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,...

Talk About Travel

by Calvin Sun | Apr 11, 2015 | Pre-travel Preparations, Spring 2015: The Great USA Roadtrip, United States, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, Wisconsin

As promised, posting the group photos of our talk on international traveling ("Chasing Wanderlust 101!") at the Midwest Asian American Student Union (MAASU) Spring Conference today. Hello from the University of Wisconsin - Madison! Thanks...

Alinea: A Meal Of A Lifetime

by Calvin Sun | Apr 11, 2015 | Fit for Foodies, Illinois, Spring 2015: The Great USA Roadtrip

After an unbelievable 12 hour drive across 553 miles from Needles to San Francisco, let alone 2 weeks of cross-country traveling from the East Coast to the West Coast, we had to pack up and head back to Chicago to speak about travel at a national youth conference in...

California: The Promised Land

by Calvin Sun | Apr 10, 2015 | California, Crisis, Fail, Spring 2015: The Great USA Roadtrip, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

After bidding adieu yesterday to Gareth’s crew of himself, Clay, and George, we were left with only 4 drivers. Given over 550 miles left to our end destination of San Francisco, and needing to be there within 24 hours, transporting our 3 RVs with our anemic crew...

The Grand Canyon

by Calvin Sun | Apr 10, 2015 | Arizona, California, Spring 2015: The Great USA Roadtrip, United States

Today's journey led us to the one and only Grand Canyon. But before we got there, we woke up this morning to check out more of our wigwams during the day and said farewell to 3 members of the crew: Gareth, Clay, and George,...

Return To Arizona

by Calvin Sun | Apr 9, 2015 | Arizona, Spring 2015: The Great USA Roadtrip, United States, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

3 months ago Jenn, of Map&Move, and I took a weekend trip to Arizona to do research for what was then a possible Route 66 trip. Today we've returned with a caravan of 3 RVs and 11 friends driving along Route 66 from Chicago and reaching...

The Longest Road: From Oklahoma To New Mexico

by Calvin Sun | Apr 9, 2015 | Crisis, Fail, Mo' Money Mo' Problems, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Spring 2015: The Great USA Roadtrip, United States, What Dreams May Come

After a 7am-7pm shift in the ER, I boarded a 5am flight to Dallas-Fort Worth, TX to catch an 8am flight to Oklahoma City, where the rest of group stayed overnight and was waiting for me.Right on time, there they were. After a quick reunion, we hit the...

Pies, Waterfalls, Bottles, And Oklahoma

by Calvin Sun | Apr 8, 2015 | Missouri, Oklahoma, Spring 2015: The Great USA Roadtrip, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

Day #2 of the road trip, which means Day #2 that I'm still stuck in NYC working in the ER for my final shift before I can rejoin the group.:-(A few months ago one of the places I put on my Route 66 "must-do" lists was supposedly described...

Living Vicarious: Chicago To St. Louis

by Calvin Sun | Apr 7, 2015 | Fail, Illinois, Missouri, Spring 2015: The Great USA Roadtrip

After 12 spirited hours in Chicago, I headed back home to NYC this morning to work two 12 hour shifts in the ER. Today the rest of the group continues onwards from Chicago to Springfield, IL to St. Louis, MO while I plan to rejoin the group...

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