Best advice I can think of is research what kind of trees they primarily live in, and try to avoid large groves. The nests are kind of easy to spot, since they can take over whole trees.

I'm pretty sure they're mostly coastal too? Last I heard at least. So it could depend on where you're planning on staying.

They're awful at my mother's house (Hope), she can't even hang clothes out to dry or they'd get covered in caterpillar hairs and they break out in awful rashes. I've only seen a few in my area (Augusta), but not anywhere near as bad.