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

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 | 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, 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,...

When You’ve Never Been to Berlin

by Calvin Sun | August 4, 2025 | Let me tell you a Story..., Serendipitous!, Summer 2025: The Long Road to Berlin, The Nightlife, Walking Tours | 0 Comments

If it's not already playing, press play. And then start reading. After 3 days in Amsterdam, Nisha, Sujay, Priscilla, Kenny, and myself boarded a 2pm direct train bound for Berlin. It was a 7.5-hour journey that gave us just enough time to reflect...

I Amsterdand We’re Back in Amsterdam!

by Calvin Sun | July 31, 2025 | How Did You Do That?, Let me tell you a Story..., Summer 2025: The Long Road to Berlin, The Netherlands | 0 Comments

From Tomorrowland, because apparently we still weren’t done, 7 of us rerouted north for one last hurrah in Amsterdam, linking up with Anthony Lui and his Dutch crew. While most of the group boarded planes home to brave the dreaded post-festival blues, we...

Love In the Time of Corona/COVID-19 — Going On Offense & Silent Hypoxia

by Calvin Sun | May 14, 2020 | Crisis, Doctor in the House, New York

PSA: It's time to play offense on COVID-19 About 9 weeks ago I had written how in the middle of the tsunami of the first wave, the safest assumption (with the relative little information we had) at the time was that one should come to the ER only if they had a life...

Love In The Time Of Corona/COVID-19 — The End Of The First Wave

by Calvin Sun | May 7, 2020 | Crisis, Epiphanies on the Road, Introspection, New York, Post-travel Reflections

Stepped outside in the middle of my ER shift on Monday, April 13th to take a moment to myself when a passerby with a camera happened to be at the right place at the right time:I needed to breathe. I needed to know if I was still alive.A few weeks later and...

Love In The Time Of Corona/COVID-19 – The Plateau

by Calvin Sun | Apr 9, 2020 | Crisis, Doctor in the House

A PSA on what "Plateau'ing" really means for us. (TLDR: things seem to be calmer this week in the ER, but #dontfuckitup and #keepstayingthefuckhome) That things are getting "better" is a relative statement: You put sugar on poop, it's still poop...

Love In The Time Of Corona/COVID-19: Testing

by Calvin Sun | Mar 18, 2020 | Crisis, Doctor in the House

My PSA on COVID-19 testing: UNLESS it’s a life or limb threatening emergency (eg you need oxygen or ventilatory support), DO NOT GO TO, OR GET ROUTINE COVID-19 TESTING IN AN ER!!! What a week it’s been — I’ve worked the past 10 days in 7 different ERs in NYC....

The “Cabin-da” Woods: “We Are Not Ready For Tourism” | Everything You Need To Know About Visiting Cabinda!

by Calvin Sun | Mar 6, 2020 | Angola, Border Crossing, Cabinda, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Doctor in the House, February 2020: Angola & Cabinda, How Did You Do That?, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Unrecognized Territories, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

Primer on CabindaFormerly known as "Portuguese Congo" and no larger than the state of Delaware, Cabinda is a curious little region sandwiched between the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Having endured a 30 year long struggle...

“Namibe”-tter Duo, I’ll Wait. Otherwise You Gotta “Lubango!”

by Calvin Sun | Mar 3, 2020 | Angola, Crisis, Epiphanies on the Road, Fail, February 2020: Angola & Cabinda, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

After some uneven back-and-forth kind of travel in the outskirts of Luanda yesterday, we "slept in" this morning until 8am before starting out day with a drive to Cacuaco for a stroll around a local fishing village. My gut feeling here was that since...

We Wanted To Go On A Safari, But Then They Told Us To “Kiss-ama” Ass!

by Calvin Sun | Feb 29, 2020 | Angola, Fail, February 2020: Angola & Cabinda, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

Not all travel days are going to be as perfect. After returning last night to Luanda, this morning we woke up bright and early at 6:30am for a drive to Kissama National Park, arriving there at 9am. Here in the park you supposedly can go on a...

“Andongo” Breakin’ My Heart In Pungo Andongo

by Calvin Sun | Feb 28, 2020 | Angola, February 2020: Angola & Cabinda, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

After an overnight stay by Calandula Falls and before beginning our return to the capital, we quickly took a morning dip at the local natural springs by the falls. After our dip, we then began our return drive back to the capital of...

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