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,...

“My God, It’s Full Of Stars.”

by Calvin Sun | Nov 26, 2011 | Guatemala, November 2011: Guatemala & Belize, What Dreams May Come

A picture worth (a trillion) stars: More on this picture -- and another with a shooting star -- in the rest of this entry... Although I came for the sunrise above Tikal's famous Mayan ruins, it's afternoon light is no less impressive. It's been...

From Antigua To Tikal

by Calvin Sun | Nov 26, 2011 | Guatemala, Mythbusters, November 2011: Guatemala & Belize

Antigua, a UNESCO World Heritage city rich with history (and foreign tourists), is known for many things. From its defining pastel facades to quaint cobblestone streets to the fact that it survived everything from wars to natural disasters, Antigua has come a...

Chickening Our Way To Antigua

by Calvin Sun | Nov 25, 2011 | Guatemala, November 2011: Guatemala & Belize, Public Transportation

Not sure if this is supposed to be an exit sign for hotel patrons or Justin Bieber: What we woke up to this morning at 6am: We begun our day with an early morning boat ride across the lake to to the west, which is off the beaten trail...

Lake Atitlan

by Calvin Sun | Nov 25, 2011 | Fit for Foodies, Guatemala, How Did You Do That?, November 2011: Guatemala & Belize, Public Transportation, Serendipitous!, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

About a month ago I was still debating where I wanted to go for Thanksgiving weekend. To make a long story short, it was seeing a picture of Guatemala's Lake Atitlan that helped me decide. Consistently rated as one of the top 2 things to see in all of Central...

An “Alternative” Layover In Miami

by Calvin Sun | Nov 24, 2011 | Blitzkrieg!!!, Fit for Foodies, Florida, Layovers, The Nightlife

First hour in Miami: Skipped the line to get inside Miami's legendary Mansion nightclub. And it just happened to be on the same night as famous world DJ and music producer Steve Aoki's 34th birthday. You bet it was a layover to remember: ...

Meet The Turkeys; To Central America!

by Calvin Sun | Nov 23, 2011 | Introductions, November 2011: Guatemala & Belize, Pre-travel Preparations

After the obligatory medical school exam or two (k the one I took today was pretty rough), I'm once again off to the airport for our next blitzkrieg: Guatemala and Belize in 5 days. Freedom has never tasted sweeter. Before we begin, please welcome our 3 new...

“The World’s Most Dangerous Countries”

by Calvin Sun | Nov 18, 2011 | Mythbusters, Post-travel Reflections, Pre-travel Preparations, Publicity, Travel Warnings

Travel and Leisure came out with a list of 15 of the world's "most dangerous countries." Out of that list, we've already recently been to 3 of them, dallied on the border of 2 others and are planning to go to 2-3 more within the year. In our experience, some of them...

Last Minute Trip For Thanksgiving!

by Calvin Sun | Nov 8, 2011 | November 2011: Guatemala & Belize, Our Next Adventure, Pre-travel Preparations, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea

The original plan was to do Spain, Morocco, and Portugal this winter as my next trip. But not so; the travel bug bites again. And we have new travel partners joining us this time! What I'm doing in 5 days:

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