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,...

The New Turkish Airlines Business Class Lounge at New Istanbul Airport

by Calvin Sun | Feb 7, 2022 | Belgium, Flying Fancy, Layovers, Serendipitous!, Türkiye (Turkey)

I like full circles. So 10 and a half years ago I took this photo: This week I'm back: And unlike 28 hours in its airport, I decided to spend 28 hours outside of it to see how my feelings of Istanbul may have changed. Nothing to...

Refa-Mali-arizing Ourselves with Bamako

by Calvin Sun | Feb 2, 2022 | Camping, Fail, February 2022: Mali, Mali, Serendipitous!, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

After breakfast in Segou, we made an early start back to the capital of Bamako. Mali is one of the few places I know of that requires a negative PCR test for COVID-19 to leave the country (within 72 hours of departure). So in preparation for our...

I Dream Of Djénné

by Calvin Sun | Jan 31, 2022 | February 2022: Mali, Mali, What Dreams May Come

You need to wake up at 6am for a day like this. After an early breakfast in San this morning, we began a long 3 hour drive to Djenne – known as the ‘capital of mud’. After crossing a few military checkpoints getting into Djenne,...

“San”-yonara Segou!

by Calvin Sun | Jan 30, 2022 | February 2022: Mali, Mali

After a late 10am breakfast at our hotel in Segou, we further explored a Somono neighbourhood – a place filled with adobe mud brick buildings, a traditional architectural style house found mostly in Segou that help keep the family inside cool during intense...

Gone in 60 “Segou”-nds

by Calvin Sun | Jan 29, 2022 | February 2022: Mali, Mali

After minimal sleep getting in last night, we tried to enjoy an 8am breakfast at our hotel in Bamako where everyone finally got to meet for the first time. By 8:30 am we began our 4 hour drive to Segou, a town built on the banks of the Niger...

28 Hours in IST Airport for Bamako, Mali

by Calvin Sun | Jan 28, 2022 | February 2022: Mali, Mali

It was a surprisingly easy visa acquisition last week at the local consulate to Mali in the Upper East Side of NYC. They didn’t even ask for my flight itinerary or a copy of yellow fever vaccine as suggested on their website. All I had needed to drop off...

You’re Going to Miss … Martinique, Saint Lucia & Guadeloupe

by Calvin Sun | Jan 20, 2022 | Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Lucia, You're Going to Miss It...

If the photo is really really professional looking, then the photography credit goes to Paul Woo.PRESS play and read the post with the music . . . “A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” – John A....

The Pointe-Á-Pitre is to Guade”loupe” You In

by Calvin Sun | Jan 10, 2022 | Guadeloupe, January 2022: Martinique, St. Lucia, & Guadeloupe, Serendipitous!, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

If I’m in the photo or the photo is really really professional, then the photography credit goes to Paul Woo. After 7 days on the water, we settled back in readjusting our sea legs onto our first bed on land. After checking out and saying our goodbyes to...

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