How much does air quality matter to you when you choose your locations?

Question

Hey everyone! This is a question I’m asking out of curiosity since I’ve lived in South Korea for several years, been to China, Thailand and the Philippines and have recently traveled to Malaysia and Vietnam. By no means is pollution unique to Asia, but much of the developing process involves CO2 emissions and places like Indonesia and Vietnam produce a lot of smoke in the air by burning rice fields. Personally, this really puts me off from visiting these countries for any substantial period of time so I was wondering if it’s a factor for you as well, or do you just deal with it - and if so, for how long?
I think I’m admittedly pretty sensitive to air quality because I’m prone to dust allergy, and especially since I have reaped the benefits of living in clean places like Sweden and Finland in the past. But I can’t imagine this not being an important factor especially for people who have children or health issues. I’d love to get your thoughts on this

levelsio · Accepted Answer

Huge concern for me. I’m from the Netherlands where air quality is relatively good.
Living in developing countries, one of the first things you’ll notice in the big cities is the crazy amount of cars and traffic. And it’s the worst type of polluting cars on the road since they hardly regulate.
It’s the same in South America to South East Asia.
There’s some places that really go next level with pollution though. Manila is a good example, where the old jeepneys drive around with just an exhaust of black smoke constantly. Bali is another one, where it’s normal for people to burn their trash (including lots of plastics). Many times next to your apartment/hotel window.
I’m not bitter about it, that’s what you get in developing countries. But that’s why I do increasingly choose places a bit further out where the air is better.
For me air quality one of the top 3 priorities when choosing a place. That’s also why I weigh air pollution so high on Nomad List’s city rankings.

nomadtax · Answer

It’s also a concern for me although not a deal breaker.
I’ve spent a considerable amount of time living in Asia (including China) and I’ve found that overall there are two types of air pollution and their effect on quality of life are dramatically different.
First of all there is the Chinese style smog. Yes it’s bad health wise but it’s not in your face, at least not in Shanghai where motorbikes are rare and cars are forced to use better fuel. It’s simply there but it’s easy to forget especially in densely built areas where it’s not visible.
Then there is the south east Asia style air pollution. That one is bad, real bad. It comes mostly from traffic and it’s literally in your face all the time when you walk around. This type of pollution is practically impossible to ignore and makes practicing any urban sports impossible. Not to mention the burning season…
I’ve posted an air pollution heat map on my blog, it really illustrate well where the problem areas are and might be useful to some of you.

Freedom Surfer – 16 Aug 15

Pollution and traveling - Freedom Surfer

When planning their dream vacation, most people do not imagine themselves suffocating in a toxic smog. In this article I explain why they should.

ani_goes_tweet · Answer

I don’t do cities. I’ve just spent the summer in the mountains in the north of Herault, in the Languedoc.

voskovek · Answer

It’s a big concern for me now, not because I have health issues, but because I love walking and cycling a lot. I was in Chiang Mai during the burning season earlier this year and I was coughing all the time three days after I arrived.
I’ll be spending a month in Seoul in December/January, I’ll see how it goes!

patrick_stiles · Answer

It is a huge deal for me. I want to live a long happy life and the damaging effects of air pollution are well documented. If bad enough, it is LITERALLY like smoking.
I left Medellin for this reason last month. And it is why I left BKK 4 years ago.
I use this site for making some decisions: http://aqicn.org/map/china/
However, I found Medellin to be much worse than that data let on. It also claims BKK isn’t that bad. But when you’re on the street, you can feel (and smell) the emissions.
Now I’ll pass through anywhere. I was in Santiago earlier this year and was in Seoul last year. But I wouldn’t live in either full time. There is just no need.

mossy2100 · Answer

Having lived in Bangkok and found it unsustainable as a home for this reason, I consider it quite important.

ani_goes_tweet · Answer

It matters hugely to me. I won’t even consider places with bad pollution.

repat · Answer

Pollution levels are not always the same, though on average it’s pretty bad in developing countries as everybody here is saying. But also in Paris and Athens, cities in definitely developed countries, it’s sometimes quite bad.
There’s apps that can show you how the pollution is at the moment and what’s recommended (not) to do.
I met the guys from Plume Labs the other day in Paris so I’d recommend them: https://www.plumelabs.com/

loniklara · Answer

Can I ask where you’ve been so far considering that you’ll only go to places with decent air quality?

levelsio · Answer

I think that’s really the point, most countries are fine as long as you go outside the greater metropolitan areas.
Unfortunately, that’s usually also where it’s most fun (for me at least)

itinerantdev · Answer

I didn’t notice a problem in HCMC or Hanoi when I was there.  But I’m in Mexico City now and it’s pretty bad, my throat often feels a bit gross, and when you head out of the city a bit you can really see it. I would certainly think about it when considering whether to come back here, especially for more than a few weeks.
It does seem like the city wants to improve on it, they have a good cycling program now for example, hopefully it will improve in a few years.

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