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

Where Do You Go When You’ve Already Been Everywhere?

by Calvin Sun | May 17, 2026 | Camping, Epiphanies on the Road, Fit for Foodies, May 2026: Bobo's Farm, New York, Post-travel Reflections | 0 Comments

Where does one of the youngest most traveled person in the world still travel to after they've been to nearly every country in the world? Home, of course. I've hitchhiked onboard trains through the endless expanse of The Sahel, slept in guesthouses in...

It Zermatt-ers A Lot You Followed Through!

by Calvin Sun | April 3, 2026 | Border Crossing, Crisis, Fit for Foodies, Flying Fancy, How's the weather?, Serendipitous!, Spring 2026: French & Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Weekend Trips, What Dreams May Come | 0 Comments

Any normal person would have headed home after 4 consecutive days of 6+ hours of skiing black diamond powder at 3,330 meters followed by six hours of raving in a blizzard. But I am not a normal person. Unlike most people, I don't procrastinate on fulfilling...

Alpe “d’Huez” in Charge Here? We Couldn’t Wait Until Tomorrow, for Tomorrowland Winter

by Calvin Sun | March 28, 2026 | Festivals, France, How's the weather?, Spring 2026: French & Swiss Alps, The Nightlife | 0 Comments

We made it to a Tomorrowland Aftermovie! Click on the YouTube video below where it starts right where you see us dancing to Alok; me on the left, and Patricia right in the center in her lavender hoodie as the video slows in on her/us (well, really just her)....

Why Not “Disfrutar”?

by Calvin Sun | March 23, 2026 | Fit for Foodies, Flying Fancy, France, How Did You Do That?, How's the weather?, Introspection, Layovers, Mo' Money Mo' Problems, Serendipitous!, Spain, Spring 2026: French & Swiss Alps | 0 Comments

We got a lot going on in the world right now: There's now a war in Iran, the funding bill for our DHS still hasn't passed, and the entirety of the TSA has been working without a paycheck for the past month. With the war, I'd imagine both the region and Emirates...

Meet the Tomorrowland Winter Monsooners!

by Calvin Sun | March 2, 2026 | Introductions | 0 Comments

Why do Tomorrowland just once a year when you can do it twice AND ski/snowboard at the same time? Introducing the following returning monsooners for this iteration of our favorite annual festival. Welcome back those returning with me for their 2nd, 3rd, or even...

All Aboard the Santa Claus Express!

by Calvin Sun | February 10, 2026 | February 2026: Lapland, Finland, Fit for Foodies, Flying Fancy, Lapland, Way Way Off the Beaten Path | 0 Comments

I woke up to an Arctic sunrise again, this time to send Mel off on her early flight back at 7:30am; she had to return a day before the rest of us. After she left in an Uber to the airport, I cooked the last of what was left in the fridge at the Airbnb and saw...

For Richer, For Polar

by Calvin Sun | February 9, 2026 | February 2026: Lapland, Finland, Fit for Foodies, How's the weather?, Lapland, Serendipitous!, Way Way Off the Beaten Path | 0 Comments

I just woke up to this Arctic sunrise before everyone else in the Airbnb. I took the time to make some scrambled eggs for breakfast, brewed the coffee, and leisurely sat down to write this blog post as I waited for the rest of the group to come to life. What a...

The Coolest Hotel in Lapland (Literally)

by Calvin Sun | February 7, 2026 | February 2026: Lapland, Finland, How's the weather?, Lapland, What Dreams May Come | 0 Comments

After sneaking in some sugar donuts just in time before Kahvila Lohihovi Oy closed at 5pm, we continued our 2 hour drive south from Ylläs to the Arctic SnowHotel & Glass Igloos, about 30 minutes north of Rovaniemi on the shores of Lake Lehtojärvi....

Ylläs Hear Me Out

by Calvin Sun | February 6, 2026 | February 2026: Lapland, Finland, How's the weather?, Lapland, Way Way Off the Beaten Path | 0 Comments

How This Trip Happened On September 30, 2025, a monsooner named Yuhan — who's been on many trips with me — randomly invited me to watch her favorite anime that had a surprise 2-week return to theaters: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, originally released in 2006. I...

