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...

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...

Goodbye Scandinavia, Hello Baltics!

by Calvin Sun | Aug 17, 2015 | August 2015: The Baltic Circle, Border Crossing, Estonia, Finland, How Did You Do That?, Public Transportation

The group woke up to a late Mexican buffet brunch (13 euros) at Shanghai Cowboy. Before we knew it, 1pm had arrived and it was time to send off our 10 monsooners to the airport. Broken hearted, but not defeated, a few of us...

Hel-Yeah!

by Calvin Sun | Aug 17, 2015 | August 2015: The Baltic Circle, Finland, Fit for Foodies, Public Transportation, The Nightlife

We started today at 11am, first passing by all the pop-up stalls of Restaurant Day (where anyone in Helsinki can open up a "restaurant"/food stall on Park Esplanad) and heading over to the Market Square docks for a 15 minute ferry ride to Helsinki's main...

Welcome To Hel-sinki

by Calvin Sun | Aug 16, 2015 | August 2015: The Baltic Circle, Finland, The Nightlife, Walking Tours

Ignore the title of the post, as it was my failed attempt to be witty; Helsinki, Finland truly lives up to its title of one of the world's "most livable city" (at least in the summer). Known for its gender equality (#2 in the world, second only to Iceland),...

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