Well, couple possibilities here. You probably don't want to start in Barovia, so you will have to come from abroad and that means seeing quite a bit of things. I assume therefore that you will want to come from a neighbouring place.
As for gnomes and elves, well, they're rare enough anywhere in Ravenloft except maybe Darkon, but that is so big it is a moot point. So, in that respect, anywhere will be fine, except: Sithicus and probably Forlorn (which btw, according to Tarlyn's introduction disappeared 10 years ago, so wouldn't work well anyway). Sithicus is an elven domain and Forlorn has plenty of globins, that's why.
Then, there are: Borca to the west, Invidia to the Southwest, Kartakass and Hazlan to the south, Nova Vaasa to the east and the Shadow Rift to the north. Let's not count the Shadow Rift (plus it disappeared anyway) as it's not really a country.
Borca would be a good alternative, relatively normal domain, where poison is the theme. There's this rumour that says anyone who drinks or eats in the domain will die when trying to cross the borders, but if that were the case no one could travel through there, as Robert has done, so I simply discount it. There is a straight road from Krezk (where we are now) to Levkarest in Borca.
Invidia is another easy place to start. Here it's more about grief and emotional vengeance so to say. There are some tensions with Wolfweres and Werewolves here, iirc.
Kartakass is a musical domain, sort of like Austria. The theme is the meistersinger bards who are all wolfweres. For this reason, I would perhaps shy away from it. It might not be easy to escape some supernatural knowledge, but it really depends on what you make of it.
Hazlan is odd, full of magic, and the domain lord is a magician from the Forgotten Realms. It seems a bit odd to me, I would not pick it.
Nova Vaasa should have some eastern flavour, perhaps Turkish, but has lots of space, and apart from some wild cats, it is not immediately supernatural. The main theme is of urban nature, I think, so if you came from a farm it would be easy to fit. Nova Vaasa is famous for their horses, and in particular its Vistani, iirc.
For other domains easy to start in but farther away, you might consider Richemulot and perhaps Mordent (where Robert comes from). Think of Mordent as ghost-filled England: it's all about the fog, the marshes, the moors... if you recall Hound of the Baskervilles and House on the Hill, you're basically there.
Richemulot is a french-inspired domain, as Dementlieu. The theme is wererats. It's hard to live there without noticing there are lots of rats and that people disappear a lot near the sewers.
So... now, it's up to you
Hope this helps.
P.S.: By the way, if you want to know what the land looks like, check here
http://www.gryphonhill.com/core/maps.html
It's an old site, made in the era of 2nd edition, but it still reflects the current geography (minus Tarlyn's changes, explained in the first post). You won't get many explanations about the people there, but graphically it's very rich.
