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,...

We’re Launching!

by Calvin Sun | May 24, 2010 | Pre-travel Preparations, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India, United States

Look around...the layout has changed! Thanks to Brian Foo of GiveLoop, we have a new design, so have fun exploring! I'll be working out the kinks in the meantime, but I guess with a week away from departure, we can finally give this blog a proper welcome. In the...

Celebrate In Hanoi!

by Annah Kim | May 18, 2010 | Pre-travel Preparations, The Nightlife, Vietnam

Something exciting to see! "Anniversary events begin this summer. A huge mural depicting Hanoi's history will wrap around the Temple of Literature; the ugly dike road paralleling the Red River will be renewed with colorful mosaics. Festivities climax over the ten days...

New Camera!

by Calvin Sun | May 6, 2010 | Pre-travel Preparations, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India

Got my new camera! Will be doing a review of it once I get the hang of this bad boy. In the meantime, here's a preview of the kind of pictures you can expect from the trip.

Goa, India

by Annah Kim | May 5, 2010 | *Countries, India, Pre-travel Preparations, Summer 2010: Southeast Asia & India, The Nightlife

Some Highlights that I want to hit from NY Times' Travel Journal: "BOLLYWOOD BOOZE CRUISE Before plunging into Goa’s various seaside idylls, jump into a Bollywood-style dance party on a sunset cruise along the Mandovi River... SPICY SOJOURN Returning from the...

Testing!

by Calvin Sun | May 1, 2010 | Pre-travel Preparations

Checking out different blogs before we head for SEA (Southeast Asia)!

Testing Posterous!

by Calvin Sun | May 1, 2010 | Pre-travel Preparations

First official post. Anything prior to this entry is just a future version of myself trying to recall fond memories of previous trips that had inspired The Monsoon Diaries in the first place (i.e. India, Egypt). Check out this blog, which is badass. "Learn to rules so...

Excerpts from Calvin D. Sun’s (ECAASU Board of Directors) Keynote Address at PURSUIT

by Calvin Sun | Apr 17, 2010 | Speeches

University of VirginiaSaturday, April 17th10:00 A.M. ESTWell that was certainly embarrassing. I don’t know why I signed up to do that but I hope that got your attention. I don’t know how breakdancing will save the world, but it did save MTV’s late...

Forming A Monsoon: Return to Cairo

by Calvin Sun | Jan 7, 2010 | Egypt, Epiphanies on the Road, What Dreams May Come, Winter 2009: Egypt

Only mere moments of a time prior, I had been paralyzed by fear in Cairo, unwilling to leave the train station because I was so afraid of wandering around a foreign country alone and without a plan. But Cairo is where I would harness an impetuously delusional...

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