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,...

Di-M-Zey World

by Calvin Sun | Mar 27, 2023 | April 2023: South Korea & Jeju Island, South Korea

How does the DMZ, aka the active conflict region between South and North Korea, look these days? I was last here on the North Korean side of the demilitarized zone 11 years ago and I have to admit, it's a little bittersweet to feel a bit of homecoming. We were...

The Mundari

by Calvin Sun | Mar 25, 2023 | Camping, Doctor in the House, March 2023: South Sudan, South Sudan, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

Wake up to paradise at 5:30am: And yet paradise is just a figure of expression, a figure of experience. This is no different. Spending a night and morning with them has been one of the most rewarding experiences in...

Play a Song from the Juba‘x: South Sudan, The Newest Country in the World

by Calvin Sun | Mar 24, 2023 | Blitzkrieg!!!, Getting that VISA, How Did You Do That?, March 2023: South Sudan, South Sudan, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

Yesterday I began my marathon itinerary of flights with a premium economy American Airlines seat from NYC to Doha. I'm glad I didn't bother with figuring out miles for business class; I nearly had the whole premium economy cabin to...

Meet the Seoulmates!

by Calvin Sun | Feb 27, 2023 | Introductions

Our returners: Donna “Spyglass” Vo: 8 time monsooner and having visited 13+ countries with me, returning from Svalbard, Sardinia, Isle of Man & Northern Ireland, Australia & New Zealand, Prague & Budapest, Japan, Cyprus, and The French Polynesia Ann...

Don’t Be So Conakry If You’re Back in Guinea!

by Calvin Sun | Feb 9, 2023 | Blitzkrieg!!!, February 2023: The Western Africa Hopper - Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Getting that VISA, Guinea, Layovers, Mo' Money Mo' Problems, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

Conarky marks my last stop on this unbelievable West African hopper itinerary I found randomly on Skyscanner. After 6 days in Burkina Faso, 1 day in Sierra Leone, and 1 day in Liberia...all connected by direct flights by reputable world class airlines, I finish...

Monrovia-ng ‘Round the World

by Calvin Sun | Feb 9, 2023 | Blitzkrieg!!!, February 2023: The Western Africa Hopper - Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Getting that VISA, Layovers, Liberia

Before we continue with this unbelievable "West Africa" hopper itinerary I'm on, for Liberia you need to arrange visas way ahead of schedule. Unfortunately unlike Sierra Leone's visa on arrival or Guinea's E-visa on arrival, Libera requires an appointment...

Freetown at Last

by Calvin Sun | Feb 8, 2023 | Blitzkrieg!!!, Doctor in the House, February 2023: The Western Africa Hopper - Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Getting that VISA, How Did You Do That?, How's the weather?, Layovers, Sierra Leone

With 6 days of Burkina Faso behind us, it became to mentally prepare for my long marathon of flights back home.Facing numerous options to fly back home to NYC via Brussels, Lisbon, or Paris, I stumbled upon an incredible "West Africa" hopper itinerary on...

Walking With a S’Ouaga-dougou

by Calvin Sun | Feb 7, 2023 | Burkina Faso, February 2022: Mali, February 2023: The Western Africa Hopper - Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Serendipitous!, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

This morning at 8am we left our hotel at Niorida and made an early trip back to Ouagadougou by first stopping at Laongo Granite Park. Here, over 2000 sculptures carved into stone greet visitors, while also expressing the history, culture,...

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