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,...

The Pearl Of The Orient: Luang Prabang, Laos

by Calvin Sun | Jun 22, 2010 | Laos, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India, What Dreams May Come

The internet remains frightfully slow, so we may not be able to update at full capacity until we reach Thailand. As for Luang Prabang...everyone needs to experience this city. It's not where you blow through sites like other places...it's just a wonderful place to be....

The Laodown On Laos

by Calvin Sun | Jun 21, 2010 | Laos, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India

Luang Prabang is charming, no doubt. They call it the "most romantic city Southeast Asia" and after spending only a night here I can see why. It doesn't even try too hard...it just is. More details when I find an internet connection that's faster than a...

Quick Update

by Annah Kim | Jun 21, 2010 | Fail, Laos, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India

We went to Buddha Park today - the coolest thing to see in Vientiane and possibly one of the coolest things that I've seen so far. En route there- we took Bus #14 from the main bus station... I initially didn't get a seat - but they pack these buses and they squeeze...

Man’s Cure For The Fever: Buddha Park, Laos

by Calvin Sun | Jun 20, 2010 | Doctor in the House, Laos, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India

Good news: My fever is gone, although my stomach is still in a little tizzy. The cure for the fever? A healthy serving of coconut water, chicken bamboo soup, and 30 minutes in a Laotian herbal sauna for $2 USD. The culprit for the sickness? I've noticed that...

Slow Internet

by Annah Kim | Jun 20, 2010 | Fail, Laos, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India

By the way... the internet in Laos is super, super, slow and I am completely unable to upload new and overdue videos... Apologies for the day! Hopefully we'll have some luck sometime soon!

Vientiane, Laos

by Calvin Sun | Jun 20, 2010 | Doctor in the House, Epiphanies on the Road, How's the weather?, Laos, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India

This is no ordinary capital city, this is a town. Unlike the congestion of Manila, the firecracker of Hanoi, or the liveliness of Phnom Penh, Vientiane takes its time. Unfortunately, we as Westerners don't know how to take our time: In the mere 3 hours we've been...

Cambodia In A Nutshell

by Calvin Sun | Jun 19, 2010 | Cambodia, Doctor in the House, Fit for Foodies, How Did You Do That?, Lessons Learned, Mo' Money Mo' Problems, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India, Walking Tours

Welcome to Cambodia, a dichotomy worth dissecting; a binary land where diametrically opposed limits of human achievement and human devastation come together. In one minute you're captivated by the stunningly glorious Khmer civilization both ancient (Angkor Wat) and...

Saying Goodbye To Cambodia…

by Calvin Sun | Jun 19, 2010 | *Countries, Cambodia, How's the weather?, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India, What Dreams May Come

Gonna miss ya, Cambodia. I'll be back.

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