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,...

Serendipity In Philipsburg, Sint Maarten

by Calvin Sun | Jul 20, 2017 | Epiphanies on the Road, July 2017: Saint Martin's & Surrounding Islands, Saint Martin, Serendipitous!, Sint Maarten, Walking Tours, What Dreams May Come

So on my last day for a few hours before my afternoon flight home, I went back to Maho Beach at around noon, parking up at a bench at Sunset Bar & Grill and getting some good studying on while catching flights landing every 20-30...

Angsty Anguilla

by Calvin Sun | Jul 20, 2017 | Anguilla, Blitzkrieg!!!, Epiphanies on the Road, How Did You Do That?, Introspection, July 2017: Saint Martin's & Surrounding Islands, Let me tell you a Story..., Post-travel Reflections, Serendipitous!, Uncategorized Stories, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

Ever have the most random parts of your distant past come up when you least expect it? Or when a feeling of déjà vu actually becomes verified by a very real memory? This just happened in Anguilla. So after a whirlwind morning in Saba (which already...

Saba Rattling: The World’s Shortest (‘Scariest’) Runway Landing

by Calvin Sun | Jul 19, 2017 | Blitzkrieg!!!, How Did You Do That?, July 2017: Saint Martin's & Surrounding Islands, Saba, Saint Martin, Sint Maarten, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

5 countries in 24 hours: how about that?! After a day trip to Saint Barthélemy yesterday, I turned in early last night to catch my 8:15am Winair flight to Saba this morning (which I booked altogether online with a roundtrip flight returning at 12:15pm...

A Saint Martin Getaway To Saint Barthélemy

by Calvin Sun | Jul 18, 2017 | Blitzkrieg!!!, How Did You Do That?, July 2017: Saint Martin's & Surrounding Islands, Public Transportation, Saint Barthélemy, Walking Tours

When I travel solo I tend not to plan as much, which can be a big problem when you arrive at a place like Saint Martin/Sint Maarten island during the low season (there's not a lot to do and not a lot of people to meet and go on adventures with). So after a day on the...

Lying Low In Marigot, Saint Martin

by Calvin Sun | Jul 17, 2017 | Blitzkrieg!!!, Fit for Foodies, How Did You Do That?, July 2017: Saint Martin's & Surrounding Islands, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Saint Martin, Sint Maarten, Travel Warnings, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

Having been given an unexpected 4 days off before my next shift in the ED, I decided it was another time to attempt a solo trip getaway.Although I was also entertaining traveling from Slovenia to Slovakia (the flights were too expensive), Oman to Kuwait (I...

Meet The Monsooners Of The Balkans!

by Calvin Sun | Jun 27, 2017 | Introductions

For our upcoming trip to the Balkans, I present to you our next class of monsooners: Still...

Turkish Airlines First Class & “Lounge Istanbul”: Best Airline Lounge In The World?

by Calvin Sun | Jun 2, 2017 | Flying Fancy, How Did You Do That?, Spring 2017: Italy & Microstates, France, Luxembourg, Malta, & Tunisia, Türkiye (Turkey), Way Way Off the Beaten Path

As a frequent traveler, I have heard a lot about the supremacy of Turkish Airlines' Lounge Istanbul at the Ataturk Intenrational Airport as one of, if not the BEST airline lounge in the world.So after a week traveling with 10 wonderful strangers, I was able...

Finding Carthage

by Calvin Sun | Jun 1, 2017 | How Did You Do That?, Spring 2017: Italy & Microstates, France, Luxembourg, Malta, & Tunisia, Tunisia, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

After a brief detour in Sidi Bou Said (and head to that post if you want information on the public transportation we took to get there from Tunis), we walked 10 minutes south along Rue du Maroc towards Carthage: the historic capital city of the ancient...

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