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...

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, May 2026: Bobo's Farm, 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...

Meet The Monsooners Of Kuwait, Oman, & Qatar!

by Calvin Sun | May 26, 2018 | Introductions

For our upcoming May trip to Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar, I present to you our next class of monsooners: I know you're a maybe Vi, but your message last night was so last minute, I'm diggin' your energy and sending over so much positive vibes so you...

Mosul, Iraq: Life Finds A Way

by Calvin Sun | May 9, 2018 | Epiphanies on the Road, How Did You Do That?, Iraq, May 2018: Kurdistan Iraq, Mo' Money Mo' Problems, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Travel Warnings, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

Our drive this morning on the "Highway To Hell" into Mosul, Iraq: DISCLAIMER:Unless you have made adequate arrangements, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DO WHAT WE DID TODAY. At of the time of posting, Mosul remains an active war zone. Although ISIS/ISIL/Daesh has...

Alqosh: Vestiges Of Assyria

by Calvin Sun | May 8, 2018 | How Did You Do That?, Iraq, May 2018: Kurdistan Iraq, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

After an hour in Lalish, we drove towards the ancient Assyrian town of Alqosh, located 50km (31 miles) north of Mosul. Here Alqosh is primarily inhabited by ethnic Assyrians of the Chaldean Catholic Church and remains one of the few places on this...

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