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,...

What A View: Final Moments In Malaysia

by Calvin Sun | Jun 29, 2010 | Malaysia, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India

Hello from KL LCCT Airport. Before I leave for Indonesia, how could I forget the views from the top of the Kuala Lumpur Tower: We're currently waiting for our flight to Bali. I just inadvertently found out that being an American Express cardholder...

Malaysia In A Nutshell

by Calvin Sun | Jun 29, 2010 | Doctor in the House, Fit for Foodies, Malaysia, Mo' Money Mo' Problems, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India

It might just be the easiest country on the Southeast Asia circuit you'll travel to. Boasting diversity in both ethnicity and religious tolerance that might hint that of major cities in the United States, Malaysia creates a nice fruit salad of Malays, Chinese,...

Batty Batu!

by Calvin Sun | Jun 29, 2010 | How's the weather?, Malaysia, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India, Walking Tours

We're winding down our whirlwind tour of KL and we managed to hit up almost everything in 10 hours (in this order):Batu CavesOld Railway StationNational MosqueSri Mahamariamman TempleChinatownMerdeka SquareLittle IndiaGolden TriangleKLCC ParkPetronas...

Kuala Lumpur

by Annah Kim | Jun 29, 2010 | Malaysia, Public Transportation, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India

We covered the city in a day - even with some elongated stops here and there to talk about... random things. May I just say that the public transportation in Kuala Lumpur is exceptionally deceitfully convenient. It only appears to be a great way to get around. It...

Internet

by Annah Kim | Jun 29, 2010 | Fail, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India

Just letting you know - the internet is kind of slow and the browser keeps crashing on me... so there won't be much uploading of videos anytime in the near future. Apologies. Annah

Arrival In Kuala Lumpur

by Calvin Sun | Jun 28, 2010 | Malaysia, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India

Currently in Kuala Lumpur. What a pretty city with a great vibe. Great mix of people intermingling. Me gusta diversity. Plan tomorrow: Petronas Towers (get there early morning to get evening viewing tickets) Batu Caves Old Railway Station National Mosque Sri...

Pretty As Penang

by Calvin Sun | Jun 27, 2010 | Epiphanies on the Road, Malaysia, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India

I was getting a little worried with Penang...I know we came here just for the food, which has been cheap and exquisitely delicious, but my camera started getting a little bored. That is until this morning where we did a whirlwind walking tour of all the...

The Thing About Facial Hair

by Calvin Sun | Jun 27, 2010 | Fail, Lessons Learned, Malaysia, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India, Uncategorized Stories

So my compadre Rahul Jain told me to grow out my facial hair without shaving the entire trip. This is my progress after almost one month (27 days to be exact): It was never meant to be.

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