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...

Moscow On The Metro & The World’s 18th Best Restaurant

by Calvin Sun | Jan 4, 2017 | Fit for Foodies, How Did You Do That?, Public Transportation, Russia, Serendipitous!, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, Winter 2016: The Trans-Mongolian & Tibet

We started our second day in Moscow with a splendid brunch at Grabni, a cafeteria style restaurant where you self-serve from so many offerings that it'll make your head spin. Everybody loved the french fries: Don't mind the random pony on...

From Saint Petersburg To Moscow

by Calvin Sun | Jan 4, 2017 | Fit for Foodies, Russia, Walking Tours, What Dreams May Come, Winter 2016: The Trans-Mongolian & Tibet

After New Year's Eve and 2 memorable days in Saint Petersburg, we headed onwards on the overnight Train 001 from Saint Petersburg's Moscow Station to Moscow's Yaroslavskiy Station departing at 11:55pm. We boarded at...

Saintly Saint Petersburg

by Calvin Sun | Jan 2, 2017 | Fit for Foodies, Russia, Walking Tours, What Dreams May Come, Winter 2016: The Trans-Mongolian & Tibet

A feast for the eyes. Well maybe not this one: After a day at The Hermitage and celebrating New Year's Eve on the streets of Nevsky Prospekt, we slept in well into noon to begin our 14 mile trek around Saint Petersburg on Day 1, and...

New Year’s Eve At Saint Petersburg And The Hermitage

by Calvin Sun | Dec 31, 2016 | Crisis, Fail, How Did You Do That?, How's the weather?, Public Transportation, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Russia, The Nightlife, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, Winter 2016: The Trans-Mongolian & Tibet

I've been to nearly every single ex-Soviet state except for the mother of them all: Russia. That changes today. And it wasn't easy getting here. Recalling my first monsoon trip to EgyptI also once again answered the call for emergency...

How To Pack For A Russian/Siberian Winter

by Calvin Sun | Dec 8, 2016 | What to Pack

Packing for this trip might require a little more than how we packed for Antarctica! This is a real Russian winter, folks, and everybody knows to never invade Russia in the winter.More of a guide for our 10 stalwart polar bears going on this trip, this will...

Meet The Trans-Siberian Orchestra

by Calvin Sun | Dec 1, 2016 | Introductions

For our upcoming winter trip to Russia, Mongolia, and China, I present to you our newest class of mostly return monsooners: And for winter of 2016...

pLOVEdiv

by Calvin Sun | Nov 13, 2016 | Bulgaria, Fail, November 2016: Bulgaria, Walking Tours, Weekend Trips, What Dreams May Come

It's been a wonderful day in Plovdiv; we've been gallivanting about the oldest continuously inhabited city in Europe (dating as far back as 6,000 BC!) without a care in the world.And we found gelato.And pretty signs. And Roman...

No Reservations In Sofía, Bulgaria

by Calvin Sun | Nov 12, 2016 | Bulgaria, Fail, Fit for Foodies, How's the weather?, November 2016: Bulgaria, Public Transportation, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Serendipitous!, The Nightlife, Walking Tours, Weekend Trips

After the recent US elections and the shitshow that happened, all of us needed a little break.So we went to Bulgaria.(FYI, if you're flying on the Alitalia/Bulgaria Air codeshare combo from the USA to Sofía, be prepared to endure the check-in process twice: Once...

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