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,...

Goodbye Hanoi

by Calvin Sun | Jun 11, 2010 | Epiphanies on the Road, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India, Vietnam

Goodbye Hanoi. Goodbye beating heart of Southeast Asia. Goodbye flash thunderstorms, and flash floods. Goodbye city of Ngoc Son Lake, Bach Ma Temple, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, and Water Puppetry. Goodbye countless hotels, hostels and free wifi. Goodbye steaming pots of...

Videos From Hanoi

by Annah Kim | Jun 11, 2010 | Lessons Learned, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India, Vietnam

Hopefully you've read my previous posts without video - so I'm going to limit this post to mostly just videos and not much text commentaries. Streets of Hanoi: Women Are Better at Navigation: Crossing the Streets of Vietnam: Tour of the...

Pause. In. Hanoi.

by Annah Kim | Jun 11, 2010 | Fail, Lessons Learned, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India, Vietnam

So - change in plans. The bus to Hoi An has broken down and so we are delayed a day in our trip. So I am now sitting in an internet cafe - slowly but surely (hopefully) uploading my videos and sitting next to a jolly Vietnamese boy who is singing Akon's "Right...

Miss You, Dad

by Calvin Sun | Jun 10, 2010 | Epiphanies on the Road, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India, Vietnam

Exactly 4 years ago this day, my father died from a heart attack. He was 67. I never got to say goodbye. Just a body on a table who no longer could hear what I was saying. Apart from being extremely upset that this didn't hit me until a few minutes ago and that this...

FML..?

by Calvin Sun | Jun 10, 2010 | Fail, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India, Vietnam

I may or may not have lost my cell phone in the internet cafe in Ha Noi. Fingers crossed it's just that I left it somewhere in our room...but if not: FML. p.s. my chest is fine, but my entire back is sunburnt pink. No pictures this time, folks, but rather one more FML.

“So Long” Bay

by Annah Kim | Jun 10, 2010 | Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India, Vietnam

Two videos from Ha Long Bay.. Jumping off of the side of the boat: Ha Long Bay at Sunset:

Ha Long Bay

by Calvin Sun | Jun 10, 2010 | Epiphanies on the Road, How Did You Do That?, How's the weather?, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India, Vietnam, What Dreams May Come

Ha Long Bay. The sun is setting and we mere mortals fall prey to the sights and sounds of the bay. A cool sunset breeze blankets our naked bodies, still wet from swimming in nature's warm waters. A view of 3,000 islands thrust upwards valiantly from the waters,...

On The Way To Ha Long Bay

by Calvin Sun | Jun 8, 2010 | Lessons Learned, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India, Vietnam

Updated our Friends page!About to board an 8am bus to Ha Long Bay. We'll be staying overnight at a junk in the bay (so don't expect to hear from us for a bit); I'm looking forward to waking up and eating rice while watching a sun rise over the...

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