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...

Udaipur Is Pretty Pimp

by Calvin Sun | Jul 20, 2010 | India, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

Udaipur has long been regarded as "the most romantic city in all of India." James Bond couldn't even resist the city's charms in Octopussy (which is played at every restaurant in Udaipur at 7pm everyday). So allow me to give it an obnoxious American twist: It's...

Reflections And Superlatives: Video + Some Additions

by Annah Kim | Jul 19, 2010 | *Countries, Post-travel Reflections, Uncategorized Stories

Scroll down to find some additions that I made to my lists and view the video that I was unable to post earlier! Back in the states and reflecting on my trip... Things Lost/Stolen: 1 Blackberry (Pickpocketed, Philippines) Eyeglasses (Disappearing act...

SOUTH KOREA: Seoul Evenings

by Annah Kim | Jul 19, 2010 | Fit for Foodies, South Korea, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India

Video Postings finally worked! I have some more overdue videos that I will be posting later on this afternoon/evening... but for now: So, in Seoul, it seems like there are SO MANY of us Mount Holyoke Women. When I arrived I stayed with Charlina Ahn (MHC 2009)....

From Jodhpur To Udaipur

by Calvin Sun | Jul 19, 2010 | How's the weather?, India, Serendipitous!, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India

From Jodhpur... ...to taking a sleeper bus to Udaipur... ...to finally absorbing "the most romantic city in India": I forgot to mention that when I arrived in Jodhpur yesterday morning, I met a South Korean actress named Ryu who...

The Battle Of The Forts: Jodhpur

by Calvin Sun | Jul 18, 2010 | How's the weather?, India, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India

I'm now in the Rajasthan district of India, doing a back to back visit of its capital Jaipur, "the pink city", and nearby Jodhpur, "the blue city."Let's see how pink and blue go together... JAIPUR In my Jaipur rickshaw, I...

The Pink City Of Jaipur Has Tough Acts To Follow

by Calvin Sun | Jul 17, 2010 | India, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India

It's hard to top Amritsar and Varanasi, which is what I'm struggling with while I'm residing in the Pink City of Jaipur. Today I saw the impressive Amber Fort, City Palace, Hawa Majal, and went shopping along Jalahar Bazaar, but all the wonder and bewilderment I...

All That Glitters Is Gold In Amritsar

by Calvin Sun | Jul 16, 2010 | Epiphanies on the Road, How's the weather?, India, Serendipitous!, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India, What Dreams May Come

You pretty much come to Amritsar for one thing mainly: The Golden Temple. This is the Mecca for all Sikhs around the world, except that given the Sikh's inclusive nature, people of all faiths and creeds are welcome at this place of worship.You'll enter the...

Rowing Down The Ganges

by Calvin Sun | Jul 16, 2010 | India, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India, The Nightlife, Uncategorized Stories

So I made a bunch of new friends at the place I'm staying (The Ganpati Guesthouse) and last night we all had decided to go out for some dinner before going to see a local music show. Despite a vegetarian feast, I think we stayed there a little too...

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