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...

Videos From South America, The Best Of

by Calvin Sun | Apr 3, 2011 | April 2011: Peru & Colombia, Colombia, How's the weather?, Peru, Post-travel Reflections

I´m now waiting for my flight to Medellin, where I will take a redeye flight back home. I just edited all my past entries by adding in the appropriate videos I took with my flipcam while I was in South America. I think it adds to the realism of being there,...

Charming Cartagena

by Calvin Sun | Apr 2, 2011 | April 2011: Peru & Colombia, Colombia, Mo' Money Mo' Problems, Public Transportation

There are very few cities that can compare to the oh my god I need to come back here for my honeymoon vibe when you walk along its streets. NYC comes to mind, but then again I'm biased. Luang Prabang is definitely on that list. And Cartagena. Yes,...

A Moment Of Paradise At Playa Blanca

by Calvin Sun | Apr 1, 2011 | April 2011: Peru & Colombia, Colombia, Fit for Foodies, How Did You Do That?, How's the weather?, Mo' Money Mo' Problems, Public Transportation, Uncategorized Stories, What Dreams May Come

a I remember watching Y Tu Mama Tambien for the very first time, when the two friends fabricate the existence of a beach in an attempt to seduce Luisa. As they travel throughout the film, they discover in fact that the beach is real, and it just so happens to...

Crisis Averted

by Calvin Sun | Mar 31, 2011 | April 2011: Peru & Colombia, Colombia, Crisis, Fail, How Did You Do That?, Lessons Learned

So now I'm sitting in Cartagena's airport, waiting for Kseniya. Because Kseniya booked her flights a few weeks later than I did, she was unable to get on a flight with me from Lima to Bogota. Instead, she booked a later flight; I would leave for Bogota in the evening,...

Good Morning, Colombia!

by Calvin Sun | Mar 31, 2011 | April 2011: Peru & Colombia, Colombia

Hungover. But nevertheless what a nice morning to wake up to in Bogota.

Bogota!

by Calvin Sun | Mar 31, 2011 | April 2011: Peru & Colombia, Colombia, Epiphanies on the Road, How Did You Do That?, Public Transportation

Within the moment I stepped in line to board my flight to Bogota, Colombia, I noticed the difference: I was the only foreigner on this plane. I've been used to this, having traveled more of my fair share on alternative routes in Southeast and South Asia, but it became...

Cruzin’ In Cuzco

by Calvin Sun | Mar 30, 2011 | April 2011: Peru & Colombia, Fit for Foodies, Peru, The Nightlife, Walking Tours

So about the place we're staying at... Yeah, anyways, Loki's Backpackers Hostel? It's nice: Our circuit around Cuzco was brief. We pretty much saw most of everything we were supposed to see in under 4 hours. This was the route we took:Start...

Machu Picchu

by Calvin Sun | Mar 29, 2011 | April 2011: Peru & Colombia, How Did You Do That?, How's the weather?, Mo' Money Mo' Problems, Peru, Public Transportation, What Dreams May Come

Before I begin, I must preface this with the inspirational scene that led me to Machu Picchu in the first place: "and here we go..."As unsure as I was when the day was about to start, today was when everything that was supposed to work out, worked...

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