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...

Tirana Kenopsia

by Calvin Sun | Aug 27, 2017 | Albania, August 2017: The Balkans, Border Crossing, How Did You Do That?, Introspection, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

kenopsia n. the eerie, forlorn atmosphere of a place that’s usually bustling with people but is now abandoned and quiet—a school hallway in the evening, an unlit office on a weekend, vacant fairgrounds—an emotional afterimage that makes it seem not just...

Ohrid: “City Of Light” / The Jewel Of The Balkans

by Calvin Sun | Aug 26, 2017 | August 2017: The Balkans, How Did You Do That?, Macedonia, Mo' Money Mo' Problems, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

Press play. And then start reading. Not all fails are permanent. Last night in Skopje Alfred and Ted was kind enough to go back and check if my card was still in the ATM machine, and a passer-by informed them of a safety...

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...

« Older Entries

Next Entries »