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...

Doha: Teardrops On My “Qatar”

by Calvin Sun | Jun 4, 2018 | June 2018: The Persian Gulf, Layovers, Qatar, Walking Tours

First and foremost, props to Ann "Narcoleptik!" Wen on this trip for the blogpost's witty pun of a title -- It's going to be sad to leave such an unexpectedly pretty city that it's the reason for the teardrops on our "Qatar" (hey hey hey!). After 4 wonderful days in...

Wa Wa Nizwa!

by Calvin Sun | Jun 3, 2018 | How Did You Do That?, June 2018: The Persian Gulf, Oman, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

After overnight camping at Wahiba Sands and leaving at 8am, we drove north up to Nizwa, arriving at around 11am. The main sight and reason to come to Nizwa is for its fort, built in the 1650s by the second Ya’rub and was the administrative seat...

O Man, Oman: Wahiba Sands

by Calvin Sun | Jun 3, 2018 | Camping, How Did You Do That?, June 2018: The Persian Gulf, Oman

After a few hours swimming in the beautiful water holes of Wadi Shab, Talal and the gang continued south towards Sharqiya Sands. Also popularly known as Wahiba Sands named after the local Bani Wahiba tribe there, it boasts sand dunes up to 100 meters high and 170...

Wadi Bani Khalid: An Oasis In The Desert

by Calvin Sun | Jun 3, 2018 | June 2018: The Persian Gulf, Oman

After picking us up from Muscat and showing us around Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in the morning, Talal drove us about 2 hours towards Wadi Bani Khalid, a literal oasis in the middle of the desert. We stopped for a few photos along the way for some photo...

Muscat Mallrats

by Calvin Sun | Jun 3, 2018 | June 2018: The Persian Gulf, Oman, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Walking Tours, What Dreams May Come

After 24 hours in Kuwait, Ann, Mihaela and I boarded our 9:05pm Oman Air flight for Muscat, landing at around 12:15am. Muscat's new international airport is really really nice. The current fee for an Omani tourist visa on arrival is 20 Omani Rials...

24 Hours In Kuwait

by Calvin Sun | May 31, 2018 | Blitzkrieg!!!, Crisis, Fail, June 2018: The Persian Gulf, Kuwait, Layovers, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Serendipitous!, Walking Tours

Preface -- To give you an idea what my life has been like this past month: Exactly a month ago, I was the Caribbean for a 3 day weekend in Turks & Caicos Then I returned to NYC for 4 straight night shifts in the ER (getting sick with a 103ºF fever in the interim!)...

Building A Brand: 2018 Logo Reveal

by Calvin Sun | May 29, 2018 | Epiphanies on the Road, How Did You Do That?, Introspection, October 2025: Camping in Robbinsville, What Dreams May Come

A little less than 8 years ago when this little blog called The Monsoon Diaries was first being developed, a concept of a backpacker with his pet llama was put together as our temporary logo by my college friend Brian Foo as he was designing the first version...

A Return To Haiti: Project Medishare & Hospital Bernard Mevs

by Calvin Sun | May 28, 2018 | Community Service, Doctor in the House, Haiti, Project Medishare, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

I fondly remember 5 years ago when I came to Haiti with 4 other monsooners as we backpacked up from the capital city of Port-au-Prince to Cap-Haitien and gazed out from one of the most beautiful fortresses of colonial America. I had a great...

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