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

Dear Daughters,

by Calvin Sun | August 15, 2026 | Post-travel Reflections, What Dreams May Come, You're Going to Miss It... | 4 Comments

Dear daughters, In a rare moment of peace as your mom was recovering in the PACU and you were down the hall in the NICU, I found myself thinking about everyone over the years who made judgments about my lifestyle and said to my face: "Sure, you've been to every...

We Had Twins

by Calvin Sun | July 26, 2026 | Crisis, Doctor in the House, Let me tell you a Story..., Serendipitous!, United States, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come | 0 Comments

Identical twins. This was a birth by a thousand cuts. A story as old as time, for two lives as new as right now, where spontaneity gets sandwiched between a relentless tango with death. They were born after one of the hardest chapters of our lives: a rare...

Tomorrowland Babies

by Calvin Sun | July 25, 2026 | Festivals | 0 Comments

Four Tomorrowlands in, and this is the first I'll be writing about a trip I planned without having gone. What gives? It's not as if I didn't want to: Right as 40+ of my monsooners were heading off to Belgium, I was in a hospital room in Queens, meeting my...

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...

A Wedding In Srinagar, Day 2 Of 2

by Calvin Sun | Jul 3, 2011 | India, Kashmir, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

More scenes from our unplanned gueststay at a Kashmiri wedding in nowhere else but Kashmir. Pre-wedding: Getting henna done: And to end the night, the newlyweds leave by car to the groom's house.

Kashmir Misunderstood

by Calvin Sun | Jul 3, 2011 | India, Introspection, Kashmir, Lessons Learned, Mythbusters, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Travel Warnings

"In the last 3 days it seems like we've been the only international tourists in Srinagar." "That's because your media always paints the wrong picture of Kashmir." He was right. Although Srinagar boasts more security checkpoints than the rest of India, it...

A Wedding In Srinagar: Day 1 Of 2

by Calvin Sun | Jul 2, 2011 | Fit for Foodies, India, Kashmir, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

Najia's Classmate Calvin Sun will arrive in Srinagar soon. Arrives in Srinagar 1st or 2nd July to attend Neelu's wedding. He will call your Mom/Dad. Give him a place to stay and feed him to fatten him with wazwan. - Najia's uncle in an email CC'ed to me As mentioned...

Kya India?! 24 hr. Car Rides, Scams, And Kashmir

by Calvin Sun | Jul 2, 2011 | Fail, How Did You Do That?, How's the weather?, India, Kashmir, Lessons Learned, Let me tell you a Story..., Mo' Money Mo' Problems, Nepal, Public Transportation, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea

The last 36 hours have been no less than a harrowing series of events and run-ins. For our last hours in Kathmandu, I got to head over to the suburbs of Chisablani to meet with a family that hosted my cousin when he was in Nepal last year. This was the same...

Everest.

by Calvin Sun | Jun 29, 2011 | Nepal, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, What Dreams May Come

Today I saw Mount Everest with my own eyes. Whether it's the 14-day trek to Everest Base Camp or a 1 hour mountain flight from Kathmandu, everyone should see Earth's tallest structure at least once in their lives. I went in thinking it wasn't going...

How Are The Kids?

by Calvin Sun | Jun 28, 2011 | Community Service, Fit for Foodies, Nepal, Serendipitous!, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

Before I post up my entry on Everest, I should mention our unexpected detour to Hindu Vidyapeeth (HVP) last night. HVP is a non-profit educational trust that enrolls Nepalese children from regions as far as Myanmar and provides them a quality education and prepares...

Bus Ride From Hell Part 2

by Calvin Sun | Jun 28, 2011 | Let me tell you a Story..., Nepal, Public Transportation, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea

I was warned about this. One day someone will ask me what is the worst bus I've ever ridden. Would it be a 16 hour overnight bus from Udaipur to Mumbai where the A/C dripped water on my face for half the time? Would it be a 10 hour overnight bus from Hyderabad to...

Bus Ride From Hell

by Stephanie Quan | Jun 28, 2011 | Let me tell you a Story..., Nepal, Public Transportation, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea

The bus ride that no one but Calvin and I found hilarious, then not so hilarious In Nepal, the transportation is..well...not like Turkey's. So to travel approximately 200 km, we alloted a day each way. The ride to Pokhara, was a little uncomfortable and long,...

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