1. Ksenia Minerva
Ksenia, 25, still lived in St.Petersburg in early 2021, working as a motion designer who daydreamed of adventure. She bought a mobile home in June, took her dog Busty along for the ride and the pair began travelling Russia.
She uses a gas cooker to prepare food, sleeps in the mobile home and a tent, replenishes her water supplies at gas stations, charges her equipment using solar batteries and even manages to use a hair straightener with the aid of a small power generator.
She travels the taiga, the Far North, as well as southern Russia and likes to stop overnight in the mountains, woods and even desert islands. All of this beauty is, of course, shared with her followers. She also does streams to talk about the difficulties of living in the wilderness.
2. Svetlana Pozdnyakova
Svetlana is likely the biggest blogging authority on Central Russia. The Moscow blogger masterfully captures and talks about old rundown churches, monasteries, architecture and various art objects around Moscow, the wider region, as well as dozens of nearby cities.
Wooden houses set to a background of mist-covered fields, fallen golden leaves and frosty sunrises with golden domes all inspire people to visit Russia. Or at least give it a ‘Like’!
More here: Instagram
3. Anna Korob
In 2018, Anna accidentally came across an old silver ruble from the time of Nicholas II’s reign. This led to an obsession with numismatics, followed by history and Russian architecture. She began collecting coins, studying the past, visiting old mansions and churches across the country and documenting it all in her blog.
“Each trip is like a little lifetime of its own. Thousands of kilometers by car through swamps, fields or highland serpentines, morning coffee at gas stations, misty dawns, interesting new acquaintances and stories told by locals, as well as chance encounters with wild animals and so much more…” Anna writes.
With her blog, she seeks to draw attention to disappearing architectural monuments, claiming that there are thousands to explore - from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok.
More here: Instagram
4. Aleksey Skalin
Aleksey was born in Yaroslavl. He’s been into photography since childhood and would often shoot cityscapes. In 2014, he traveled to the Sochi Olympics, having received an offer to work there and decided to settle down there.
He often admits his love for the Caucasus, so the majority of his photos and Stories are dedicated to the region. However, his photos come from all over the place - from Kamchatka to the Crimean Peninsula, Baikal, the Kuril Islands, Sakhalin and other secluded spots in Russia.
More here: Instagram
5. Artem Ray
Given that international travel was temporarily halted during the pandemic, Artem set about traversing Russia.
Half a year ago, he began showing interesting Moscow and regional spots on his Instagram account. As a result, his blog turned into a mixture of the coziest and most atmospheric locations with wooden ‘izbas’, French-style castles, lighthouses and the most beautiful mansions across Russia.
“This life with its daily grind sucks you in like quicksand. You’re constantly solving issues related to work, studies and accommodation and, at some point, you begin to realize that you’re living the same scenario over and over again, while new experiences are reduced to a minimum… Traveling across Russia and blogging about it, therefore, are a source of inspiration, motivation and of sense of purpose, as well as a source of pleasure,” Artem writes.
6. Vlad Povelikin
On the first day of summer in 2021, Vlad packed his gear, hopped on a bicycle and headed out for a journey spanning 13,000 km across Russia, from Nizhny Novgorod to Vladivostok.
The 29-year-old turned his hobby into a real show, where he reveals what it’s like to encounter a camel in the middle of a Russian field, take a swim in corroded waters of thermal springs and live in a tent in the Altai Mountains.
“This is a journey with only yourself for company. The path has its price. Before setting off, I ditched all the anchors. I left my job, my girlfriend, moved out of my apartment and sold off all the belongings I didn’t need. I meet a lot of good people on my travels! The world around is like my own reflection,” Vlad writes.
7. Ilya Voskresensky
Ilya’s journey started when he couldn’t make a trip abroad happen and had to stay in his native St. Petersburg. He would go on walks across town every night just to find something to entertain himself with.
Today, he travels across the country and brings back not only photos, but entire documentaries. He’s already got the Altai lakes, waterfalls, Kamchatka volcanoes, magical winter forests of Perm Region and plenty of other enchanting places under his belt.