Tales of a Technogypsie

Keflavik Reykjavik, Iceland When you fly into Reykjavik, you actually land just outside of Keflavik. “Keflavik” means “Driftwood Bay” and is a prominent town in the Reykjanes region of Southwestern Iceland. With a population of just over 8,000 it is part of a larger municipality region called Reykjanesbaer totalling over 13,000 inhabitants. The town was [...]

Lakes Entrance, Victoria, Australia In the Eastern part of the state of Victoria Australia lies a man-made channel that connects the Gippsland Lakes to the Bass Strait that is an abundant hotspot for tourism, fishing, and watersport recreation. A small village of just over 4,000 residents, “Lakes Entrance”, formerly “Cunnighame” was first inhabited in 1870 [...]

Welcome to Melbourne sign; countryside, Highway scene, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. April 15, 2011. Melbourne Victoria, Australia Victoria’s most populated city, and Australia’s 2nd largest city, is “Melbourne” with approximately over four million inhabitants called “Melburnians”. The heart of Melbourne is the “CBD” or the “Central Business District” a.k.a. “The City Centre” which is the lifespring [...]

Albury New South Wales, Australia In the heartland of New South Wales just bordering Victoria, Australia lies the small agricultural town of Albury which serves as a major regional center for New South Wales along the Hume Highway and the Murray River. In Aborigine, this area is called “Mungabareena” or “place of plenty talk”. It [...]

Isabella Plains * Canberra/Tuggeranong, Australian Capital Territory, Australia * Within the district of Tuggeranong in Canberra lies the suburb known as “Isabella Plains” which was named after Thomas Brisbane’s daughter “Isabella Maria Brisbane” who lived from 1821-1849. As Thomas Brisbane became the first white explorer of the area in 1823 who later became colonial Governor [...]

Canberra, Australia Capital Territory, Australia Canberra means “meeting place” which was derived off of the Ngunnawal/Ngabri Aborigine word “Kambera” or “Canberry”. The region was used by the Nagbri as a point of reference during their seasonal migrations to corroborees held in the local. Pre-European the region was seasonally inhabited by the Indigenous such as the [...]

Australian Capital Territory, Australia In the heartland of Australia, lies the Commonwealth of Australia within its smallest self-governing internal territory known as the “ACT” or “Australian Capital Territory” that is knicknamed the “Bush Capital” hosting a population of approximately 333,667 inhabitants. The ACT is similar in function and organization to the United State’s “District of [...]

Brisbane Queensland, Australia* http://www.brisbane-australia.com/ * Brisbane is a tourist and resort capital of Australia, being central to entertainment, attractions, theme parks, beaches, and tourism. It is one of Australia’s heartbeats of fine dining, sightseeing, holiday, and the cosmopolitan experience. It is also a threshhold to business and industry for Australia. With a population of over [...]

Los Angeles, California * www.lacity.org * The Infamous “City of Lost Angels” a.k.a. “LA” or Spanish for “The City of Angels” is also known as the “Entertainment Capital of the World”. Los Angeles was first settled in September of 1781, later incorporated as a city in April of 1850. The City is a landmass that [...]

Vancouver, British Columbia: Home to the X-files and many other supernatural thrillers and television shows such as Dark Angel, The Outer Limits, The New Addams Family, and Stargate … Vancouver is a multimedia and digital entertainment hot spot in North America. Many digital producers, special effects, sick and twisted animationists, foreign film festival highlights, and [...]

West Wendover, Nevada, USA: * http://www.westwendovercity.com/ * As you enter Nevada coming from Salt Lake City, Utah – the first town you see in Nevada travelling along I-80 is West Wendover making it a very popular hotspot for the loose laws of Nevada with ever-flowing alcohol 24 hours a day and gambling casinos supporting one’s [...]

Nevada, United States of America: Cities: Black Rock City Empire Gerlach Pyramid Lake Reservation West Wendover Events: Burning Man Nevada is an atypical “Wild West” state of the U.S. that still embraces its history and outlaw appeal with legalized gambling, prostitution, lenient marriage and divorces, and rustic liberal freedoms. The term “Nevada” comes from the [...]

Boulder, Colorado More resources on Virtualtourist.com Boulder, Colorado is a kitchy little artsy town to the Northwest of Denver, Colorado. The areas was first settled by the Arapaho Indians who lived in a villaged near the Haystack Mountains. The area was heavily visited and occupied by the Utes, Cheyennes, Comanches, and Sioux. The first Euro-Americans [...]

Eugene, Oregon Eugene Oregon competes with Seattle for the title of “Emerald City”. It is also known as “Hippie Town” and “Track Town USA”. Eugene will always have a dear part of my life as “home”. While I only lived there from 1993-1994, and 2000-2001, it has been a place I often visit annually and [...]

Cashel, Ireland Infamous location for the “Rock of Cashel”, Cashel is a small village rich in history and heritage. It is home to the Hore Abbey medieval monasteries, A Georgian Cathedra, fortified town houses, 21st century Library, and many other attractions. In the heart of the city center is the Heritage Center and Tourist Office [...]

