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,...

You’re Going To Miss … The Baltic Crescent

by Calvin Sun | Aug 27, 2015 | Belarus, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Post-travel Reflections, Sweden, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come, You're Going to Miss It...

If it's not already playing, press play. And then start reading. “A journey is best measured in friends, not in miles.” – Tim Cahill You're going to miss the first impressions, the first handshakes, the polite offers to cover taxi rides to the airport,...

BelaRushing: 7 Hours In Minsk

by Calvin Sun | Aug 25, 2015 | August 2015: The Baltic Circle, Belarus, Blitzkrieg!!!, Border Crossing, Crisis, Fail, Getting that VISA, How Did You Do That?, Lessons Learned, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Serendipitous!, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

One of my favorite cities to have monsooned. Today has emblematic of a classic monsoon. Although the trip officially ended yesterday, 5 of us continued onwards for the optional extension into forbidden Belarus (or aka "Europe's last...

I Trakai So Hard, And Got So Far

by Calvin Sun | Aug 23, 2015 | August 2015: The Baltic Circle, Fail, How Did You Do That?, Lessons Learned, Lithuania, Public Transportation, Uncategorized Stories

Today we had a late morning once again, with some of us checking out flea markets and wrapping up the last Vilnius' old town. At 2:30pm we left for the bus station (a 10min walk away) for the 20min bus for Trakai. This is where things got testy....

Vilnius: We Have A Gun Problem

by Calvin Sun | Aug 22, 2015 | August 2015: The Baltic Circle, Lithuania, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

Our group once again took advantage of Eastern Europe's relatively laxer gun range laws and spent a whopping 3 hours shooting things we would never have a shot at -- no pun intended -- back in the USA. But more on that later... We woke up to a beautiful late...

The Hill Of Crosses

by Calvin Sun | Aug 21, 2015 | August 2015: The Baltic Circle, Border Crossing, How Did You Do That?, Latvia, Lithuania, Public Transportation, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

After an eventful night and saying goodbye to Teresa and Vivian early this morning, we packed our bags and planned for our most ambitious day yet: Take an international bus from Riga, Latvia to Siauliai, Lithuania to visit the Hill Of Crosses, before heading...

Getting Real In Riga: Paris Of The North

by Calvin Sun | Aug 20, 2015 | August 2015: The Baltic Circle, Crisis, Fit for Foodies, Latvia, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, The Nightlife, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

We enjoyed a lazy morning in beautiful Riga today, as the group congregated late for a 1pm free walking tour of the capital city's quaint little old town: We first tried to make wishes come true by touching the noses of all 4 animals at this...

From Tallinn To Riga By Bus

by Calvin Sun | Aug 19, 2015 | August 2015: The Baltic Circle, Border Crossing, Estonia, Fail, How Did You Do That?, Latvia, The Nightlife, Uncategorized Stories, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

After welcoming Josh last night to our gang of 15 as our better-late-than-never monsooner with late night drinks and showing off our shooting range videos, we headed out this morning to explore the local markets north of Tallinn's Old Town. This is a large area...

Shooting Up In Tallinn

by Calvin Sun | Aug 18, 2015 | August 2015: The Baltic Circle, Estonia, Fit for Foodies, How Did You Do That?, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

One of the most epic 24 hours so far. Starting from where we left off, landing in Tallinn after 10 days in Scandinavia, we headed out for dinner around Old Town after freshening up at the hostel. We settled at Deja Vu, an outdoor hookah...

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