Sundance’s Last Dance: Park City, UT

by Calvin Sun | January 27, 2026 | How's the weather?, United States, Utah | 0 Comments

Once again we're gathering friends across time zones and milestones; some have flown in from Philly, others from NYC, one flying over from Dallas just for the weekend to make new friends, all converging together this week on a mountain town for a week of...

You’re Going To Miss … Ukraine & Poland

by Calvin Sun | Jan 11, 2013 | December 2012: Eastern Europe, Fail, Germany, Poland, Post-travel Reflections, Serendipitous!, Ukraine, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come, You're Going to Miss It...

Pictures courtesy of Mandy Cheuk, Simon Lu, Kai Tan, Cynthia Koo, and yours truly.With contributions by Cynthia Koo. If it's not already playing, press play. And then start reading. "...Because the only people for me are the mad ones, the...

Punta Cana For Rent

by Calvin Sun | Jan 6, 2013 | Dominican Republic, Fit for Foodies, January 2012: La Hispanola, The Nightlife

Punta Cana is usually synonymous with the word "paradise." And you really will find paradise once you see its beaches...but Punta Cana can also become synonymous with the word "commercialized." That's because the *entire* beachfront is owned by mega-resorts; nowhere...

Santo Domingo Chinitos

by Calvin Sun | Jan 5, 2013 | Dominican Republic, January 2012: La Hispanola, Mythbusters, Public Transportation

We set off on a late morning on a search for Santo Domingo's Chinatown. Grabbed a breakfast at the 200 year old diner joint, Cafeteria la Colonial, and then walked north up Duarte Avenue (with Parque Duarte behind us) for about 1/5 of a mile until we hit...

Zona Colonial At Night

by Calvin Sun | Jan 5, 2013 | Dominican Republic, Fit for Foodies, January 2012: La Hispanola, Walking Tours

After arriving in from Haiti, we dropped off our stuff at a hostel in the Zona Colonial district of Santo Domingo. Zona Colonial is the oldest city of the New World as the oldest working church and the oldest military installation of the New World can be found...

From Haiti Into The Dominican Republic

by Calvin Sun | Jan 5, 2013 | Border Crossing, Dominican Republic, Haiti, January 2012: La Hispanola

Today we crossed over from Haiti into the Dominican Republic via bus from Cap-Haitien to the Jabon border, and then continuing onwards towards Santiago and into the capital of Santo Domingo.The simplest and most time-saving method is taking the direct 8am Caribe...

Haiti’s 8th Wonder Of The World

by Calvin Sun | Jan 5, 2013 | Haiti, How Did You Do That?, January 2012: La Hispanola, Public Transportation, Walking Tours, What Dreams May Come

We woke up early at 7am to grab breakfast at Croissant d'Or, Cap-Haitien's best bakery (that much Lonely Planet gets right!). There we loaded up on some carbs before heading down to catch a taptap to Milot. Lonely Planet says there's a...

From Port-Au-Prince To Cap-Haitien

by Calvin Sun | Jan 5, 2013 | Fit for Foodies, Haiti, How Did You Do That?, January 2012: La Hispanola, Public Transportation, The Nightlife

The 7 hour bus ride from Port-au-Prince is relatively straightforward, but you have to choose your poison; shall you go with the public transportation that'll cost you no more than a few dollars for a nary a bench space on a vehicle without shock absorbers? Or a...

The “Official” Warning In Haiti

by Calvin Sun | Jan 3, 2013 | Haiti, January 2012: La Hispanola, Mythbusters, Travel Warnings

First things first, the internet in Cap-Haitien barely exists. Not that I'm complaining, but it'll be hard to shoot an update out with pictures until I get into Santo Domingo probably tomorrow. So far we took a 7 hour bus ride from Port-au-Prince to Cap-Haitien (the...

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