The Reality of Life in Russia 2023 (bureaucratic nightmare)

This is our life in Russia in late 2022 / 2023. Traveling to Russia as a westerner has always been difficult, a bureaucratic nightmare, but this year is the first time Matt and I have really had any issues. We arrived in my hometown of Kemerovo, Siberia, after crossing in to Russia at Kaliningrad and flying to Novosibirsk. Once here and staying with my family, we went to register with the local authorities, but everything turned out to be a little complicated to say the least. This is a week in our lives here staying in Siberia as we hang out with my family and prepare for New years eve (the biggest celebration of the year in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and many other former Soviet countries). Welcome to a very cold, wintery Siberia.