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,...

“I Must Go Now, Gotham Needs Me”: Chicago, IL

by Calvin Sun | Apr 4, 2015 | Blitzkrieg!!!, Crisis, Fit for Foodies, How Did You Do That?, Illinois, Spring 2015: The Great USA Roadtrip, United States

Route 66. Let's begin.If it's not already playing, press play. And then start reading. Despite American Airlines delaying our 6am flight to 9am and then canceling it due to unknown reasons (they literally said "we don't know...

2000 Miles To Graceland

by Calvin Sun | Apr 4, 2015 | Spring 2015: The Great USA Roadtrip, Tennessee, The Nightlife, United States, Walking Tours

I couldn't hold it back any longer, 4 days of working in NYC while a trip was going on without me was too much to bear. After an overnight 7pm-7am graveyard shift, I went straight from the hospital to LaGuardia Airport. Getting there an hour early, I...

To Nashville

by Calvin Sun | Apr 2, 2015 | Spring 2015: The Great USA Roadtrip, Tennessee

Photo credit in this post goes to Map&Move and Roza Rice. One more day working in the ER before I meet them in Memphis. Until then, the gang packed up and headed out from Knoxville to Nashville: Upon arrival into Nashville, they met up...

Back To The Future In Tennessee

by Calvin Sun | Apr 1, 2015 | Spring 2015: The Great USA Roadtrip, Tennessee, Virginia, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

Photo credit in this post goes to Map&Move and Roza Rice. As I continue to toil away in the ED here in NYC, the group headed onwards today through Virginia towards Knoxville, Tennessee, where Roza reportedly got her first speeding ticket (or at least some summons...

Into Virginia

by Calvin Sun | Mar 31, 2015 | Spring 2015: The Great USA Roadtrip, United States, Virginia

As I live vicariously from home (gotta work a few shifts in the ER before I can join them later in Memphis and Chicago!), the group drove from DC and found themselves in Virginia, stopping for the night in Roanoke after a full day of driving. As...

From NYC To DC

by Calvin Sun | Mar 30, 2015 | District of Columbia, Fail, New York, Spring 2015: The Great USA Roadtrip

Gareth, Jenn, Jorge and I spent the last 2 days leading Roza and her husband, Stephen, around NYC, living vicariously through their wonder at a place we fondly call home. Sometimes you don't have to travel very far to discover you can once again...

Welcome To New York

by Calvin Sun | Mar 29, 2015 | New York, Spring 2015: The Great USA Roadtrip, The Nightlife, United States

Today kicks off the first day of 4 weeks of nonstop travel from NYC to Tennessee, from Chicago on Route 66 to San Francisco, from Venezuela to French Guiana, and from Cuba to the DR and Haiti. Given that a majority of our travelers either live in NYC or...

The Venezuela Visa Requirements For U.S. Citizens

by Calvin Sun | Mar 20, 2015 | Getting that VISA, Venezuela

A recent game of Venezuelan political football just caused the visa requirements to change on March 5th, 2015. So what used to be a simple visa on arrival has now become a massive due-diligence paper trail operation that...

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