Independent travel also involves an independent search for information on the Internet. As a rule, in our time you can find almost everything. Especially if the country is quite popular with tourists, and the routes and attractions are not very unusual.
How to search for information
The most basic search for information occurs through search engines. But sometimes it is difficult to find what you need due to imperfect algorithms - on the first pages, complete nonsense is usually. In my personal experience, complex and rare queries are better searched in Google than in Yandex..
The second effective way for me is forums, where you can not only search for information, but also ask questions. True, unfortunately, in many forums, they can send them immediately to the ban, or not answer if this topic has already been discussed. Therefore, it makes sense to ask questions on several forums at once or use the Q&A service..
How to search for information - independent travel sites and forums
After I started blogging, I realized that a lot of useful information can be found on travelers' blogs, in fact, which can be accessed through search engines or from the same forums using links. Especially good information from those bloggers who live for a long time in a certain country and are not lazy to write their posts in detail and in a structured manner. Also, many bloggers do not hesitate to answer questions in the comments. Sometimes this approach to information retrieval is many times more effective than the others. True, while we lived in Thailand, I only on blogs and went mostly.
Websites and forums for solo travelers
- Search engines
- Forums and information sites
- LJ communities
- Self Traveler Blogs
Forums and information sites
forum.awd.ru is the most popular forum for independent travelers (Vinsky's forum). As a rule, it is enough for any trip, information on all countries of the world.
forum.turizm.ru - forum for package and independent travelers.
tripster.ru is a convenient question and answer service regarding travel. You can get an answer to your question quickly enough.
travel.ru/ - various kinds of information on countries (visas, customs, transport, entertainment). General information, but for all countries in the form of a catalog.
bpclub.ru - forum for backpackers and hitchhikers.
tripadvisor.ru/ - reviews on hotels and attractions. It is better to read in English, since the translation into Russian is automatic, and there are few reviews in Russian.
lonelyplanet.com - Forum about the famous travel guide (eng).
wikitravel.org - «wikipedia» travel (English, it's better not to watch in Russian, there is nothing).
indostan.ru forum about India.
farangforum.ru - forum about life in Thailand.
msia.ru - forum about life in Malaysia.
thaivisa.com/ - the largest forum in Thailand (eng).
travelfish.org/ - Information site and forum on Asia (eng).
http://turbina.ru/ - information and forum about independent travel.
There are, of course, much more forums and sites. Here I have given a list of only those that I came across during my travels. Almost every country has its own forum, where more specific and accurate information can be found. But, as practice shows, in most cases, Vinsky's forum is enough.
LJ communities
To be honest, I use them very rarely and sporadically, but this does not mean that they are useless, on the contrary. Usually, each country, or even city, has its own community where you can search for information and ask questions of interest. Finding them will not be difficult. For example, I did this when I needed a route for a hike across the Crimea. Therefore, I will give only a couple of communities as an example..
ru_travel
backpacker_ru
http: // ru_thailand
Blogs
There are a lot of them, and it is not possible to make a list. I usually go to them through search engines, or I just already know the addresses of those bloggers who live or have lived in a certain country. There is a good selection of blogs on a friendly resource (where we are on the list too): .
And there is also a search engine exclusively for travel blogs - storyfinder.com/
P.S. Share the links of resources or services that you use when traveling, it will be useful for all of us 🙂
