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,...

A Glacier For The Gods: El Perito Moreno

by Calvin Sun | Dec 26, 2013 | Argentina, How Did You Do That?, Mo' Money Mo' Problems, What Dreams May Come, Winter 2013: Antarctica to Pakistan

Today was a feast for the eyes, and for the imagination. Even though I just was in Antarctica, this Patagonian glacier by El Calafate can give those in Antarctica a run for their money: We first confirmed that Simon was safe and sound in Puerto Natales...

A Comedy Of Errors: From El Calafate To Torres Del Paine

by Calvin Sun | Dec 25, 2013 | Argentina, Blitzkrieg!!!, Border Crossing, Chile, Crisis, Doctor in the House, Fail, Getting that VISA, Lessons Learned, Mo' Money Mo' Problems, Winter 2013: Antarctica to Pakistan

It took more effort than what was necessary to get these views.After disembarking from the m/v Ortelius yesterday in Ushuaia and hopping on an evening flight to El Calafate with Anderson and Simon, I settled in America del Sur Hostel (one of the best I've...

Sailing Into A Volcano In Antarctica

by Calvin Sun | Dec 24, 2013 | Antarctica, Crisis, How's the weather?, Lessons Learned, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come, Winter 2013: Antarctica, Winter 2013: Antarctica to Pakistan

Day 4: There's only 2 places in the world where you can sail directly into a volcano. The first one is Santorini, Greece (yawn), the second one is Deception Island in Antarctica: And we got exactly the kind of epic weather we had been hoping for:...

Skinny Dipping In Antarctica (NSFW)

by Calvin Sun | Dec 24, 2013 | Antarctica, Doctor in the House, Fail, How's the weather?, Lessons Learned, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come, Winter 2013: Antarctica, Winter 2013: Antarctica to Pakistan

Antarctica Day 3 in a nutshell: We first woke up for a quick hike up Neko Harbor: More panoramas of Neko Harbor: After lunch we then headed to Cuverville Island to see some Gentoo penguins: ...but more...

Getting Married In Antarctica

by Calvin Sun | Dec 23, 2013 | Antarctica, How's the weather?, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come, Winter 2013: Antarctica, Winter 2013: Antarctica to Pakistan

Video of our sailing through the Lemaire Channel: And cruising around our zodiacs afterwards: We woke up the next morning near the British-operated Fort Lockroy. There we got the much-coveted passport stamps for Antarctica: We...

First Landing In Antarctica

by Calvin Sun | Dec 22, 2013 | