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

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...

Meet the Lappi Wedding Party!

by Calvin Sun | January 26, 2026 | Introductions | 0 Comments

Meet the Sundancers!

by Calvin Sun | January 2, 2026 | Introductions | 0 Comments

From a trip planned over a year ago after a bunch of friends joined me in Killington 2024, we are flying out to Park City, UT for our first time at the Sundance Film Festival for their final time in Park City, UT! Welcome back those returning with me for their...

Niger At Last: A Second Chance

by Calvin Sun | December 10, 2025 | Border Crossing, December 2025 Annex: Niger, Fail, Flying Fancy, Getting that VISA, How Did You Do That?, Layovers, Niger, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come | 1 Comment

11 months ago, I sat on the tarmac in Niger's International Airport at Niamey, watching my trip evaporate due to visa complications. The Niger Embassy in Washington D.C. had stopped issuing visas to Americans entirely. But I don't give up. In late...

Yemen Day 4: Mukalla Drive

by Calvin Sun | December 5, 2025 | December 2025: Yemen - Hadhramaut Valley, Serendipitous!, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, Yemen | 0 Comments

Al-Mukalla Pulling ourselves away from a desert mirage paradise at Haid Al-Jazil, we swapped our armed guard at another checkpoint during the 2 hour drive to Mukalla. You point that thing away from me! After a long wait at one of the...

Yemen Day 3: Where Reality Surpasses Dreams at Haid al-Jazil-lion Miles Away From Reality

by Calvin Sun | December 4, 2025 | December 2025: Yemen - Hadhramaut Valley, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come, Yemen | 0 Comments

Haid Al-Jazil As the afternoon began to wane, we continued onto our accommodation for the night at the Haid Al-Jazil Resort Hotel, named after what it overlooks and its location perching dramatically on a cliff overlooking the Wadi Do'an. You'll find remarkably...

Raising The Barbados

by Calvin Sun | Apr 11, 2019 | April 2019: Barbados, Barbados, Blitzkrieg!!!, How's the weather?, Walking Tours, Weekend Trips

Like many of my trips before, a day in Barbados wasn't really planned to happen. But things that happen are meant to happen right? I dare say this one was from the old habit of having 2 consecutive days off and wondering: Where's the next place I can go next?...

Heading To Barbados!

by Calvin Sun | Apr 10, 2019 | April 2019: Barbados, Barbados

Last minute trip to Barbados! Hi from Miami.

Cash Me In Kashmir Feeling Murree As Ever!

by Calvin Sun | Mar 18, 2019 | Flying Fancy, Kashmir, March 2019: North Pakistan, Pakistan, Serendipitous!, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

For our last day in Pakistan, we decided to head up into Kashmir for Imran's (our friend and guide who has been showing us around the past week in Pakistan) hometown and the resort village of Murree. Starting with a drive from the...

Putting The Kewl Back In The Khewra Salt Mines

by Calvin Sun | Mar 17, 2019 | March 2019: North Pakistan, Pakistan, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

With wedding festivities wrapped up and saying our goodbyes to Daniela, Emily, Jen, Eugene, and Amy last night, the 5 of us remaining headed on a 4 hour road trip this morning to the Khewra Salt Mines, the oldest and 2nd largest (after the one in Poland) in the...

Islamabad: A 5 Year Promise

by Calvin Sun | Mar 17, 2019 | Getting that VISA, How Did You Do That?, March 2019: North Pakistan, Pakistan, Serendipitous!, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

How I Got Here5 years ago I crashed a random wedding in Lahore where of all the “WTF small world moments” I’ve had in my life I would run into an acquaintance named Ali Raza, whom I had first met briefly when I spoke at CUNY Baruch only a year...

A Wedding In Islamabad – Day 3: The Walima

by Calvin Sun | Mar 16, 2019 | March 2019: North Pakistan, Pakistan, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

(continued) This will be the third international Muslim Desi wedding I’ve attended (the first was in Kashmir in 2011, the second in Lahore and Karachi in 2014), so I’m amused to consider myself an “expert” now. We finish with Day 3 of a desi wedding: The...

A Wedding In Islamabad – Day 2: The Baraat / The Shaadi

by Calvin Sun | Mar 15, 2019 | March 2019: North Pakistan, Pakistan, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

(continued) This will be the third international Muslim Desi wedding I've attended (the first was in Kashmir in 2011, the second in Lahore and Karachi in 2014), so I'm amused to consider myself an "expert" now. We continue with Day 2 of a desi wedding:...

Some Lahorious S-Wagah

by Calvin Sun | Mar 15, 2019 | Border Crossing, How Did You Do That?, March 2019: North Pakistan, Pakistan, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

Thanks to Ann Wen again for help with the blog title!A lot of this has been repeated the last time I was in Lahore, but the highlight that I came back for would be the Wagah Border between India and Pakistan. LahoreAfter the Mehndi/Rasm-e-Heena ended...

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