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...

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...

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...

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