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...

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),...

From Stockholm To Helsinki By Sea

by Calvin Sun | Aug 15, 2015 | August 2015: The Baltic Circle, Border Crossing, Finland, Sweden, The Nightlife, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

Our group of 24 headed out 2pm in the afternoon for Helsinki, Finland from Stockholm, Sweden by sea. We hopped on the Viking Line m/s Gabriella departing at 4:30pm, with a 10:10am arrival the next day. The process, like on DFDS, is...

Stockholm Syndrome

by Calvin Sun | Aug 13, 2015 | August 2015: The Baltic Circle, Public Transportation, Sweden, The Nightlife, What Dreams May Come

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING POST CONTAINS PHOTOS DEPICTING NUDITY (IN THE NAME OF ART) Despite however we tired we were after an overnight bus from Oslo to Stockholm and 16 hours of nonstop walking, the 15 of us still went out on a Wednesday night: We...

Sweet As Stockholm

by Calvin Sun | Aug 12, 2015 | August 2015: The Baltic Circle, Sweden, Walking Tours

The group arrived into Stockholm from Oslo at 6:30am, bleary-eyed and one hour earlier than scheduled. For some, this would be 2 overnight buses in a row, with nary a shower to help them cope with their first monsoonal madness. The 7 other returning monsooners...

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