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...

Er Mah “TimGad”! Deserted Roman Ruins All To Myself!

by Calvin Sun | Jan 6, 2020 | Algeria, January 2020: The Saharan Odyssey, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

Our original plan was to head to the Roman ruins of Djemila today, but we would be informed last night that the military had recently closed it off for unknown reasons. Never deterred, however, we instead upgraded last minute to something even bigger and...

“Algiers” To That!

by Calvin Sun | Jan 5, 2020 | Algeria, January 2020: The Saharan Odyssey, Walking Tours

Onwards to another monsoon! After being approved for a last minute Algerian visa only yesterday, I spent the last 24 hours scrambling for flights out of NYC. Thanks to Evan Danek's advice, I quickly cashed in 47,500 British Airways Avios miles (that were going...

The Algerian Visa Requirements for USA Passports

by Calvin Sun | Jan 2, 2020 | Algeria, Getting that VISA

It took about 3 weeks, but I finally was able to get my hands on the rare and coveted Algerian tourist visa in NYC ... 24 hours before my literal departure to Algeria! You'll need the following to prep: 2 copies of a filled out but unsigned visa application...

Happy 10 Years (Officially): A Decade In Review

by Calvin Sun | Dec 31, 2019 | Post-travel Reflections

The Monsoon Diaries is my love letter to life.When it began as a simple travel blog for a particular trip to Southeast Asia & India the summer I was to begin medical school — much like the premise of “The Motorcycle Diaries” — and during the monsoon season...

You’re Going To Miss … Egypt

by Calvin Sun | Dec 10, 2019 | Egypt, You're Going to Miss It...

Keeping up with tradition I wrote the following in a stream of consciousness Jack Kerouac style -- so please forgive run-ons and typos. Press play and read the post with the music . . . "Let's never come here again because it...

They Put A Monsooner On The Moon — The White Desert Of Egypt

by Calvin Sun | Dec 7, 2019 | Autumn 2019: Egypt Redux - 10 Years Later, Camping, Crisis, Doctor in the House, Egypt, Epiphanies on the Road, Fail, How Did You Do That?, How's the weather?, Serendipitous!, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

Once in a while, I'm blessed to write up and release a blogpost that will stand the test of time in my memories. This is one of those posts. The irony of today rests in the fact that after a decade visiting 180 countries and...

All Roads Lead To Alexandria

by Calvin Sun | Dec 4, 2019 | Autumn 2019: Egypt Redux - 10 Years Later, Crisis, Egypt, Fail, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken

Going to miss Luxor's West Bank vibes. After an eventful 2 days here, we made a mad dash for the Luxor Train Station across the river. Getting there 45 minutes early, I took this time to give everyone a memento silver bracelet of...

Luxor-y Travel

by Calvin Sun | Dec 3, 2019 | Autumn 2019: Egypt Redux - 10 Years Later, Egypt, Mo' Money Mo' Problems, What Dreams May Come

After the first rounds of goodbye to Likhith and Karthik last night, I noticed that Mihaela is already crying realizing that the trip is halfway over: Wrapping up 2 days in Aswan, we planned to set out this morning on a 7:30am train to Luxor,...

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