Welcome to the first TNI travel Twitter chat of 2012. Fittingly the topic was Travel Firsts. As usual there were a sparkling array of well-traveled tweeters and their finds that should create enough wanderlust for 2012. This chat was hosted by @jetsetterdotcom, @jetsetfarryn, @aireslibre and @zipsetrachel.
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A1: It’s my mom’s fault — she brought me traveling as soon as I could go along. #TNI
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A1. When my uncle brought me a lava ashtray of the Hawaii Islands when I was a kid I fell in love w/travel to exotic places. #tni #late
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A1: Perhaps it was in my blood since I am Portuguese; perhaps I am a descendant of great explorers! 
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A1: Last Summer, walking the Camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage through the north of Spain on foot. #tni
Q2. First time you saw the ocean? Thoughts? #tni
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A2 In Scotland land there`s a bridge over the Atlantic. That`s the first time #TNI
A2. Saw the Pacific since infancy. Loved being buried in sand by my mom at Torrey Pines, for example. #TNI http://pic.twitter.com/I3v3GbC8
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A2, First time, it was the Mediterranean Sea and I was mesmerized by the color, waves and the warm breeze. I was hooked! #TNI
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A2. I’m a beach baby! Was born 5 minutes from the beach in Sydney. Home sweet ocean home! #TNI
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A2 Can’t recall my first sight of the ocean – I was living on a sailboat in the Bahamas at 3 weeks old! My folks were seafaring nomads. #TNI
Q3. City that was your first love? Why? #tni
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A3. Florence! From the ancient stone walkways, to the Duomo, to the pear pasta at Trattoria 4 Leoni… what’s not to love? #TNI
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A3: Stockholm, Sweden, vibrant and very friendly people! Q3: City that was your first love? Why? #TNI
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A3 totally fell in love with Verona at the age of 14, the “home town” of Romeo and Juliet, always wanted to live there #TNI
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@Jetsetterdotcom A3 is Vic in Spain, just outside of Barcelona. Spent a day there, can still remember how the air felt, breeze and all. #TNI
A3. Oregrund Sweden another place I fell in love with because dad is Swedish so went there a lot. So beautiful! #tni http://pic.twitter.com/vZmlzi6C
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A3. Absolutely love Brussels. Went over the summer and I’m hooked. Chocolate, architecture, and waffles. And peeing statues. #TNI #travel
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Q3. City that was your first love? Why? #TNI A3. Istanbul – so much color, texture, art, history, and tea. 
Q4. Where was your first international adventure? #tni
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RT @rtwdave A4. Venice. What can I say, it was love at first sight when I walked out of the train station onto the Grand Canal. #TNI
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“@ViewOnTravel: A4 I’m from Texas. Crossing state lines practically going international #TNI”haha! Looove my #texas
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A4: Moved to Milano, Italy in 6th-7th grade. Amazing adventures. Loved it! Q4. Where/when was your first international adventure? #TNI
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Just wrote about Shanghai! ow.ly/8jEyn RT @dan_trass @Jetsetterdotcom #TNI A4: First time out of the country was to Shanghai
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A4: I was 17 years old and it was to Europe, the year 1992 – visited Austria and Hungary – two great countries and great fun in both #TNI
Q5. First place you loved so much you had to go back? Why? #tni
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A5: This is an easy one: Iceland. Because it’s bewitching, enchanting, breathtaking, and most importantly feels like a home. #tni
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A5. Probably a National Park like Yosemite or Yellowstone, awesomeness Q5. First place you loved so much you had to go back? Why? #TNI
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A5 Himalaya and not stopped going back since! #tni Why …… seriously? Nothing matches a Himalayan giant
Q6. First encounter with something bigger than life?
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A6. Probably looking out window seat of plane flying over this amazing planet. Each and every time, awed, humbled, and grateful. #TNI
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A6. Easy. The Taj Mahal. I’ve been there twice. It still blows me away. #TNI
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A6 Crossing the Masai Mara at sunset, about 20 giraffes crosses right in front of us – black silhouettes. Life-changing. #TNI
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A6: Not the first, however, swimming with a Whale Shark in Pulau We (north of Sumatra) Indonesia comes to mind…#TNI
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A6. Visit to the ancient city of Petra in Jordan. Pretty crazy to imagine how they built the city thousands of years ago. #TNI
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A6. Visiting Uluru at sunset. Just breath taking. #TNI Q6: 1st encounter w/something bigger than life
Q7. First thing that ever took your breath away? #tni
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A7. Watching a cheetah chase down a gazelle. Couldn’t believe how fast and agile it was. #tni
A7 Cinque Terre – amazing! #TNI http://pic.twitter.com/VOUXvW5I
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A7. Skydiving in NZ. The fear literally took my breath away #TNI
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A7. can’t remember the first of so so many…. but big ones were Machu Picchu, Terra Cotta warriors, and the skies of the Maasai Mara #TNI
Q8. First hard lesson learned on the road? #tni
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So true! RT @ZipSetRachel: A8. Pick pocketers are real. Also, the one time you dont buy a bus ticket will be the time they check. #tni
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A8: Apparently, hand gestures mean diff things in diff cultures. Doh! Q8. First hard lesson you learned while on the road? #TNI
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A8. Traveling only makes the travel bug worse. Q8. What was the first hard lesson you learned traveling? #TNI
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Q8. What was the first hard lesson you learned while on the traveling? #TNI A8. Hitchhiking in South Africa is probably a bad idea
Q9. First time out of your comfort zone while traveling? #TNI
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RT @LolaDiMarco: A9. Every time I visit a foreign place for the first time alone I’m out of my comfort zone & it’s fantastic! #TNI
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“@MalloryOnTravel: A9 Pointing a camera at the food I am about to eat in a classy restaurant always just seems sooo wrong #tni” -guilty! LOL
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A9. Isn’t traveling all about getting out of your comfort zone? If it wasn’t, we’d just stay home. #TNI
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RT @TravelMaestro: A9 Language challenges but found out it’s totally surmountable with a smile and some gesturing. #TNI
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A9. The jungles of Panama as a 9 yr-old towhead w/ a tribe that had never seen anyone so white. Many touched my hair. #TNI #LindbladEXP
Q10. First place that compelled you to stay out all night? #tni
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A10. Spent a night in a small rail depot in Szerencs, Hungary, midwinter, beside a coal-fired furnace kindly kept by the station master #TNI
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A10 Stayed up all night in Shanghai, China watching the sun come up over Pudong on the Bund. (& old Chinese men doing taichi at 6a) #TNI
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A10 Cebu, Philippines! The company is always great, so much yummy street food at Larsian’s, everyone wants to give you a good time! #TNI
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A10. For FUN all-nighters – hard to remember the 1st, but a memorable one was the last night of conductor camp in Maine. Sunrise. #TNI
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Ahh, that 24hr sunlight messes with you, doesn’t it? RT @RachelChaikof A10 Iceland! It was daylight 24 hours when I was there in June! #TNI
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