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...

Svalbard Day 4: Northern Pack Ice

by Calvin Sun | Jun 23, 2022 | June 2022: Svalbard, Norway, Svalbard, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

Today was a day of entirely sailing, where we headed into the unreal views of endless pack ice to the northwest of Svalbard. So I set up my office for the day: We watched endless beauty at 80º Latitude. A day totally...

Svalbard Day 3: The Northwest; Virgohamna, Smeerenburg & Ytre Norskoya

by Calvin Sun | Jun 22, 2022 | June 2022: Svalbard, Norway, Svalbard, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

After breakfast on the ship for our third day we approached Virgohamna. Our group would luck out this morning in getting randomly selected first for kayaking, taking advantage of the low wind speed and calm waters here. So at 9am we...

Svalbard Day 2: Tinayrebreen & Lilliehöökbreen

by Calvin Sun | Jun 21, 2022 | June 2022: Svalbard, Norway, Svalbard, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

After breakfast and another safety briefing on the ship, we fitted ourselves with our musk boots for the week before one more separate orientation for kayakers. They love their orientations on this trip. After lunch we continued our course...

Svalbard Day 1: A Long Few Years to Longyearbyen

by Calvin Sun | Jun 20, 2022 | June 2022: Svalbard, Norway, Svalbard, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

It took 3 years for us to get here, and it's finally time to explore Longyearbyen. FYI, if you missed it from yesterday's post when we first arrived, they DO stamp out your passport when arriving from Norway to Svalbard, even if Svalbard is considered a...

The Svalbardian Triangle: Pyramiden

by Calvin Sun | Jun 19, 2022 | Fail, Flying Fancy, Getting that VISA, How Did You Do That?, How's the weather?, June 2022: Svalbard, Lessons Learned, Norway, Svalbard, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

Postponed 3 times over 3 years, we're finally making this voyage happen. It may not be starting off pretty once we arrived, but what matters is that we're here. Using miles for my first voyage on SAS Airlines, I spent only $70 to snag a Business...

You’re Going to Miss … Wales

by Calvin Sun | Jun 6, 2022 | May 2022: Wales, Wales, You're Going to Miss It...

PRESS play and read the post with the music . . . You’re going to miss signing up what feels like way more than an entire year in advance for a trip already postponed 3 times over 3 years. But perhaps it’s the freedom of the open road...

Meet The Polar Bears!

by Calvin Sun | Jun 6, 2022 | Introductions

Just like we had committed to Wales last week, a trip postponed over 3 times the past 3 years due to the pandemic must eventually follow through in the world of monsooning. And so we finally will with our voyage to the north on Svalbard, with 17 monsooners -- 15...

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch … to Manchester

by Calvin Sun | Jun 2, 2022 | Crisis, Fail, May 2022: Wales, Serendipitous!, Wales

Waking up in Caernarforn, we spent the morning exploring the castle grounds where the investiture of the Prince of Wales took place in 1911 and again in 1969 for Prince Charles. After an hour here we then drove out for a detour to *inhale*...

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