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...

A Wedding In Islamabad – Day 1: The Mehndi / The Rasm-e-Heena

by Calvin Sun | Mar 13, 2019 | March 2019: North Pakistan, Pakistan, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

View this post on Instagram Ali weds kulsoom !! #shootbywajahat #mahasphotography @mahawajahatkhan #weddingphotography @brideofthedayy @xproductionsmedia #signature #shoot #bridalshower #femalephotographer #pakistanifashion...

Flying The Qatar Airways QSuite Business Class (777-300ER From Dallas To Doha)

by Calvin Sun | Mar 11, 2019 | Flying Fancy, How Did You Do That?, Layovers, Qatar

So nice it deserves its own post. The OccasionAfter the past weekend speaking at MAASU 2019 Spring Conference in Boulder, Colorado, and hot on the heels of an upcoming destination wedding in Islamabad 5 years in the making (and one I wouldn't miss for...

Meet The Wedding Party!

by Calvin Sun | Feb 20, 2019 | Introductions

5 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 prior.Flabbergasted, we then...

We Czeched All The Boxes But Left Hungary For More

by Calvin Sun | Jan 23, 2019 | Hungary, January 2019: Prague + Budapest

Special thanks to my newly christened co-guide Ann for inspiring not only this trip, but also this blogpost title!After 50 hours in Prague, 11 out of 16 of us continued onwards for a day in Budapest. Seeing that this would be my third time in Budapest...

Czechmates For Life: Prague

by Calvin Sun | Jan 20, 2019 | Crisis, Czech Republic, Fit for Foodies, How Did You Do That?, January 2019: Prague + Budapest, Layovers, Lessons Learned, Mo' Money Mo' Problems, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, The Nightlife, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, Weekend Trips, What Dreams May Come

The last time I was in Prague 19 years ago, I was 11 years old. And I haven't been back since. So does it count if I really don't remember anything but this photo? NO IT DOESN'T. Last month, when 7-time monsooner (Luxembourg,...

Suva Up!

by Calvin Sun | Jan 15, 2019 | Fiji, Fit for Foodies, The Nightlife, Walking Tours, Winter 2018: The Edge Of The World / Least Visited Countries

All good things must come to an end in Tuvalu! After breakfast we walked across the street 2 minutes over to the airport to check into our 12:20 flight back to Fiji, but this time to the capital city – Suva. No computers here, but rather tickets are...

Funafuti-‘imes In Tuvalu

by Calvin Sun | Jan 13, 2019 | The Nightlife, Tuvalu, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, Winter 2018: The Edge Of The World / Least Visited Countries

Today we go off the map once again! We woke up nice and early this morning in Nadi, Fiji at 4:45am. From there we would make our 07:30am 30-minute flight from Nadi to Suva. There the plan would be to disembark, check-in, stamp out of Fiji, and...

Nadi A Bad Time To Try Real Fiji Water

by Calvin Sun | Jan 11, 2019 | Fiji, Walking Tours, Winter 2018: The Edge Of The World / Least Visited Countries

After delivering our postcards via the world's only underwater post office in Vanuatu, we then headed to the airport for the our 2-hour 4:00pm flight to Nadi on Fiji's main island of Viti Levu. There we said our thanks and goodbyes to our guide and now...

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