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...

The Tanzanian Safar(i) So Good Epic: The Ngorongoro Crater

by Calvin Sun | Aug 22, 2019 | Summer 2019: Off The Eastern Coast Of Africa, Tanzania, What Dreams May Come

Live fast, die young Bad girls do it well Live fast, die young Bad girls do it well My chain hits my chest When I'm bangin' on the dashboard My chain hits my chest When I'm bangin' on the radio Get back, get down Pull me closer if you think you can hang Hands up,...

The Tanzanian “Safar(i) So Good” Epic: The Serengeti Serenade

by Calvin Sun | Aug 21, 2019 | Summer 2019: Off The Eastern Coast Of Africa, Tanzania, What Dreams May Come

After an 8am breakfast this morning, we headed out at 9am for the famed Serengeti National Park for another game drive. While waiting for our papers to clear at the entrance to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area entrance, a weird human attacked...

The Tanzanian Safari Epic: Lake Manyara National Park

by Calvin Sun | Aug 20, 2019 | Flying Fancy, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Summer 2019: Off The Eastern Coast Of Africa, Tanzania

For our 3rd day in Zanzibar, we took it easy and spent it on massages, lounging at the Park Hyatt, shopping, and essentially making the long wait before heading over for our 8:40pm Air Tanzania flight to Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO). There we...

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...

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