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...

30 Hours In Dallas

by Calvin Sun | Jan 15, 2015 | Blitzkrieg!!!, Fit for Foodies, Texas, United States

Continuing our trend of blitzkrieg day trips, I returned to the heartland of America with one day in Dallas, TX. There waiting for me, reliable and true, was Jenn Li of The Points In Between. She was continuing her sabbatical across America, and I was once...

Monuments To The Gods: Monument Valley, AZ/UT

by Calvin Sun | Jan 5, 2015 | Arizona, Blitzkrieg!!!, United States, Utah, What Dreams May Come

Last night in Page, AZ, we stopped by for a drink, live music, pool and a little bout of Western dancing at the Windy Mesa Bar. 2 Chinese Americans, 2 Serbs, and 1 Australian in a group may have made for a curious look, but people were generally friendly and...

Backyard Beauty: Page, AZ

by Calvin Sun | Jan 4, 2015 | Arizona, Blitzkrieg!!!, United States, What Dreams May Come

2 days ago I decided to visit Arizona for a weekend trip right after getting off of work. I was going to link up with a friend, whom I traveled with in Brunei, who was going to continue her cross-country USA trip. When you find yourself at Antelope...

Making Brunei Ours

by Calvin Sun | Dec 13, 2014 | Blitzkrieg!!!, Brunei Darussalam, Fit for Foodies, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Serendipitous!, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, Winter 2014: Extreme SE Asia

Jame'Asri Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah mosque just got served: Our group departed East Timor-Leste the next morning for Bali, where the plan was to spend another day before leaving the next morning for Manila. But it would be in Bali where the...

Baucau Epic

by Calvin Sun | Dec 11, 2014 | East Timor-Leste, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come, Winter 2014: Extreme SE Asia

Yesterday and today we went way further off the beaten path: the second largest "city" in East Timor of Baucau (which is really more of a seaside village than a city). The 10 of us hired a private van to take us there and back the...

Discovering East Timor

by Calvin Sun | Dec 9, 2014 | East Timor-Leste, Walking Tours, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, Winter 2014: Extreme SE Asia

Today the group pulled an all-nighter to catch at 7:30am flight from Bali to Dili, the capital of East-Timor Leste. When we landed, I immediately knew we were in a country unlike most others. This is travel purely off the beaten track, where...

No Typhoon Can Stop The Monsoon: Bali

by Calvin Sun | Dec 8, 2014 | Blitzkrieg!!!, Epiphanies on the Road, Fail, Fit for Foodies, How Did You Do That?, Indonesia, Introspection, Lessons Learned, Mo' Money Mo' Problems, The Philippines, Winter 2014: Extreme SE Asia

In the last post I described the massive risk we were taking rebooking a flight from the Philippines to Bali after a later flight of ours was cancelled because of the typhoon. Well, we made it. Not even a typhoon can stop the monsoon! After...

Escaping The Typhoon

by Calvin Sun | Dec 7, 2014 | Camping, Crisis, How's the weather?, Let me tell you a Story..., The Philippines, Uncategorized Stories, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come, Winter 2014: Extreme SE Asia

We're not in the clear yet, so keep your fingers crossed until we reach Bali. And even then, I'm not sure if typhoons affecting even a single country may spread to the entire Southeast Asia region. For more drama, read on... On our third and final day...

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