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

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...

Meet the Lappi Wedding Party!

by Calvin Sun | January 26, 2026 | Introductions | 0 Comments

Meet the Sundancers!

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

From a trip planned over a year ago after a bunch of friends joined me in Killington 2024, we are flying out to Park City, UT for our first time at the Sundance Film Festival for their final time in Park City, UT! Welcome back those returning with me for their...

Niger At Last: A Second Chance

by Calvin Sun | December 10, 2025 | Border Crossing, December 2025 Annex: Niger, Fail, Flying Fancy, Getting that VISA, How Did You Do That?, Layovers, Niger, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come | 1 Comment

11 months ago, I sat on the tarmac in Niger's International Airport at Niamey, watching my trip evaporate due to visa complications. The Niger Embassy in Washington D.C. had stopped issuing visas to Americans entirely. But I don't give up. In late...

Yemen Day 4: Mukalla Drive

by Calvin Sun | December 5, 2025 | December 2025: Yemen - Hadhramaut Valley, Serendipitous!, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, Yemen | 0 Comments

Al-Mukalla Pulling ourselves away from a desert mirage paradise at Haid Al-Jazil, we swapped our armed guard at another checkpoint during the 2 hour drive to Mukalla. You point that thing away from me! After a long wait at one of the...

Yemen Day 3: Where Reality Surpasses Dreams at Haid al-Jazil-lion Miles Away From Reality

by Calvin Sun | December 4, 2025 | December 2025: Yemen - Hadhramaut Valley, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come, Yemen | 0 Comments

Haid Al-Jazil As the afternoon began to wane, we continued onto our accommodation for the night at the Haid Al-Jazil Resort Hotel, named after what it overlooks and its location perching dramatically on a cliff overlooking the Wadi Do'an. You'll find remarkably...

A Morning In Krakow

by Calvin Sun | Jan 1, 2013 | December 2012: Eastern Europe, Poland, Walking Tours

After crossing the Polish border, we arrived in Krakow in the wee hours of 7am (this is 3 hours before everyone in Poland wakes up), just in time to catch the sunrise. So I woke up and keeping my eyes closed (groggy as hell) I opened the door of the van. This is...

Crossing Over From Ukraine To Poland

by Calvin Sun | Jan 1, 2013 | Border Crossing, December 2012: Eastern Europe, How Did You Do That?, Poland, Ukraine, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

Our last hour in Lviv -- a costume party at the Lviv Opera House: Afterwards, it was back on a bus heading to the Polish border town of Medyka. We figured that a bus would be more convenient than a train as buses have an easier time crossing the...

Lviv Today, Die Tomorrow

by Calvin Sun | Dec 29, 2012 | December 2012: Eastern Europe, Public Transportation, Ukraine, Walking Tours

As if our down to the wire panic attack to make the bus to Chernobyl wasn't enough, it was another down to the last minute effort to make a bus that would take us to the border town of Lviv in Western Ukraine. We ran back to our hostel (and having lost Andrew along...

The Chernobyl Diaries

by Calvin Sun | Dec 29, 2012 | December 2012: Eastern Europe, Doctor in the House, How Did You Do That?, Mythbusters, Travel Warnings, Ukraine, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

Yeah yeah, I know what you're thinking . . . We swear our story is way better. Close your eyes. It is April 25, 1986. Imagine if you had to leave everything you knew behind: A split second decision no time to pack. Imagine not being allowed to return home...

Panic Before Chernobyl

by Calvin Sun | Dec 29, 2012 | Crisis, December 2012: Eastern Europe, Fail, Public Transportation, Serendipitous!, Ukraine

So in pulling an all nighter after last night's festivities, I made a major mistake of letting everyone sleep a little more. Instead of giving them about an hour before having to leave the hostel, I decided to wake everyone up about 20-30min before. What ended up...

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...

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