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...

Lalish: The Yazidi’s Last Stand

by Calvin Sun | May 8, 2018 | Fit for Foodies, Iraq, Kurdistan, May 2018: Kurdistan Iraq, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

Trying to escape the thunderstorms that were about to overtake the site of the Battle of Gaugamela, we drove north towards Lalish. After a few checkpoints we reached a quiet area up in the mountains to reach the Yazidi village. ...

Finding The Battle Of Gaugamela

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

Driving from Mar Mattai/Saint Matthew's Monastery and closer towards the besieged city of Mosul, we reached the fabled site of the Battle of Gaugamela. Also called the Battle of Arbela, here lies one of the greatest military victories in history...

Mar Mattai – An Oasis By Mosul

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

After an exhausting day driving around southeastern Kurdistan, this morning Abdallah and I set out at 9am west of Erbil towards Mosul. You would expect that we drove by a ton more military bases today. By 9:45am we had reached the main checkpoint between...

Sulaymaniyah: “The Paris Of Iraq”

by Calvin Sun | May 7, 2018 | Iraq, Kurdistan, May 2018: Kurdistan Iraq, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

Within a one hour drive from Halabja away from the Iran/Iraq border, we reached Sulaymaniyah. Known for its open, relatively liberal and tolerant society when compared to other cities of Kurdistan, this sprawling city has been regarded as the capital of...

Ghosts Of Halabja: The Silent City

by Calvin Sun | May 7, 2018 | How Did You Do That?, Iraq, Kurdistan, May 2018: Kurdistan Iraq, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

Yo Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble wrote a song in March 2011 dedicated to Halabja and the 7000 who died during the 1988 massacre by chemical warfare: After a day alone in Erbil, I was ready to see more of Iraq. Douglas Layton of Kurdistan Iraq Tours and his associate...

Erbil: So I’m In Iraq

by Calvin Sun | May 6, 2018 | How Did You Do That?, Iraq, Kurdistan, May 2018: Kurdistan Iraq, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Serendipitous!, Travel Warnings, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

A "helpful" friend sent me this last night, reposted from the Iraq Travel Advisory on the US Department of State website, updated January 10, 2018:Do not travel to Iraq due to terrorism and armed conflict U.S. citizens in Iraq are at high risk for...

Turks & Paridisos

by Calvin Sun | Apr 29, 2018 | Blitzkrieg!!!, Layovers, Turks & Caicos, Weekend Trips

I'm a simple man: I see 3 days off, I find cheap flights, I go. And this weekend, I go to Turks & Caicos.A British Overseas territory in the Caribbean that ironically uses the American Dollar, Turks & Caicos oversees a distribution of 40 islands...

Miran With The Mostest In Mostar

by Aaron Lam | Apr 6, 2018 | Bosnia & Herzegovina, Epiphanies on the Road, Guest Posts, Post-travel Reflections, Uncategorized Stories, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, You're Going to Miss It...

To be honest, prior to this trip, I did not know much about Bosnia and Herzegovina and its history aside from the fact it was part of the former Yugoslavia and had been battled by war. Thus, heading into our bus ride from Split, Croatia, I had no idea what to...

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