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...

Greenland Day 4: Sydkap & Hall Bredning

by Calvin Sun | Sep 21, 2019 | Greenland, September 2019: Greenland, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

This morning we woke up to another gorgeous cloudless sunrise, this time in Jyttehavn: Every passing moment here illuminated another shade of brilliance. Somehow here the sun-kissed peaks of Jyttehavn recalled for me the Mac OS X...

Greenland Day 3: We “Røde Fjord” Through Greenland!

by Calvin Sun | Sep 20, 2019 | Greenland, September 2019: Greenland

A video recap of today: This morning we finally woke up to a clear, nearly cloudless sunrise at 7am. It was worth staying out in the cold for: After breakfast, all of us took a zodiac cruise in the inner Scoresby Sound to Røde...

Greenland Day 2: Vikingebugt & Danmark Island

by Calvin Sun | Sep 19, 2019 | Greenland, September 2019: Greenland, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

Greenland just got served. A video recap of today: This morning we sailed into the fjords of East Greenland where some of us woke up at sunrise to see if we could catch the golden hour and morning light, but were met instead with the...

Greenland Day 1: The East Greenland Sea

by Calvin Sun | Sep 18, 2019 | Greenland, September 2019: Greenland, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

After one night of sailing from Akureyri north for Greenland, by morning we crossed the Arctic Circle and spotted blue and fin whales swimming alongside us. Otherwise it was mostly a sea day where we stared endlessly into infinite waters. I handily...

I Have “Akureyri” For You: How Much Longer Until Greenland?!

by Calvin Sun | Sep 17, 2019 | Iceland, September 2019: Greenland, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

What a beautiful lazy morning in Reykjavik: Today at 9am we departed via chartered bus from the city hall of Reykjavik on a 6 hour trip to Akureyri, in the north of the country. The views outside while driving up western Iceland: ...

Prelude To Greenland: The Return To Reykjavik

by Calvin Sun | Sep 16, 2019 | Iceland, September 2019: Greenland

Nearly 6 years ago I made an impromptu decision to take 20 people to Antarctica with the help of Young Pioneer Tours and Oceanwide Expeditions. The result was legendary. Today I'm prepping for a return voyage with the very same companies for their northern...

The Longest Domestic Flight In The World, Biz Class // … & Forcing An Emergency Landing: Réunion -> Paris -> Nice -> Zurich -> Halifax -> NYC

by Calvin Sun | Sep 4, 2019 | Crisis, Doctor in the House, Flying Fancy, France, Réunion, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

Dearest readers, I'll begin by documenting the longest domestic flight in the world on business class from Réunion to Paris. And then I'll end with how I forced an emergency landing in Halifax, Nova Scotia for an in-flight medical emergency. Yeah, it...

In The End…We Gather Together For A Réunion Island

by Calvin Sun | Sep 3, 2019 | Réunion, Summer 2019: Off The Eastern Coast Of Africa, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

More paradise awaits us in the final stop of our trip. After 3 days in Mauritius, the 4 of us leftover boarded Air Mauritius flight MK 238 at 3:30pm, landing 45 minutes later at 4:15pm in Réunion Airport. I've been hitting it...

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