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

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...

Meet the Lappi Wedding Party!

by Calvin Sun | January 26, 2026 | Introductions | 0 Comments

Meet the Sundancers!

by Calvin Sun | January 2, 2026 | Introductions | 0 Comments

From a trip planned over a year ago after a bunch of friends joined me in Killington 2024, we are flying out to Park City, UT for our first time at the Sundance Film Festival for their final time in Park City, UT! Welcome back those returning with me for their...

Niger At Last: A Second Chance

by Calvin Sun | December 10, 2025 | Border Crossing, December 2025 Annex: Niger, Fail, Flying Fancy, Getting that VISA, How Did You Do That?, Layovers, Niger, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come | 1 Comment

11 months ago, I sat on the tarmac in Niger's International Airport at Niamey, watching my trip evaporate due to visa complications. The Niger Embassy in Washington D.C. had stopped issuing visas to Americans entirely. But I don't give up. In late...

Yemen Day 4: Mukalla Drive

by Calvin Sun | December 5, 2025 | December 2025: Yemen - Hadhramaut Valley, Serendipitous!, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, Yemen | 0 Comments

Al-Mukalla Pulling ourselves away from a desert mirage paradise at Haid Al-Jazil, we swapped our armed guard at another checkpoint during the 2 hour drive to Mukalla. You point that thing away from me! After a long wait at one of the...

Yemen Day 3: Where Reality Surpasses Dreams at Haid al-Jazil-lion Miles Away From Reality

by Calvin Sun | December 4, 2025 | December 2025: Yemen - Hadhramaut Valley, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come, Yemen | 0 Comments

Haid Al-Jazil As the afternoon began to wane, we continued onto our accommodation for the night at the Haid Al-Jazil Resort Hotel, named after what it overlooks and its location perching dramatically on a cliff overlooking the Wadi Do'an. You'll find remarkably...

Edible Edinburgh

by Calvin Sun | Mar 24, 2017 | Blitzkrieg!!!, March 2017: Scotland, Scotland, Scotland, Walking Tours, Weekend Trips

It's another weekend on the road. Fresh off the heels from 2 months of speaking engagements that had led me from North Carolina to New Jersey, New York, and Michigan, I finally jumped on my first open weekend in months to take a group of previous monsooners...

The Gastronomic Detour To Eleven Madison Park

by Calvin Sun | Mar 7, 2017 | Fit for Foodies, New York

Although we were supposed to head to Luxembourg this weekend, I decided instead for logistical/financial reasons to move the trip to Memorial Day Weekend. But even in the rare occasion where I would spend a free weekend staying put in this Siberian cold, a...

Meet The Scots

by Calvin Sun | Mar 5, 2017 | Introductions, Scotland, United Kingdom

For our upcoming weekend March trip to Edinburgh, I present to you our next class of monsooners: Interested in joining us? More details about the trip can be found here.And space is still...

You’re Going To Miss …The Trans-Mongolian & Tibet

by Calvin Sun | Jan 21, 2017 | China, Epiphanies on the Road, Mongolia, Post-travel Reflections, Russia, Tibet, What Dreams May Come, Winter 2016: The Trans-Mongolian & Tibet, You're Going to Miss It...

Press play. And then start reading. “We travel, some of us forever, to seek other places, other lives, other souls.” – Anais Nin You're going to miss the trepidation of landing in a foreign country, for which visas you've worked so...

Shouting “Shigatse!” At The Roof Of The World; From Tibet To USA Via First/Business Class

by Calvin Sun | Jan 17, 2017 | China, Doctor in the House, Flying Fancy, How Did You Do That?, How's the weather?, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, Winter 2016: The Trans-Mongolian & Tibet

Cover photo credit: JC Chan To Shigatse and back. Although the photos near the bottom are of Lhasa at night, it would be a shame to not mention Shigatse in the brief few hours we were there. Located 3860m (12,660 feet) above sea level...

“The Other Most Beautiful Drive In The World”: From Lhasa To Shigatse

by Calvin Sun | Jan 15, 2017 | China, Tibet, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come, Winter 2016: The Trans-Mongolian & Tibet

I've been on many beautiful drives before, most notably from Argentina to Chile, and the drive from Srinagar to Leh but today's from Lhasa to Shigatse is now climbing the charts, and we're still on the road.We set out from Lhasa this...

Paradise Lhasa

by Calvin Sun | Jan 14, 2017 | China, Doctor in the House, Tibet, Walking Tours, What Dreams May Come, Winter 2016: The Trans-Mongolian & Tibet

Waking up to the roof of the world: Despite getting my first 8+ hour night of sleep in probably over a week, I nevertheless woke up with symptoms of acute mountain sickness (a slight fever, headache, dry mouth, not unlike a hangover). So I doubled...

The Journey To Tibet

by Calvin Sun | Jan 13, 2017 | China, Doctor in the House, Fit for Foodies, Tibet, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, Winter 2016: The Trans-Mongolian & Tibet

Struggling with 3 consecutive nights of 5 hours of sleep each night, we all got up again at a ridiculous 5:15am to catch a 5:30am car service to take us to the airport for a 7:40am direct flight from Xi'an to Lhasa. The Xi'an airport was unexpectedly...

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