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...

2017 May Day in Cuba; First Impressions — In Context With Venezuela

by Lei Zhao | May 1, 2017 | Cuba, Epiphanies on the Road, Guest Posts, How Did You Do That?, Post-travel Reflections, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

Three hours from JFK. 90 miles from Key West. And yet, seemingly worlds away. Four New Yorkers — Alex, Elliot, Emma, and I — waited far too long for checked bags to show up, the first indication we were running on island time, and a socialist island at that. Our...

Ode To My Passport

by Calvin Sun | Apr 29, 2017 | Getting that VISA, Post-travel Reflections, You're Going to Miss It...

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." Since our first trip to India, you began to grow. And learn. The decals of your cover began to fade with every stamp that graced your pages. In the beginning there were periods...

Flying British Airways First Class From London To NYC

by Calvin Sun | Mar 26, 2017 | Flying Fancy, How Did You Do That?, March 2017: Scotland, Scotland, Scotland, Serendipitous!, United Kingdom, Weekend Trips

After a day of climbing some Edinburgh hills, my group and Alistair graciously saw me off at the bus station in Edinburgh. From there I took an overnight 8:30pm National Express Bus #954 from Edinburgh to London, with the bus taking a half an hour...

Edinburgh From The Top

by Calvin Sun | Mar 25, 2017 | March 2017: Scotland, Scotland, Scotland, Serendipitous!

Seemingly on an unrelated note, now that it's spring break season the past month I've been working closely with fellow YPT colleague Alistair Riddell -- who was aso our guide on our famously epic 40-person Cuba trip in 2014 -- on a bunch of tours...

Dining At The Kitchin In Leith

by Calvin Sun | Mar 24, 2017 | Fit for Foodies, March 2017: Scotland, Scotland, Scotland, Weekend Trips

After a whole day exploring the grounds and undergrounds of Edinburgh, we headed to Leith for our first night out. With the help of the Scottish expert Eve, we began our night with some fine Scottish Glemorangie Whiskey at The...

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...

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