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...

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...

12 Strong: Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan

by Calvin Sun | Jun 27, 2019 | Afghanistan, How Did You Do That?, How's the weather?, June 2019: Afghanistan, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Summer 2019: Unknown UAE, Afghanistan, Rwanda, & Uganda, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

Our itinerary for this trip needs a little bit of background context.On January 2018, the Taliban attacked the The Inter-continental Hotel in Kabul and killed at least 42 people. Among the dead included 5 pilots and 4 crew members of Kam Air, which was soon...

Afghanistan Beyond Kabul: The Panjshir Valley

by Calvin Sun | Jun 26, 2019 | Afghanistan, June 2019: Afghanistan, Summer 2019: Unknown UAE, Afghanistan, Rwanda, & Uganda, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

After 2 days in Kabul (which for security purposes I'll post about after our last day there), we set out for Panjshir Valley, which has been regarded by locals as the most beautiful place in Afghanistan by locals. We drove by numerous small...

So I’m In Kabul, Afghanistan Right Now… (Updated July 1, 2019)

by Calvin Sun | Jun 25, 2019 | Afghanistan, Epiphanies on the Road, How's the weather?, June 2019: Afghanistan, Mo' Money Mo' Problems, Post-travel Reflections, Summer 2019: Unknown UAE, Afghanistan, Rwanda, & Uganda, Travel Warnings, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come, What to Pack

(Given the ever-changing security situation here, this post will be updated as circumstances develop so check back often) Travel WarningsA helpful warning as I set off for Kabul today:Do not travel to Afghanistan due to crime, terrorism, civil...

The UAE/Oman Road Trip: Khasab, Musandam Oman

by Calvin Sun | Jun 23, 2019 | Getting that VISA, How Did You Do That?, June 2019: Unknown UAE, Khasab, Oman, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Summer 2019: Unknown UAE, Afghanistan, Rwanda, & Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, Weekend Trips, What Dreams May Come

After 3 days road trippin' around the UAE and visiting all 7 Emirates and Omani/Emirati counter-enclaves, it's finally to the literal end of the road to Khasab: the main city in an exclave called Musandam Oman and can be considered Oman's "Alaska". It's also...

The UAE/Oman Road Trip – “Conclaves”: Fujairah, Madha, & Nahwa

by Calvin Sun | Jun 22, 2019 | Border Crossing, Fujairah, June 2019: Unknown UAE, Oman, Summer 2019: Unknown UAE, Afghanistan, Rwanda, & Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Unrecognized Territories, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

UAEAfter visiting Abu Dhabi and the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman-UAQ-RAK pentafecta of emirates yesterday (which epic-ness will be hard to beat), we woke up early and enjoyed breakfast at the hotel-with-hostel vibes at our lodgings in Rove City Centre . ....

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