As you start planning your trip........

That's a great idea but I am already on information overload.

I appreciate your perspective and acknowledge the ease of accumulating data can be overwhelming. Focus and prioritization upon resources directly aligned with your travel needs is important. As you build a knowledge base fulfilling your primary objectives please keep in mind the opportunity to expand to other resources offering the potential to fine tune your journey.

Another thought along the same line is to search "News" with Google (click the upper right "Apps" section - looks like a checkerboard). Use your destination(s) as the search term. Set up Google alerts that will send current news stories directly to your email.

Brad,
Thanks for the tip!
Merry Christmas!

Some people love to read and collect info, but most American travelers I hear from tend not to be this type. Most people consider themselves too busy, or just have short attention spans. A frequently updated, easy-to-read guidebook like Rick Steves' Spain is a much better starting point to find nearly all the info that most travelers need before they go (and even on the road) in one compact, portable "device." Versus starting from scratch, the book condenses, prioritizes, and organizes many options. It doesn't cover every possible destination, but enough of the highlights to keep a traveler busy for a month or two. It covers all the topics Marbleskies described: "find places to rent, learn tips on negotiating local travel, read of others experiences and all sorts of tidbits which help create a better travel experience." Rick's Spanish Phrasebook is a good companion piece, with more cultural tips included.

If you read the guidebook and find that you want to know more about a topic of special interest, then that's the time to branch out to other resources. Online newspapers will certainly be most timely and local tourist offices or hotel staff will be close-at-hand for advice as you travel.

For our Spain trip last year, we researched lots of guidebooks and other resources, but weren't exactly following current events. We didn't expect the garbage strike in Madrid that had started a couple of days before we arrived, and by the time we left, trash and broken-open dog-clean-up bags were piling up and littering sidewalks. The strike ended the day after we left, of course :-)

We've encountered various strikes, huelgas, and greves in Spain, France, and Belgium, but found out about all of them after we'd arrived, wanting to get somewhere or into a particular museum. Perhaps expat news could've provided some advance info.

Yeah, I hit a garbage strike in Sevilla. But had I known in advance, I wouldn't have changed my itinerary. At least I was there near the beginning and in cool weather. Would you have skipped Madrid?