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

Dominica-n’t Miss This

by Calvin Sun | November 1, 2025 | Dominica, October 2025: Pirates of the Caribbean's At World's End, Way Way Off the Beaten Path | 0 Comments

From St. Vincent, we boarded InterCaribbean Airways JY 717 at 12:20pm. Their new airport, however, was built just 8 years ago and still has some operational quirks. The staff double-printed my first leg itinerary from St. Vincent to Barbados without including...

Dead Men Tell No Layovers: St. Vincent & The Grenadines in 12 Hours

by Calvin Sun | October 29, 2025 | Layovers, October 2025: Pirates of the Caribbean's At World's End, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 0 Comments

Fresh off a quick overnight in Grenada (courtesy of a free JetBlue voucher from last October's Welcome to Chinatown gala), we touched down at Maurice Bishop International Airport at 1:53pm. This marked the beginning of a 3-country Caribbean...

Getting Away With Robbinsville: The Akshardham Redemption

by Calvin Sun | October 6, 2025 | Camping, Layovers, New Jersey | 0 Comments

One of my more unique camping trips to have monsooned; this is what happens when you plan a camping trip months in advance just to visit a temple arguably worth seeing as a world-class destination. I was stuck at work all day Friday as Eddie took the initiative...

A Quick Halifax Check

by Calvin Sun | September 12, 2025 | Layovers, Lessons Learned, September 2025: Newfoundland to Saint Pierre & Miquelon, Walking Tours | 0 Comments

After two days in Saint-Pierre (and a turbulent ferry ride to Miquelon and back), we boarded an hour-and-a-half direct Air Saint-Pierre 9am flight to Halifax, landing around 9:30am local time (Halifax runs an hour behind Saint-Pierre), Our onward...

Miquelon Impossible

by Calvin Sun | September 11, 2025 | Doctor in the House, September 2025: Newfoundland to Saint Pierre & Miquelon, Way Way Off the Beaten Path | 0 Comments

Sometimes the most spontaneous detours leave the strongest impressions. That morning in Saint Pierre, we hadn't planned on leaving the island. But after completing two walking tours around St. Pierre and checking the ferry schedule, we realized we could still...

48 Hours in a Little Saint-Pierre-ce of France

by Calvin Sun | September 11, 2025 | Saint Pierre and Miquelon, September 2025: Newfoundland to Saint Pierre & Miquelon, Way Way Off the Beaten Path | 0 Comments

After three days soaking in St. John's charm, we dropped off our rental car at YYT Saint John's airport to catch the rare 5pm direct flight (PH1127) via Air Saint-Pierre to Saint-Pierre & Miquelon: one of the few weekly connections between Newfoundland and...

Don’t Be Dildo-Dallying

by Calvin Sun | September 9, 2025 | Canada, September 2025: Newfoundland to Saint Pierre & Miquelon, Way Way Off the Beaten Path | 0 Comments

While based in St. John's, we took a spontaneous day trip by rental car to the now-famous town of Dildo. You'll know when you arrive; they're incredibly proud of their distinctive name. Though a vocal minority has repeatedly raised referendums to...

St. John’s: The Eastern Edge of Everything Everywhere All At Once

by Calvin Sun | September 9, 2025 | Canada, September 2025: Newfoundland to Saint Pierre & Miquelon, Serendipitous!, Way Way Off the Beaten Path | 0 Comments

Months ago I decided to gift myself a week off after Labor Day...simply because I could. After a year as wild as this past one, I craved actual and intentional self-prioritization to restore some balance. Finding fares under $200, I booked a morning departure:...

Singapore Airlines Business Class FRA-JFK

by Calvin Sun | August 5, 2025 | Flying Fancy, Germany, Summer 2025: The Long Road to Berlin | 0 Comments

After a slow morning walk and talking about our villain (antihero?) origin stories in Berlin, I hugged Daniela and Gabe goodbye, hopped on the tram for a few stops, went underground for the metro, and made it back to the hostel in time for a 1:30pm check out. Nisha,...

When You’ve Never Been to Berlin

by Calvin Sun | August 4, 2025 | Let me tell you a Story..., Serendipitous!, Summer 2025: The Long Road to Berlin, The Nightlife, Walking Tours | 0 Comments

If it's not already playing, press play. And then start reading. After 3 days in Amsterdam, Nisha, Sujay, Priscilla, Kenny, and myself boarded a 2pm direct train bound for Berlin. It was a 7.5-hour journey that gave us just enough time to reflect...

Osaka-n You See?

by Calvin Sun | Sep 9, 2018 | Japan, Public Transportation, September 2018: Japan, Walking Tours

After our insanely good Kobe beef dinner at Tor Road Steak Aoyama and having headed onwards from Kobe, we arrived into Osaka at around 10pm and checked into our accommodations at hostel PICNIC.After taking an hour to freshen up, Donna, Shayra, myself,...

Ko-Bae Beef

by Calvin Sun | Sep 8, 2018 | Fit for Foodies, Japan, Public Transportation, September 2018: Japan, Walking Tours

From last night: Hiroshima can now claim one of the weirdest, most discombobulated nights out I've had in a while. We started with a quick bite at a random Mexican/Japanese fusion spot that we had all to ourselves, got turned away from an...

The Last Action Hiroshima

by Calvin Sun | Sep 7, 2018 | Crisis, Fail, Fit for Foodies, How's the weather?, Japan, Lessons Learned, Public Transportation, September 2018: Japan, The Nightlife, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

After 2 days in Nagasaki, we headed northeast for Hiroshima, first boarding the 3:20pm Kamome 26 Train (which leaves hourly on the :20) from Nagasaki Station to Hakata. We arrived on time into Hakata at 5:13pm,...

No Typhoon Can Stop The Monsoon: Nagasaki

by Calvin Sun | Sep 6, 2018 | Crisis, Fit for Foodies, How Did You Do That?, How's the weather?, Japan, Public Transportation, September 2018: Japan, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

Apparently I haven't learned the last time we, the monsoon, flew in the middle of a typhoon. A travel miracle had saved us then, and another miracle has saved us today. A few hours ago I woke up to an email from All Nippon Airways (ANA) informing that...

Okinawa-i’i!

by Calvin Sun | Sep 3, 2018 | Fit for Foodies, Japan, September 2018: Japan, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

After watching the late Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown special on Okinawa 3 years ago while kicking it at a downtown Russian Sauna back home in NYC, I knew I had to add it on any itinerary I would design for an eventual Japan trip. Anthony Bourdain's...

Knock-Knock-Nakh-chivan On Heaven’s Door: 2 Days In Nakhchivan

by Calvin Sun | Aug 29, 2018 | August 2018: Azerbaijan & Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, How Did You Do That?, Lessons Learned, Nakhchivan, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Travel Warnings, Uncategorized Stories, Unrecognized Territories, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

It’s time to shift monsooning back into higher gears — today we’re visiting Nakhchivan! A landlocked exclave separated from Azerbaijan by Armenia (or as some say, physically located within Armenia), but an otherwise autonomous region under the control of the...

The Land Of Fire: Atesgah Fire Temple & Yanar Dag

by Calvin Sun | Aug 27, 2018 | August 2018: Azerbaijan & Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

After a late morning checking out Gobustan National Park, its petroglyphs and mud volcanoes south of Baku, we drove up north of Baku to explore more of the land of fire.The Ateşgah Fire Temple was our first stop. Built in the 18th century by numerous Indian...

Gobs And Gobs Of Mud Volcanoes In Gobustan