Cork, Ireland “The Rebel City”, “Leeside”, “A Safe harbour for Ships”* www.corkcity.ie * Cork comes from the Irish name “corcach” which means “swamp”. It was founded in the 6th century of the Common Era as a monastic settlement by Saint Finbarr. It gained city rights in 1185. It hosts a population of over 119,000 (2006). [...]

Clifden, Ireland The largest town in Connemara, Clifden is a thriving area in County Galway. It boasts a population of about 1,900. Because it is the largest town in the region, its often nicknamed “The Capital of Connemara”. It is located on the Owenglen River where it flows into Clifden Bay. John D’Arcy founded the [...]

Sligo, Ireland * Province Connacht * Population: (2006) ca. 17,892 * www.sligoborough.ie * “Sligo” is the Anglicized spelling of the Irish city “Sligeach” which means “shelly place” for its abundance of shellfish and shell middens. It is a town, a borough, with its own charter and mayor. While some refer to it as a city [...]

Truro, Cornwall, United Kingdom In the heart of Cornwall, lies the city and civil parish of Truro. It is Cornwall’s center for administration, leisure, and retail. Truro hosts approximately 17,431+ residents unless you count its surrounding parishes then it breaches over 21,000. It is Great Britain’s most southern city. Its inhabitants call themselves Truronians. Truro [...]

St. Austell, Cornwall, United Kingdom A major town in the Cornwall region of England, St. Austell is a civil parish and town located on the south coast 10 miles south of Bodmin and 30 miles west of Devon. It is Cornwall’s largest town with approximately 22,658 people (2001 census). As of this writing (2010) it [...]

Liskeard, United Kingdom Located in Cornwall, England – Liskeard is a ancient stannary, civil parish, and market town located approximately 20 miles west of Plymouth and 14 miles west of the River Tamar and 12 miles east of Bodmin. It resides at the head of the Looe valley and hosts a population of over 8,600. [...]

Plymouth, UK Plymouth means “mouth of the River Plym” and is a city and unitary authority on the coast of Devon, England located roughly 190 miles southwest of London. The city lies between the rivers ‘Plym’ and ‘Tamar’ where they join Plymouth Sound. Early Paleolithic man inhabited the area as bones of Homo sapiens have [...]

Newton, Abbot England /United Kingdom ‘Newton Abbot’, population estimated at 23,580 is a market town and civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge District of Devon. The town boasts today of a racecourse and ‘Decoy’ their country park. Through history they were notorious for their ‘Cheese and Onion Fayre’ held from the 5th-7th [...]

Newton / AbbeyUnited Kingdom Newton is a parliamentary borough of Lancashire, England. From 1559-1706 Newton was represented by two members of Parliament in the House of Commons as well as 1707-1800 in the Parliament of Great Britain, 1801-1832 in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and 1885-1983 by one member as a county constituency. Newton [...]

Exeter, United Kingdom One of Devon’s historical centers, it is the ceremonial county of Devon. Residing on the River Exe (37 miles NE of Plymouth and 70 miles SW of Bristol). The name “Exeter” comes from latin ‘Exeter, Isca Dumnoniorum (‘Isca of the Dumnones’)’ that suggests Celtic origins as this important town ‘oppidum’ on the [...]

Bristol, England:Bristol is a unitary authority area and ceremonial county city in Southwest England, located approximately 105 miles west of London and 24 miles east of Cardiff. In 2008, its population was estimated at 421,300 inhabitants in the city proper and an estimate 1,006,600 residents in its surrounding larger Urban zone. It is England’s 6th [...]

Dublin, IrelandIrish as Baile Atha Cliath, Ath Cliath, or Dublin is the capital of Ireland and is Eire’s largest city. The name “Dubh Linn” means “Black Pool” or “Baile Atha Cliath” meaning “town of the hurdled ford” as it is the fording point of the Liffey in the vicinity of the Heuston Station named after [...]

Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii Honolulu means “Sheltered Bay” or “Place of Shelter” in Hawaiian. Hawaii’s capital and most populated center, Honolulu is a concrete jungle in the middle of a multi-environment paradise on the volcanic islands of Hawaii. Honolulu encompasses both the city and the county of Honolulu which are designated as the [...]

Hilo, Big Island, Hawaii My location of arrival during my virgin visit to the Big Island of Hawaii. Hilo is a small coastal town on Big Island, Hawaii. It is the largest settlement on the Big Island and the second largest settlement in the state. Originally the settlement of Waiakea it mutated to “Hilo” after [...]

River promenade in Köln COLOGNE (Köln), GERMANY State: North Rhine-Westphalia; Area: 405.15 km² (156.4 sq mi); Elevation: 37 m (121 ft) above sea level; Population: 995,397 (31 December 2007); Founded: 50 AD. Website: www.stadt-koeln.de Cologne (German: Köln (help·info), IPA: [kœln]; local dialect: Kölle [ˈkœɫə]) is Germany’s fourth-largest city (after Berlin, Hamburg and Munich), and is [...]