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,...

ATV Diaries

by Stephanie Quan | Jun 14, 2011 | Introspection, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Türkiye (Turkey)

preface. I thought I'd be able to charge my camera with a mini usb. wrong. so I'm stealing Calvin's photos until we can get back to Istanbul and find a camera store with the proper charger for my camera battery. While riding atv's, here are a few things I noticed....

Another 5AM Morning

by Calvin Sun | Jun 14, 2011 | Fail, Fit for Foodies, How's the weather?, Let me tell you a Story..., Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Türkiye (Turkey)

UPDATE 4 hours later: What a fail. The rain picked up so much by the time we got to the balloons that they decided to send us home. They said they would call us in 2-3 hours if they decided to start it up again but as far as I know, nothing is happening....

There’s A Storm In Cappadocia

by Calvin Sun | Jun 13, 2011 | Doctor in the House, How Did You Do That?, How's the weather?, Introspection, Mo' Money Mo' Problems, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Türkiye (Turkey)

Just got back from a wet n' wild excursion around Goreme and Cappdaocia. In other words, a lightning thunderstorm thrashed about and we were stuck in the middle in the big wide open fields. Smart, I know. If you ever find yourself here, do yourself a...

Constantinople And The Ottoman Empire

by Stephanie Quan | Jun 13, 2011 | Lessons Learned, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Türkiye (Turkey)

I haven't done much travel abroad. Well, "difficult traveling" that is. I've spent two spring breaks in London and Paris (which may as well have been as diffıcult as goıng to Maine and Quebec) and been on a tour of China with my family when I was 14 (a very very...

From Holy Crap To Holy Cappadocia

by Calvin Sun | Jun 13, 2011 | Crisis, Public Transportation, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Türkiye (Turkey)

With whatever luck I get with running into people, I'm cursed when it comes to waiting for people at the airport. Yesterday as I waited outside arrivals to pick up my travel partner Stephanie, she was waiting for me to pick her up inside at baggage claims....

Istanbul: Day 1

by Calvin Sun | Jun 12, 2011 | Fail, Let me tell you a Story..., Serendipitous!, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Türkiye (Turkey)

Before I begin my first entry of the summer, I must mention how Monsoon Diaries' has an unexplainable inclination for serendipity, and this time, excruciating near-misses: The MOMENT I stepped off my one-way flight from NYC to Istanbul, a friend of mine was getting on...

Just Landed In Istanbul

by Calvin Sun | Jun 12, 2011 | Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Türkiye (Turkey)

Just landed 10min ago. First order of business? Sipping on some Turkish coffee. Will write more when I...actually leave the airport and see things.

And Here We Go…

by Calvin Sun | Jun 11, 2011 | Pre-travel Preparations

"I'm leaving...on a jet plane..." See you on the other side of the world, folks.

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