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,...

Feeling Stupid In Barcelona

by Calvin Sun | Sep 13, 2016 | Fail, Fit for Foodies, September 2016: Andorra, Serendipitous!, Spain, The Nightlife, Weekend Trips

SO I SCREWED UP.2 days ago after arriving into Barcelona, I ranted how sad I was to have discovered that what I thought was one of my favorite restaurants, La Xampanyeria, was closed the night before the Catalan Independence Day. It had...

20 Hours In Andorra

by Calvin Sun | Sep 11, 2016 | Andorra, Border Crossing, How Did You Do That?, September 2016: Andorra, Spain, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, Weekend Trips

Getting some much-needed rest after a Barcelona Sants Station to

Reunited In Barcelona, 5 Years Later

by Calvin Sun | Sep 11, 2016 | Fail, Fit for Foodies, September 2016: Andorra, Spain, The Nightlife, Weekend Trips

Oh Barcelona: It's been 5 years! That trip was special -- it was the first trip I ever done with a large group (and look how far we've come!).And now I'm back. While 4 of us would meet in Barcelona tonight to begin our weekend trip to Andorra, our...

Meet The Monsooners Of Andorra!

by Calvin Sun | Sep 4, 2016 | Introductions

Who would be crazy enough to go on an international weekend trip to Barcelona & Andorra out of the blue? Why, these 4! Although they've never met one another (or know one another), all are weirdly/fatefully connected to each other in some way -- 3 are...

You’re Going To Miss … Southern Africa

by Calvin Sun | Aug 18, 2016 | August 2016: Southern Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Post-travel Reflections, South Africa, You're Going to Miss It..., Zambia, Zimbabwe

Dear Calvin, I hope this finds you doing well. I came across your site via CU Class Notes. I am CC 2010. I have been inspired by your story and website, and as a fellow lover of travel and medical student, would definitely be keen on learning more about...

Denouement In Windhoek To Free Emirates Business Class Upgrade!

by Calvin Sun | Aug 15, 2016 | August 2016: Southern Africa, Flying Fancy, Namibia, United Arab Emirates, Walking Tours

Uh..there's really no contest in trying to even bother following up to the last post; a post that describes a place where I watched the sun rise over the world's oldest desert, or where I took some of my favorite photos at the most surreal landscapes I've...

Deadvlei: A Witness To Eternity

by Calvin Sun | Aug 15, 2016 | August 2016: Southern Africa, Camping, Epiphanies on the Road, How Did You Do That?, How's the weather?, Namibia, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

Some appropriately curated background music to an epic post, so please, if it's not already playing: Press play. And then start reading. Vemödalen - "The frustration of photographing something amazing when thousands of identical photos already exist." ...

The Cape Of Good Hope, Chance, and Serendipity

by Calvin Sun | Aug 12, 2016 | August 2016: Southern Africa, How Did You Do That?, Serendipitous!, South Africa, What Dreams May Come

After an epic 48 hours in Cape Town and capping off with an unforgettable 6 hour dinner at La Colombe, the group returned at 1am to our hostel and packed ahead for our drive to The Cape of Good Hope early the next morning....

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