, scientists say Tokyo is 50 yrs overdue for major quake and Mt. Fuji’s gonna blow soon! But my love of sushi conquers all!

Gadling My mother-in-law’s house?

You’re talking to a girl who went midnight swimming in Long Island Sound. I don’t have many health concerns.

(Also, don’t read The Painted Veil, which takes place in the middle of a cholera epidemic. Just thought I’d mention that because I just read it and HATED it.  Nothing happened in the whole book!  But I hear the movie is incredibly romantic — probably because it has a different plot with actual ROMANCE!)

Q3. Destination you hope doesn’t get overdeveloped?

eat_your_world Panama’s ridiculously gorgeous, rustic, cheap San Blas islands (Kuna Yala).

roniweiss I want to hit Cuba before the embargo ends. And again after.

runawayjane The Scottish Highlands. It’s already popular with tourists but I hope it doesn’t b/come over developed. It will always be home 2me.

smittytabb Bhutan limits the impact of travel by limiting the number of tourists and also charging a surcharge per night

Cape Ann, Massachusetts, is home to some beautiful, underdeveloped land, marshes and beaches. Though some areas are developed, I hope the area stays pristine.

Q4. How has the gulf oil spill impacted your travel plans?

travelblggr Trying to plan a trip to the Gulf to create some awareness videos on the impact made to the environment and the tourism industry.

Aireslibre As a FL resident it saddeness me to think of the potential damage the oil spill will create on the beautiful beaches/wildlife!

WldTrvlBill None yet. But am now creating a trip to help the tourism ind which is hard hit !

queenbbarb can we have a tweetup and blow vuvuzelas with that guy at BP?

For a few years now, I’ve wanted to do a road trip from Pensacola to New Orleans, via Alabama and Mississippi — the Redneck Riviera, if you will.  I guess that won’t be happening anytime soon.

Q5. Which destinations have been the most polluted? Least polluted?

travel_version New York as a typical most polluted. New Hampshire least polluted. Worldwide I’d say least is New Zealand.

artistatlarge Most polluted: Mexico: garbage on the side of the road, sometimes on fire, or ringing small towns out in the open.

BudgetTraveller Least polluted: Has 2 be Scotland….crisp fresh air. Gleefully take gulps of it blowing in my face from across the Forth every day

nataliebuster Most polluted: Wuhan, China. The sky was sepia!

I was impressed with how fresh and clean Seattle was — the entire city gleamed.  Quite a difference from Naples, Italy.

Q6. Have you ever had a trip canceled or postponed due to an “act of nature?”

pwcarey Trips have been canceled due to acts of stupidity, but not Nature

GJGBTL231 Had to cancel my trip to St.Maarten because of Hurricane Andrew and get struck in Miami !

global_gourmet Nope, but I cancelled a trip to Chile/Galapagos two days before the recent earthquake hit. Whew.

FLTooDo Yes, my friends’s pregnancy… more like act of hubby

I’ve never had a trip canceled, but I wasn’t able to swim in the Blue Grotto in Capri because the waves were too high. Someday I’ll return!

Q7. Immunizations and Malaria pills – rants, raves, suggestions?

StarfishTravel Do tequila shots count as immunization?

Action_JoJo Prefer the weekly over the daily malaria pills & I always take CIPRO!

yoginitraveler Love malaria meds, getting 7 shots at once for Tanzania was NOT fun. Woke up and arm felt like 800lbs of dead painful weight.

BootsnAll I was actually kind of hoping to experience some of those crazy dreams people say they got from Malarone. No luck.

I’m getting my first travel immunizations in the next six weeks or so.  Stay tuned for the post on the experience!

Q8. How do outbreaks like bird or swine flu influence your travel plans?

TrvlConnOsseur We got Swine Flu by just staying at home!

TravelsceneUSA Dramatically. I am such a sook. I hate being sick. Although hubby supposedly got Swiner Flu and I didn’t even get a sniffle.

MalaysiaAsia I live in bird and swine flu central, we just avoid the cheap and tasty dishes

kirsten_al I think the most frustrating is how is makes family so paranoid to see you travel. Unnecessary public panic.

Are you kidding? As soon as swine flu hit, I booked a super-cheap trip to Cancun!  It didn’t affect my trip whatsoever!

Q9. Do you purchase trip insurance? Why?

travelerkate YES! I’m a travel agent…I’ve seen too many people get screwed if they have to cancel for an emergency

MeganSterritt Nope, i live on the edge!

wandermom I rarely purchase trip insurance for regular travel but will be buying every option for our RTW trip.

ljrexpeditions Purchase trip/evac insurance 4 extended trips off the grid. Don’t want my family burdened by my wanderlust should something happen!

If you’re looking to purchase trip insurance, I would love if you could buy World Nomads travel insurance through wordpress.com and get me a small  kickback!  Just click the top banner ad on this page and it will lead you to their site.

Q10. Tips for insurance claims/getting refunds for natural disasters?

CindyRichards Scan yourself. Scan important docs (passport, travel, credit cards) & email them to yourself. They’re as close as the nearest wifi

travelbea Read the FINE print!

LandLopers I learned this the hard way, save boarding pass stubs. Lost out on reimbursement because I tossed mine

DEPagliaro Make sure your insurance agent is also NOT your butcher.

They said it!

And that’s the week!

Travelers’ Night In, founded and organized by the lovely ladies at ZipSetGo , takes place on Thursdays from 3:30-5:00 ET.  All are welcome! Follow the #TNI tag to see the questions and conversation!