The Monsoon Diaries: How to travel the world with no time or money -

Grenada Más

by Calvin Sun | November 4, 2025 | Grenada, October 2025: Pirates of the Caribbean's At World's End | 0 Comments

🇬🇩 190 down. 3 to go. After our 3 day stay in Dominica, we took a long hour-and-a-half drive back to the airport from our Portsmouth lodgings, stopping for a quick photo opportunity along the way. Dominica's airport is tiny. You...

Dominica-n’t Miss This

by Calvin Sun | November 1, 2025 | Dominica, October 2025: Pirates of the Caribbean's At World's End, Way Way Off the Beaten Path | 0 Comments

From St. Vincent, we boarded InterCaribbean Airways JY 717 at 12:20pm. Their new airport, however, was built just 8 years ago and still has some operational quirks. The staff double-printed my first leg itinerary from St. Vincent to Barbados without including...

Dead Men Tell No Layovers: St. Vincent & The Grenadines in 12 Hours

by Calvin Sun | October 29, 2025 | Layovers, October 2025: Pirates of the Caribbean's At World's End, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 0 Comments

Fresh off a quick overnight in Grenada (courtesy of a free JetBlue voucher from last October's Welcome to Chinatown gala), we touched down at Maurice Bishop International Airport at 1:53pm. This marked the beginning of a 3-country Caribbean...

Getting Away With Robbinsville: The Akshardham Redemption

by Calvin Sun | October 6, 2025 | Camping, Layovers, New Jersey, October 2025: Camping in Robbinsville | 0 Comments

One of my more unique camping trips to have monsooned; this is what happens when you plan a camping trip months in advance just to visit a temple arguably worth seeing as a world-class destination. I was stuck at work all day Friday as Eddie took the initiative...

A Quick Halifax Check

by Calvin Sun | September 12, 2025 | Layovers, Lessons Learned, September 2025: Newfoundland to Saint Pierre & Miquelon, Walking Tours | 0 Comments

After two days in Saint-Pierre (and a turbulent ferry ride to Miquelon and back), we boarded an hour-and-a-half direct Air Saint-Pierre 9am flight to Halifax, landing around 9:30am local time (Halifax runs an hour behind Saint-Pierre), Our onward...

Miquelon Impossible

by Calvin Sun | September 11, 2025 | Doctor in the House, September 2025: Newfoundland to Saint Pierre & Miquelon, Way Way Off the Beaten Path | 0 Comments

Sometimes the most spontaneous detours leave the strongest impressions. That morning in Saint Pierre, we hadn't planned on leaving the island. But after completing two walking tours around St. Pierre and checking the ferry schedule, we realized we could still...

48 Hours in a Little Saint-Pierre-ce of France

by Calvin Sun | September 11, 2025 | Saint Pierre and Miquelon, September 2025: Newfoundland to Saint Pierre & Miquelon, Way Way Off the Beaten Path | 0 Comments

After three days soaking in St. John's charm, we dropped off our rental car at YYT Saint John's airport to catch the rare 5pm direct flight (PH1127) via Air Saint-Pierre to Saint-Pierre & Miquelon: one of the few weekly connections between Newfoundland and...

Don’t Be Dildo-Dallying

by Calvin Sun | September 9, 2025 | Canada, September 2025: Newfoundland to Saint Pierre & Miquelon, Way Way Off the Beaten Path | 0 Comments

While based in St. John's, we took a spontaneous day trip by rental car to the now-famous town of Dildo. You'll know when you arrive; they're incredibly proud of their distinctive name. Though a vocal minority has repeatedly raised referendums to...

St. John’s: The Eastern Edge of Everything Everywhere All At Once

by Calvin Sun | September 9, 2025 | Canada, September 2025: Newfoundland to Saint Pierre & Miquelon, Serendipitous!, Way Way Off the Beaten Path | 0 Comments

Months ago I decided to gift myself a week off after Labor Day...simply because I could. After a year as wild as this past one, I craved actual and intentional self-prioritization to restore some balance. Finding fares under $200, I booked a morning departure:...

Singapore Airlines Business Class FRA-JFK

by Calvin Sun | August 5, 2025 | Flying Fancy, Germany, Summer 2025: The Long Road to Berlin | 0 Comments

After a slow morning walk and talking about our villain (antihero?) origin stories in Berlin, I hugged Daniela and Gabe goodbye, hopped on the tram for a few stops, went underground for the metro, and made it back to the hostel in time for a 1:30pm check out. Nisha,...

One Night In Kyiv

by Calvin Sun | Dec 28, 2012 | December 2012: Eastern Europe, The Nightlife, Ukraine, Uncategorized Stories, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

So it's Ruchika's 22nd birthday today... Welcome to Ukraine, where the underground bars are just out of this world. This is Palata #6 (play the video!): I'm not judging or anything...but this is a birthday tradition called "The...

“This Is The End Of The World As We Know It”: Pervomaysk

by Calvin Sun | Dec 27, 2012 | December 2012: Eastern Europe, Travel Warnings, Ukraine, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

This is what the end of the world once looked like. About a 4 hour bus ride south from Kyiv is a former Soviet ICBM nuclear missile silo (aka the Museum of Strategic Missile Forces), housing enough weaponry to destroy the entire world. We are the...

Ghost Beach: Arcadia

by Calvin Sun | Dec 27, 2012 | December 2012: Eastern Europe, Fail, How Did You Do That?, Public Transportation, Ukraine

The guidebooks never said anything about Arcadia Beach in the winter.For the record, Arcadia Beach is a famous nightlife spot and one of Odessa's "must-sees." It's pretty much a party on the beach by the Black Sea and guidebooks constantly reference it as the reason...

Odessa

by Calvin Sun | Dec 26, 2012 | December 2012: Eastern Europe, How Did You Do That?, Serendipitous!, Ukraine

And then there were 5... ...reunited with 10 more at none other than the famous Potemkin Steps. At a first impression, Odessa combines a snapshot of former Soviet glory with the modernizing influences of the Western world: It's a city...

…And They’re Off!

by Calvin Sun | Dec 24, 2012 | United States

Godspeed y'all; see you in Odessa in 48 hours.

“Don’t Invade Eastern Europe In The Winter.”

by Calvin Sun | Dec 23, 2012 | Pre-travel Preparations, United States

It's about to begin again. This will be our largest group of travelers to our coldest itinerary with 6 days in single digit Fahrenheit weather (uhm, 18 people died last week in Ukraine's cold snap) through the most depressing sights in Ukraine and Poland. They...

Why I Move (Pt 2)

by Cynthia Koo | Dec 18, 2012 | Cambodia, India, Introductions, Introspection, Iran, Post-travel Reflections

I've been to more places in the last year than I have been in my entire life. And in another seven days, I will board a plane for my fourth Monsoon in the last year, this time to Eastern Europe, as a third-time veteran of The Monsoon Diaries' family--and with newly...

A Wedding In Hawaii

by Calvin Sun | Dec 17, 2012 | Hawaii, Serendipitous!

17 months ago I attended a wedding in Srinagar, India hosted by the Dar family. And 17 hours ago I attended another wedding in Honolulu, Hawaii hosted by another Dar family. Both unforgettable days.

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