The Monsoon Diaries: How to travel the world with no time or money -

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...

The Coolest Hotel in Lapland (Literally)

by Calvin Sun | February 7, 2026 | February 2026: Lapland, Finland, How's the weather?, Lapland, What Dreams May Come | 0 Comments

After sneaking in some sugar donuts just in time before Kahvila Lohihovi Oy closed at 5pm, we continued our 2 hour drive south from Ylläs to the Arctic SnowHotel & Glass Igloos, about 30 minutes north of Rovaniemi on the shores of Lake Lehtojärvi....

Ylläs Hear Me Out

by Calvin Sun | February 6, 2026 | February 2026: Lapland, Finland, How's the weather?, Lapland, Way Way Off the Beaten Path | 0 Comments

How This Trip Happened On September 30, 2025, a monsooner named Yuhan — who's been on many trips with me — randomly invited me to watch her favorite anime that had a surprise 2-week return to theaters: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, originally released in 2006. I...

Sundance’s Last Dance: Park City, UT

by Calvin Sun | January 27, 2026 | How's the weather?, United States, Utah | 0 Comments

Once again we're gathering friends across time zones and milestones; some have flown in from Philly, others from NYC, one flying over from Dallas just for the weekend to make new friends, all converging together this week on a mountain town for a week of...

Yamoussoukro: The Largest Basilica in the World

by Calvin Sun | Jan 16, 2023 | Blitzkrieg!!!, Côte d'Ivoire, January 2023: Côte d'Ivoire, Layovers, Uncategorized, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, Weekend Trips

The world's largest basilica . . . . . . just got SERVED. After a morning walking around the country's economic capital of Abidjan, we drove up 3 hours to reach Yamoussoukro, the political capital city of Côte d'Ivoire, by 11am,...

The First Month & Monsoon of the Year Is….ABIDJAN-UARY!

by Calvin Sun | Jan 16, 2023 | Blitzkrieg!!!, Côte d'Ivoire, Getting that VISA, How Did You Do That?, January 2023: Côte d'Ivoire, Layovers, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, Weekend Trips

The end of 2022 was coming around and nobody was yet taking up my offer to repeat our Caribbean adventure last January. So my gut started talking and I began to consider postponing the original plan in favor of a different excursion. Poking around options...

Meet the Ivoirians!

by Calvin Sun | Jan 11, 2023 | Blitzkrieg!!!, Introductions, Weekend Trips

Only 3 weeks home and we're going back to West Africa. I had announced this trip less than a month ago while in Dakar, expecting nobody to sign up. I'd only be in the Ivory Coast for a day, after all; who'd be crazy enough to join? Well, Gina “Million Dollar...

Besos From Bissau

by Calvin Sun | Dec 20, 2022 | December 2022: Senegal, The Gambia, & Guinea-Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

Bissau, the eponymous capital city of Guinea-Bissau. After a weeklong road trip across mid West Africa beginning in Dakar and as far north as the Mauritanian border at St. Louis, we rest our weary legs for 2 days here. From our lodgings at Casa Cacheu, we...

Crossing from The Gambia -> Senegal -> Guinea-Bissau

by Calvin Sun | Dec 19, 2022 | Blitzkrieg!!!, Border Crossing, December 2022: Senegal, The Gambia, & Guinea-Bissau, Getting that VISA, Guinea-Bissau, How Did You Do That?, Senegal, The Gambia, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

Starting from an hour's south of Banjul at a last minute villa I found on Booking.com in Old Yundum, we set out at 6:30am in the morning. Good timing because we started driving approximately 5 minutes right after the power went out in the house from what was...

There’s Many A Good Tune Played By An Old Banjul

by Calvin Sun | Dec 18, 2022 | December 2022: Senegal, The Gambia, & Guinea-Bissau, The Gambia

We take a break from the driving today; 3 days ago in St. Louis the group collectively had decided it would be better to break up the road trip south to Guinea-Bissau from Senegal and stay a night tonight in Banjul, the capital city of The...

Don’t Tell Me I “Kun’ta-Kinteh” Drive From Senegal to The Gambia!

by Calvin Sun | Dec 17, 2022 | Border Crossing, December 2022: Senegal, The Gambia, & Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, The Gambia, Uncategorized, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

This morning from Dakar we drive south. With no way to convince our driver Kemo to turn on the A/C and then finally getting his confirmation he did not get a car with A/C, we took a deep breath, reminded ourselves there are far worse fates in life,...

The Many Saints of St. Louis, Senegal

by Calvin Sun | Dec 15, 2022 | December 2022: Senegal, The Gambia, & Guinea-Bissau, Senegal

Not Saint Louis, Missouri -- we're now kicking it in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Saint-Louis island in Senegal, the former French capital city of both French West Africa and then French Mauritania in the early 20th century.After a brief and...

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