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

Grenada Más

by Calvin Sun | November 4, 2025 | Grenada, October 2025: Pirates of the Caribbean's At World's End | 0 Comments

🇬🇩 190 down. 3 to go. After our 3 day stay in Dominica, we took a long hour-and-a-half drive back to the airport from our Portsmouth lodgings, stopping for a quick photo opportunity along the way. Dominica's airport is tiny. You...

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, October 2025: Camping in Robbinsville | 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,...

Scoping Out Skopje

by Calvin Sun | Aug 24, 2017 | August 2017: The Balkans, Border Crossing, Fail, Macedonia, The Nightlife, Walking Tours

After a quick stop at Gracanica yesterday, we got our 10 tickets (for 5 euros each) at the Pristina Bus Station for the 2 hour bus ride to Skopje. We got on a 3pm bus, which reached the Kosovo/Macedonian border at around 4:30pm.A...

Pristina Sonder

by Calvin Sun | Aug 23, 2017 | August 2017: The Balkans, Kosovo, Public Transportation, The Nightlife, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

sonder n. the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness—an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill...

Pretty As Peja

by Calvin Sun | Aug 21, 2017 | August 2017: The Balkans, Border Crossing, How Did You Do That?, How's the weather?, Kosovo, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

This photo I found 2 years ago on Google is the reason why I came to Peja: And today, I get to do my version: Just like how a photo of Halong Bay would get me to start my first monsoon, the former photo that I found on Google...

A Lazy Afternoon In Podgorica

by Calvin Sun | Aug 20, 2017 | August 2017: The Balkans, Montenegro, The Nightlife, Walking Tours

To be honest, our morning day trip to Mount Ostrog Monastery was way more worthwhile and interesting than our subsequent afternoon wandering around what probably is the least happening capital cities in Europe. Nevertheless, I do appreciate having some kind of sane...

The Pilgrimage To Mount Ostrog Monastery

by Calvin Sun | Aug 20, 2017 | August 2017: The Balkans, How Did You Do That?, Montenegro, Public Transportation, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

As 6 of us head back home after completing week 1 together, the 10 of us remaining headed out at 8am for a 4 hour pilgrimage to Mount Ostrog Monastery, a Serbian Orthodox Church dedicated to Saint Basil of Ostrog (Sveti Vasilije Ostroški), and that has been built...

From Kotor To Podgorica: Montenegro In A Day

by Calvin Sun | Aug 19, 2017 | August 2017: The Balkans, Border Crossing, Doctor in the House, How Did You Do That?, Montenegro, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

The road from Kotor to Podgorica can take you through all of Montenegro's history in a day. What normally is a 2 hour bus ride, we opted instead for a hostel to hostel transfer arranged by Montenegro Hostel where it would take us to all the historical sights...

Feeling Kotor, Might Not Delete…

by Calvin Sun | Aug 19, 2017 | August 2017: The Balkans, Border Crossing, Doctor in the House, Fit for Foodies, How Did You Do That?, Montenegro, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

Reeling from last night's epic outing at Club Revel in Dubrovnik, the group didn't let shame and a polite hangover from exploring their city on their own while I stuck behind at the hostel catching up on some studying (still in residency y'know). ...

Returning To King’s Landing: Dubrovnik

by Calvin Sun | Aug 17, 2017 | August 2017: The Balkans, Border Crossing, Croatia, The Nightlife, Walking Tours

Just how many monsooners are there really on this trip? Take a closer look (click to zoom): Dubrovnik. It's good to be back. I was here for the first time 3 years ago, as part of my Crossing The Adriatic...

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