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...

Haiti’s Independence Day

by Calvin Sun | Jan 1, 2013 | Community Service, Fit for Foodies, January 2012: La Hispanola, Serendipitous!, Travel Warnings, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Here I am! And on your Independence Day (it's January 1st) too! We're currently staying at the Trinity Lodge in Delmas, a quieter suburb of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. I first have to give a shout out to...

New Year’s Eve In NYC

by Calvin Sun | Jan 1, 2013 | New York

After our layover in Frankfurt, we had a 2 hour layover in Ottawa, Canada. Then it was back on our return flight to NYC where we immediately got off the plane and headed to my New Year's Eve party on a rooftop in Chelsea: So far so good. Happy New...

Frolick In Frankfurt

by Calvin Sun | Jan 1, 2013 | December 2012: Eastern Europe, Germany

Remember 8 months ago when we took a detour sidetrip with our 5 hour layover in Frankfurt? Well it's deja vu all over again, this time with a different group of 16 people (with the exception of Cynthia coming again, of course)!I'll spare you the repost of photos...

A Night In Warsaw

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

Last moments before hopping on a 3hr bus from Krakow to Warsaw: So it's 3am and you've arrived at Frederic Chopin Airport in Warsaw with about 4 hours before you're flight out. What do you do? Take the N32 bus of course. The N32 bus arrives...

Auschwitz Death Camp

by Calvin Sun | Jan 1, 2013 | December 2012: Eastern Europe, Epiphanies on the Road, Poland

The feeling of bleakness startles first. Then to step inside one of the gas chambers: There's nothing more I can write about Auschwitz that hasn't already been written: It really is devastating. Like the Killing Fields and Tuong Sleng Prison of...

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...

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