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...

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...

First Impressions of Hanoi

by Annah Kim | Jun 8, 2010 | Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India, Vietnam

Yesterday was the first official day spent in Vietnam... We've found that it's drastically different from the Philippines. On the night that we arrived, I was confused to see nice cars, to get into a nice taxi, and to see a higher socioeconomic strata of people. I was...

“Good Morning, Vietnam!”: Hanoi In One Day

by Calvin Sun | Jun 8, 2010 | How's the weather?, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India, Vietnam

Being a big fan of movies like Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, Forrest Gump, The Deer Hunter, and Full Metal Jacket, I am truly excited to finally be in Vietnam. We arrived to a flood. But we woke up to sunshine. ...

The Philippines In A Nutshell

by Calvin Sun | Jun 7, 2010 | Doctor in the House, Fail, Mo' Money Mo' Problems, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India, The Philippines

Before we begin Vietnam, let's do one last review of The Philippines. The future doctor in me will review Health, the backpacker in me will review Money, and the Lodging is just good information for you to have. HEALTH Except for a few bug bites here and there that...

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