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...

From Saigon To Phnom Penh

by Calvin Sun | Jun 15, 2010 | Border Crossing, Cambodia, How Did You Do That?, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India, Uncategorized Stories

From Vietnam to Cambodia: where people working in rice fields have been replaced by feeding oxen; where lush green plains and rice patties have been replaced by flourishing jungles and marshes...It's a dream come true. We're now in the capital of Phnom Penh...

Looking Back At Vietnam

by Annah Kim | Jun 15, 2010 | Lessons Learned, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India, Vietnam

I'm currently in Phnom Phen and I wanted to list a couple things learned about Vietnam: 1. Pho bo (beef pho.. or any kind of pho) can be eaten any time of day but it is traditionally a breakfast meal in Vietnam... heavy breakfast. 2. Dress is not conservative at all....

Vietnam In A Nutshell

by Calvin Sun | Jun 15, 2010 | Doctor in the House, Fit for Foodies, Mo' Money Mo' Problems, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India, Vietnam

Not melancholy and serene as The Philippines, Vietnam is a firecracker; colorful, dynamic, and in your face with no time to breathe. And within Vietnam, you get Hanoi in the North as the city of Old being sprung into the future, while Ho Chi Minh of the South is a...

A Monday Night In Saigon

by Calvin Sun | Jun 14, 2010 | How's the weather?, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India, The Nightlife, Vietnam

What better way to explore the nightlife of Saigon than by being led down a very dark alleyway? This might disappoint a few loved ones back home (one in particular), but we were led to a sheesha lounge, my weakness (I'm really trying to quit!) Drinks otherwise...

Saigon In 8 Hours

by Calvin Sun | Jun 14, 2010 | How Did You Do That?, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India, Vietnam

The challenge was 12 hours. We did it in 8. Because we're badass. And how did we do it? Just take do a very simple walking tour in this order and you can't go wrong: Mariamman Temple on D Truong Dinh Walk right around the park to hit D Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street; enter...

Videos Of Saigon

by Annah Kim | Jun 14, 2010 | Fit for Foodies, How Did You Do That?, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India, Vietnam

With the departure of our dear Corinne, an awaited meet-up with Caitlin in Laos, and one day to do everything in Ho Chi Minh (Saigon), Calvin and I set out to cover the city's attractions and do errands before Cambodia. Bus Station - buy tickets ($10 USD) to leave...

Planning For 12 Hours In Saigon

by Calvin Sun | Jun 13, 2010 | Doctor in the House, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India, Vietnam

We just woke up and it's 6:30am in a brand new day in Saigon! A few hours ago we just said our goodbyes to Corinne (we miss you already!) and made our itinerary for 12 hours in Saigon. 12 HOURS in Saigon, you say? Yes, we can do it. This is...

Lessons In Transportation

by Annah Kim | Jun 13, 2010 | Fail, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India, Vietnam

Like Calvin said - we spent over 50 hours on three different sleeper buses on an epic journey down the entire coast of Vietnam. After getting off of the bus (and almost exploding in the process), here's the PG version of our response to the entire ordeal.

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