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...

Gotta Get Away Before I “Croix” Myself To Sleep

by Calvin Sun | May 1, 2021 | Border Crossing, Fit for Foodies, May 2021: US Virgin Islands, United States, US Virgin Islands, Weekend Trips

During the heydey of the pandemic, I was nominated to be one of the 100,000 Healthcare Workers to receive a pair of of roundtrip flight certificates offered by JetBlue. I almost forgot about the expiration dates, if it weren't for a reminder in the middle of a...

Love In The Time Of Corona/COVID-19: One Year Later

by Calvin Sun | Mar 8, 2021 | Introspection, Post-travel Reflections

Exactly 1 year ago today - March 8, 2020, 7am at a Brooklyn emergency room - my first COVID-19 patient walked through the door. Since then: one tragic year of countless patients treated, counseled, lost, and grieved, with even more lives upended and altered forever....

Love In The Time Of Corona/COVID-19: A COVID Holiday Season

by Calvin Sun | Jan 1, 2021 | Introspection, New York, You're Going to Miss It...

Thanksgiving 6 days ago on my birthday, I was having dinner with a few friends who simply wanted to catch up before a possible 2nd NYC lockdown; none of them knowing that it was my birthday at the time. I was okay with that; I guess as you get older — especially...

Love In The Time of Corona/COVID-19: The Privilege of Rage.

by Calvin Sun | Dec 28, 2020 | Introspection

There’s only so many ways I can write this.8 months ago when my late grandfather felt a fever come on, he asked me whether to visit an ER that I knew was already overwhelmed and running out of beds. I told him to wait instead so I could first send him a pulse...

Love In The Time Of Corona/COVID-19: I Am Not Throwin’ Away My Shot

by Calvin Sun | Dec 16, 2020 | Doctor in the House, Introspection

Immunized. Protected. Vaccinated. And I had no idea I would get the COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer) until 3 minutes before it happened. We shall travel again. There is hope. And in the few hours since my shot I just shared mochi donuts with my staff, swabbed 40+ people for...

Love In The Time Of Corona/COVID-19: The Second Wave

by Calvin Sun | Dec 7, 2020 | Doctor in the House, Introspection

I told you there always will be a next wave. It was only a matter of time — Here in NYC we’re now better at screening and treating for COVID-19, but crisis fatigue means far fewer people care. More non-COVID emergencies are mixing in with the COVID crowd so patient...

Return To Travel Project Phase 2: Five Days of Freediving Mag Bay by Puerto San Carlos

by Calvin Sun | Nov 8, 2020 | Mexico, November 2020: Baja California Sur

Unforgettable photos like these above were taken by my travel buddy on the trip Pier Nirandara. On the shores of Magdalena Bay in the Pacific Ocean -- far from the reaches of COVID-19 -- there lies an isolated and remote fishing village called Puerto San...

Return To Travel Project Phase 2 (COVID-19): First Flight To Baja California Sur

by Calvin Sun | Nov 1, 2020 | Mexico, November 2020: Baja California Sur

TLDR; Weigh the opportunity cost of travel (as a frontline healthcare worker I may burn out/can't take care of anyone safely if I don't recharge appropriately...and I have taken practice steps with small domestic trips before leaping on a trip abroad) Leave from a low...

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