No matter what happens, I am grateful to know I live in a world where even if I’m heading to a place like Syria, a wonderful group of great people will always come along. It has happened before, it has happened again, and it is happening again. People who follow through. People who prove themselves by following through.
What is life when 16 exceptional, self-actualized, forward thinking, culturally competent, and socially conscious individuals — 11 of whom have traveled with me before — climb onboard for a type of experience where 99% of the world would otherwise look the other way?
. . . And I’m especially grateful to those returning with me for their 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, or even 17th monsoon:
- Mihaela “Compass”: 17 time monsooner (across at least 30 countries!) to Trans-Mongolian (Mongolia to China), Tibet, Scotland, the Balkans, the Persian Gulf, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Armenia, Egypt, USA, Cyprus, Sardinia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq & Jordan, Vancouver, the Horn of Africa, and The French Polynesia
- Sampson “Puffin Sniper” Lau, 5 time monsooner to Svalbard, Australia, The Pacific Coast Highway, Vancouver, and Sardinia!
- Nishant “Wolf Of Wall Street” Anandan:4 time monsooner to Wales, Afghanistan, Armenia, and Sardinia
- Amelia “Chief Rescue Officer”, 3 time monsooner returning from The Greek Epic, Svalbard and French Polynesia
- Melissa “Look! Pizza!” Weinnman, 2 time monsooner returning from the Least Visited Countries and the Trans-Mongolian Railway
- Melinda “Sunrise Hiker” Kwok, 2 time monsooner returning from Meteora and South Sudan
- Bryce “Cowboy” Maynard, previous monsooner to Australia
- Jillian “Rebirth” Evalle, previous monsooner to Côte d’Ivoire
- Rajani “Wine O’ Clock” Mohan, previous monsooner to El Salvador
- Andaleeb “Hood Rat” Raja, previous monsooner to Iraq
- Chris Franz & Francis DeAsis: My NYC Marathon volunteers going on their first true international monsoon
And the people I’ve picked up along my journeys:
- Priyanka Shetty, whom I met and traveled with in Egypt!
- Lisa Vitaris, whom I met and traveled with from the Least Visited Countries!
Once again, I introduce our monsooners:
Still interested in joining us? More details about the trip can be found here.
And space is still available! Accepting non-USA passport holders only; USA passport deadline has passed, although exceptions may apply. Inquire within: calvin[at]monsoondiaries[dot]com.
