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

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 | 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...

Nungwi Go To The Beach!

by Calvin Sun | Aug 18, 2019 | Summer 2019: Off The Eastern Coast Of Africa, Tanzania, Zanzibar

After pushing ourselves to stay awake until 10pm last night in one of the best starts to a monsoon, we all got in a good 8 hours in of sleep and all woke up at around 6:30am. Since most breakfast spots in Stone Town opened at 8am, we got hungry and had no...

“I’m Not Gonna Cook It, But I’ll Order It From ZANZIBAR!”

by Calvin Sun | Aug 17, 2019 | Summer 2019: Off The Eastern Coast Of Africa, Tanzania, Walking Tours, What Dreams May Come, Zanzibar

What's your favorite posishThat's cool with me it's not my favorite but I'll do it for youWhat's your favorite dishI'm not gonna cook it, but I'll order it from ZANZIBAR! - Tenacious D We just arrived in Zanzibar! Cathy, Bryan and I had a 9...

Meet The Monsooners Off The Eastern Coast Of Africa!

by Calvin Sun | Jul 10, 2019 | Introductions

This August, we are STACKED: Sarah Parise, 3 time monsooner to Southern Africa, Bulgaria, and Australia Ann Wen, 8 time monsooner to Prague/Budapest, Luxembourg, Australia, New Zealand, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait, Evan Danek, 8 time monsooner to North Pakistan,...

U-“Gone”-Da in 60 Seconds! A Day Trip from Rwanda to Lake Bunyonyi, Uganda

by Calvin Sun | Jul 3, 2019 | Blitzkrieg!!!, Border Crossing, How Did You Do That?, July 2019: Rwanda & Uganda, Rwanda, Summer 2019: Unknown UAE, Afghanistan, Rwanda, & Uganda, Uganda, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

Yesterday morning after arriving into Rwanda, Evan and I debated back and forth whether to rent a car for Rwanda. The signs were also pointing to no: the cheaper agency (Eagle) didn't have one while the other (Europcar) was too expensive despite trying to haggle...

Rwanada Forever!

by Calvin Sun | Jul 2, 2019 | Fit for Foodies, Flying Fancy, July 2019: Rwanda & Uganda, Layovers, Rwanda, Serendipitous!, Summer 2019: Unknown UAE, Afghanistan, Rwanda, & Uganda

After a week in Afghanistan and a sobering day in Kabul, it's definitely time to get out of harm's way and return home. There's no need to exacerbate the situation by lingering during what will be another tense period in Kabul. On our way back, Evan and I...

During The Terrorist Attack in Pul-e Mahmood Khan, Kabul, Afghanistan….

by Calvin Sun | Jul 1, 2019 | Afghanistan, Crisis, Epiphanies on the Road, June 2019: Afghanistan, Post-travel Reflections, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Summer 2019: Unknown UAE, Afghanistan, Rwanda, & Uganda, Travel Warnings, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

09:30AMAs I’m writing this a few explosions just occurred within our vicinity a few km away (it’s already on the news). Still hearing some gunfire in the distance where the plumes of smoke are. We just went up to the rooftop to take a look: What...

Class is in Session at the Afghan/Uzbek Border!

by Calvin Sun | Jun 29, 2019 | Afghanistan, Border Crossing, June 2019: Afghanistan, Summer 2019: Unknown UAE, Afghanistan, Rwanda, & Uganda, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

Given the Taliban bombing of the mosque at where we were supposed to have lunch at yesterday, we decided to not go to Balkh and instead visit the Uzbek/Afghan border at Hairatan for our last day in the region. We stopped at an intersection to say hi to a local...

Dodging The Taliban in Samangan

by Calvin Sun | Jun 28, 2019 | Afghanistan, Crisis, June 2019: Afghanistan, Summer 2019: Unknown UAE, Afghanistan, Rwanda, & Uganda, Travel Warnings, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

Well this just happened; and the Taliban just missed us only by 30 minutes: Bomb blast in Afghan mosque wounds 11 worshippers. AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): A bomb blast inside a mosque wounded at least 11 people Friday in northern Samangan...

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