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,...

A Few Hours In Zurich

by Calvin Sun | Mar 15, 2016 | Blitzkrieg!!!, Fit for Foodies, March 2016: Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Walking Tours, Weekend Trips

After a day in Liechtenstein, I headed back to Zurich from Sargans where I totally passed out on the train. Although it was the last stop on the train anyway, a fellow passenger had to shake me awake or else I would've headed back in the other direction. Thanks...

A Day Trip To Liechtenstein

by Calvin Sun | Mar 14, 2016 | Blitzkrieg!!!, Border Crossing, How Did You Do That?, Liechtenstein, March 2016: Liechtenstein, Public Transportation, Switzerland, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, Weekend Trips

Amsterdam, Bruges, Brussels, Puerto Rico, Ireland. And now Liechtenstein.Capping off a social experiment that lasted for nearly 2 months -- taking weekly international “day trips” while keeping a full time job -- I decide to finish off...

Ireland In 24 Hours: Dublin In One Night

by Calvin Sun | Mar 6, 2016 | Ireland, March 2016: Ireland, Serendipitous!, The Nightlife, Weekend Trips

(continued from Ireland In 24 Hours: The Cliffs Of Moher):After spending about 2-3 hours at the Cliffs Of Moher, we drove back and reached Abigails Hostel, by 8:40pm. Then as I was checking in, they informed me that someone had dropped me off a little...

Ireland In 24 Hours: The Burren & The Cliffs Of Moher

by Calvin Sun | Mar 6, 2016 | Blitzkrieg!!!, How Did You Do That?, Ireland, March 2016: Ireland, Serendipitous!, The Nightlife, Weekend Trips

Once again I press on with my social experiment of doing day trips around the world on a budget, while sharing the experience with my frugal readers. This weekend, 7 of us did Ireland in 24 hours.To preface, my...

Meet The Leprechauns

by Calvin Sun | Feb 26, 2016 | Introductions

When I first announced my upcoming weekend trip to Ireland (day trip, really) on Facebook, I didn't expect a strong showing. But 7 people proved me wrong!Therefore, I present to you our newest class of fresh (and...

Viejo San Juan

by Calvin Sun | Feb 18, 2016 | Blitzkrieg!!!, Crisis, Doctor in the House, February 2016: Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico, Walking Tours, Weekend Trips

After a day in Vieques and Fajardo, it was time to explore the heart of Puerto Rico's capital city, Old San Juan. From our hostel, Posada San Francisco, I started with this gorgeous view of Plaza Colón from our 5th floor open balcony: Northeast of...

Veni, Vidi, Vieques!

by Calvin Sun | Feb 16, 2016 | Doctor in the House, February 2016: Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico, Serendipitous!, United States, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, Weekend Trips

Anticipating 2 days off of work and finding direct flights to Puerto Rico from NYC about 2/3 cheaper than its usual fare, I jumped at the chance to visit my potentially 98th country (although it being a U.S. territory that's still up for debate).But about 8...

5 Years Later

by Calvin Sun | Feb 3, 2016 | Epiphanies on the Road, India, Introspection, Post-travel Reflections, Serendipitous!, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come, You're Going to Miss It...

Press Play: Remember her? 5 years ago, we met by chance and spent 36 hours together in Hyderabad that ended before sunrise. We parted at a rickshaw stand, not knowing if or how we would ever meet again.The next morning, rubbing my eyes open...

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