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,...

In Vancouver

by Calvin Sun | Dec 17, 2010 | Blitzkrieg!!!, Canada, Hong Kong, Layovers, Uncategorized Stories

Well this is a first for me. Currently at a technical stop in Vancouver, Canada where I'm one of maybe 5 passengers who have remained on the plane for the subsequent flight to Hong Kong. I was awoken by a flurry of attendants engaged in a frantic buzz in...

Everything I Missed About Airports

by Calvin Sun | Dec 16, 2010 | Blitzkrieg!!!, Epiphanies on the Road, Hong Kong, Pre-travel Preparations

I won't lie, the first thing that came over me when I stepped into JFK Airport 30 minutes ago was "Again?!" "Ay, but I'm tired." Like a familiar scent the sterile linoleum gloss of JFK Airport reminded me everything I hated about flying: long lines, either...

Leaving For Hong Kong In 6 Hours

by Calvin Sun | Dec 16, 2010 | Blitzkrieg!!!, Hong Kong, Pre-travel Preparations, What to Pack

Stayed up late last night to do some bare bones packing: Toothbrush 2 shirts 2 pieces of underwear 2 pairs of socks 2 pairs of pants A keffiyeh A fleece A camera A pair of shoes I'll be in the air for about 20 hours and on the ground for around 24 hours, then...

This Weekend: HONG KONG In 24 Hours

by Calvin Sun | Dec 14, 2010 | Blitzkrieg!!!, Hong Kong, Our Next Adventure

So this weekend - don't ask me why - I'll be traveling to Hong Kong for a total of 24 hours, before heading back to NYC. Yes, just like my whirlwind trips to Taiwan and San Diego, it'll be another blitzkrieg mission to see as much as I can in a small amount of...

This Winter: MEXICO

by Calvin Sun | Nov 27, 2010 | Doctor in the House, Mexico, Our Next Adventure, Pre-travel Preparations

Monsoon Diaries will be heading to Mexico this winter. My fellow medical students and I will be undertaking an international medical development project with an organization called One Small House. For the last 10 years, One Small House has built homes for...

Monsoon Diaries By The Numbers Pt. 2

by Calvin Sun | Oct 11, 2010 | Post-travel Reflections

Just calculated the number of miles I traveled this summer: 39,030.04 miles or 62,812.76 kilometers That's 14,120.49 miles more than -- or approximately 1.6x -- the circumference of the Earth.

Planning Ahead

by Calvin Sun | Oct 10, 2010 | Our Next Adventure, Pre-travel Preparations

I'm deciding on the trip to happen next year, an 8-10 week hiatus of what possibly could be my last real summer vacation for many many years.The options in order of perceived difficulty:1) Europasia on a Rail: Trans-Siberian Railway Network from Russia - Mongolia -...

Sunny San Diego

by Calvin Sun | Sep 26, 2010 | Blitzkrieg!!!, California, United States

The wedding went off without a hitch and joy was experienced by all. I managed to get some great shots of The Prado at Balboa Park, but it's mostly of family and happy people. Here are some of my favorites:

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