Expat Women's Blogs

A good way to get a feel for a country before you visit is by reading the blogs of people who live there. If those people are expats, they are likely to notice and write about things that locals might not even think worth a mention, but that you too might find unusual. The experience of living in a country is not the same as just visiting, but it can give you some helpful insights. For women travellers, the blogs of other women can be especially useful.
Therefore, before heading off to a new country, you could broaden your research beyond guidebooks by checking out the blogs written by women and listed on a blog roll at www.ExpatWomen.com.
The site is not particularly active, but there are a large number of blogs listed covering most countries of the world. I checked out a couple on my current favourite country, Russia, and was particularly impressed by one called www.messagefrommoscos.wordpress.com. The writer's account of a trip to Irkutsk and Lake Baikal, accompanied by many beautiful photos, made me nostalgic for that very intriguing part of the world. However, another post, about the visa hassles of people she knows, made me remember that Russia too has a dark side.