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...

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....

The Cape Town Epic

by Calvin Sun | Aug 11, 2016 | August 2016: Southern Africa, Fit for Foodies, Mo' Money Mo' Problems, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Serendipitous!, South Africa, The Nightlife, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

After a blockbuster back-to-back days at Victoria Falls and the Chobe National Park, our group flew back to Johannesburg for a one night layover to regain our senses. The next morning we took an 11am Mango Air flight (the low-cost carrier of...

An Elephant Symphony Plays In Chobe National Park

by Calvin Sun | Aug 9, 2016 | August 2016: Southern Africa, Botswana, What Dreams May Come

A Phanty Procession! To do Kasane is to do Chobe. Regarded as one of the top 2 "elite" safari destinations in Africa, Chobe is most famous for being home to the world's largest and most numerous elephant herds in the world (among other...

Victoria Falls: 4 Countries In 1 Day

by Calvin Sun | Aug 8, 2016 | August 2016: Southern Africa, Border Crossing, Botswana, Crisis, Fail, Getting that VISA, How Did You Do That?, Mo' Money Mo' Problems, South Africa, What Dreams May Come, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Today I've marked visiting the last of the world's 3 greatest waterfalls: In April 2014 we violated international law crossing Iguazú Falls (the world's largest waterfalls system) along the intersection of Brazil and Argentina, a year later we pushed a...

Jockeying About Jo’Burg

by Calvin Sun | Aug 6, 2016 | August 2016: Southern Africa, Fit for Foodies, Lessons Learned, Public Transportation, South Africa

Last night we partied it up in the hipster neighborhood of Braamfontein, where we found out that every bar there has a 30-50 ZAR cover charge, and that even with an entry stamp on your wrist they'll make you wait in the back of a 2 hour line if...

The Prime Minister Of Lesotho Sees Us Off To Jo’Burg

by Calvin Sun | Aug 5, 2016 | August 2016: Southern Africa, Lesotho, Serendipitous!, South Africa, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

We slept in again this morning, waking up at a more civilized 8am and lazily taking in the chilly morning air of Lesotho. Our taxi then came to pick us up at 9am to take us back to the airport. Once arriving at 10am (traffic is somehow always terrible here) and...

From Eswatini To Lesotho

by Calvin Sun | Aug 4, 2016 | August 2016: Southern Africa, Blitzkrieg!!!, Border Crossing, Eswatini, Getting that VISA, How Did You Do That?, Lesotho, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, South Africa, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

After a beautiful yesterday at the Mlilwane Wildlife Reserve, we returned to our hostel at Sundowner's and exchanged travel stories with the Peace Corps crew that had already been living at the hostel for months. Somehow during our introductions, a...

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