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,...

Mostar With The Mostest

by Calvin Sun | Aug 16, 2017 | August 2017: The Balkans, Bosnia & Herzegovina, How's the weather?, Walking Tours, What Dreams May Come

After a sobering day in Sarajevo and recovering from a night of mayem, we woke up at 10am to catch an 11:30am Autoprevoz bus to Mostar. The bus ride went pretty smoothly although I felt bad for the other folks who couldn't get a seat because of...

A Rose For Sarajevo

by Calvin Sun | Aug 15, 2017 | August 2017: The Balkans, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Crisis, Fit for Foodies, Serendipitous!, The Nightlife, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

If it's not already playing, press play. And then start reading. A Sarajevo Rose is a concrete scar caused by a mortar shell's explosion that was later filled with red resin. Mortar rounds landing on concrete create a unique fragmentation pattern that looks...

Sleepless In Sarajevo

by Calvin Sun | Aug 15, 2017 | August 2017: The Balkans, Bosnia & Herzegovina, The Nightlife, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

Coming from Belgrade via a detour to Srebrenica, we arrive in Sarajevo at 6:30pm at Travellers Home Hostel, where we dropped off our stuff and reunited with the 3 other monsooners Lei, Maria and Anthony. We would also be joined by...

From Belgrade To Sarejevo Via Srebrenica: Memories Of A Massacre

by Calvin Sun | Aug 14, 2017 | August 2017: The Balkans, Border Crossing, Bosnia & Herzegovina, How Did You Do That?, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

I had first heard of the Srebrenica Massacre back in 2005, when I was a college freshman and busy running the first national undergraduate film festival at Columbia University (CUNUFF). One of our first film submissions was a short film and...

Beyond Belgrade

by Calvin Sun | Aug 13, 2017 | August 2017: The Balkans, Serbia, Serendipitous!, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

I was debating whether to do an extra post on Belgrade as we saw everything required in the city center yesterday, thunderstorms be damned. But then I realized there were a few other things in its outskirts that were worth mentioning.We woke up to a late...

For Whom The Belgrade Tolls

by Calvin Sun | Aug 12, 2017 | August 2017: The Balkans, Fit for Foodies, Serbia, The Nightlife, Walking Tours, What Dreams May Come

chrysalism. n. the amniotic tranquility of being indoors during a thunderstorm, listening to waves of rain pattering against the roof like an argument upstairs, whose muffled words are unintelligible but whose crackling release of built-up tension you understand...

6 Hours In Zagreb, Croatia

by Calvin Sun | Aug 11, 2017 | August 2017: The Balkans, Blitzkrieg!!!, Croatia, How Did You Do That?, Layovers, Walking Tours

After taking it easy on Club World business class via British Airways, I landed in Zagreb at noon, where I would have a 9 hour layover before my onward flight to Belgrade. However, the international airport at Zagreb (Croatia's capital city!) has NO left luggage...

British Airways Club World/Business Class From NYC To London

by Calvin Sun | Aug 11, 2017 | Flying Fancy, How Did You Do That?, Mo' Money Mo' Problems, United Kingdom

I never thought I would be back in London so soon.Although it was 5 months ago where I was able to review my experience flying First Class on British Airways, it really feels like it was only yesterday where I was in London blogging from the...

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