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...

First Night In Manila

by Calvin Sun | Dec 2, 2014 | Serendipitous!, The Nightlife, The Philippines, Winter 2014: Extreme SE Asia

First night in Manila and the group is ready.What better way to make first impressions than to party it up the first night at Privé? Side story: Filipino guy next to me on the flight to Manila: "I think I've heard of you....Monsoon Diaries?" Me: "..."

Full Circles from JFK to Manila

by Calvin Sun | Dec 1, 2014 | Serendipitous!

One of the first photos I ever took for this blog was the one above of a little Filipina girl in Manila 4 years ago. I remembered thinking: What a badass. On The Monsoon Diaries' maiden voyage 4 years ago, I took an afternoon Cathay Pacific flight CX831 to...

Meet The Island Hoppers

by Calvin Sun | Oct 13, 2014 | Introductions

MEET THE MONSOONERS OF EXTREME SE ASIA Introducing the following monsooners (half of them are return travelers!) accompanying me on my December trip to Southeast Asia: [column width="47%"...

Adventures Around Nosara, Costa Rica

by Lei Zhao | Aug 23, 2014 | Costa Rica, Fail, Guest Posts, How's the weather?, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

The Setting - The Nicoya Peninsula & Nosara The Nicoya Peninsula is located in western Costa Rica along the Pacific Coast. Most of the peninsula lies within Guanacaste Province. The climate of the Nicoya Peninsula ranges from the drier ranch lands in the north...

One Last Night In Hong Kong

by Calvin Sun | Jun 16, 2014 | Blitzkrieg!!!, Epiphanies on the Road, Hong Kong, Introspection, Serendipitous!, The Nightlife

Press play. And then start reading. The wanderer begins alone. He is but a single leaf drifting in a forest, relishing in the anonymity granted by the countless cities that shelter him. He will lose himself dancing among the spices of...

5 Hours In Macau

by Calvin Sun | Jun 14, 2014 | Blitzkrieg!!!, Macau

Today I arrived in Hong Kong around the early afternoon and decided to take a quick day trip into Macau. I won't attempt to outdo Lei here as he did a much better job covering Macau. From my hotel I took a cab to the Hong Kong Ferry Terminal...

18 Hours In Seoul

by Calvin Sun | Jun 14, 2014 | Blitzkrieg!!!, How Did You Do That?, Public Transportation, Serendipitous!, South Korea

I found out 2 days ago I needed to go to Hong Kong for a last minute trip with my brother, so I figured to include a 18 hour layover in Seoul, South Korea because:I've never been beforeThe flights ended up being $600 cheaper From Incheon...

This Is My Medical School Graduation Speech

by Calvin Sun | May 29, 2014 | New York, Post-travel Reflections, Speeches, United States, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come

Before I give you the transcript, a preface: I started this blog 4 years ago, exactly at the time when I also started medical school. In a way, my journey with The Monsoon Diaries would not have been possible without my parallel journey through medical school. And...

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