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...

From Beirut To The Deserts Of Amman

by Calvin Sun | Jun 19, 2011 | Jordan, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea

Some leftover from our last hours in Beirut: After an uneventful flight from Beirut to Amman, and the standard passport etiquette (20 JOD for a visa on arriva, which is $28.71 USD!), we decided to save some money by taking the airport shuttle (3...

Beirut, Baalbek, And Hezbollah

by Calvin Sun | Jun 18, 2011 | Lebanon, Let me tell you a Story..., Mythbusters, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, What Dreams May Come

Beirut: A cosmopolitan city policed by carbine-armed soldiers, where Ferraris and BMWs park next to armored tanks, and where glass-paned high-end boutique shops neighbor derelict husks of concrete bombed out by a 10 year old conflict. There are military...

Airport FUN

by Stephanie Quan | Jun 18, 2011 | Crisis, Fail, Lebanon, Lessons Learned, Let me tell you a Story..., Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea

Now that I'm in Lebanon, I can tell you about entering. Upon arriving in Beirut, I was asked to fill out the visa information. Not knowing the address of the hotel, (Calvin had made the reservations and was coming in on a later flight) I left that part blank. Passport...

Entering Lebanon

by Calvin Sun | Jun 17, 2011 | Lebanon, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, The Nightlife

"Sir, have you ever visited Israel?" "Never." "OK, go." I know this routine. I've heard about it ever since I started traveling. The rule is that if you ever been to Israel and show evidence of it with a stamp in your passport, you're assumed to believe that Israel is...

My Favorite Person In Istanbul

by Stephanie Quan | Jun 17, 2011 | Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Türkiye (Turkey)

Meet Ahmet! He's 7 months old and just too cute. His mother (in the background) rigged up a camera battery charger for me from another type of charger. Brilliant! And amazing in a touristy area where most people will just try to sell you a charger for way too...

OH! Before You Head To Lebanon…Read This:

by Calvin Sun | Jun 16, 2011 | Lebanon, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Travel Warnings

Guess what's been issued as I'm about to embark on my journey into Lebanon today:The Department of State continues to urge U.S. citizens to avoid all travel to Lebanon due to current safety and security concerns. U.S. citizens living and working in Lebanon should...

Our Last Day In Istanbul

by Calvin Sun | Jun 16, 2011 | Fit for Foodies, Introspection, Mo' Money Mo' Problems, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Türkiye (Turkey), Walking Tours

We finish off Istanbul with a relaxing day of sightseeing. After beginning our day at the Turkish Baths with a thorough scrubdown and massage, we hopped on a metro: ...where we ended up near the Spice Market and the New Mosque. Right by the Galata...

Blessed Are My Eyes: Hagia Sophia

by Calvin Sun | Jun 16, 2011 | Let me tell you a Story..., Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, The Nightlife, Türkiye (Turkey), Walking Tours, What Dreams May Come

There are very few moments in life where you stop to think, and forget to start again... We knew we only had 2 days in Istanbul, so upon our 6am arrival into the Bus Terminal (from our 12 hour overnight bus from Cappadocia) we got a little antsy as they kept us...

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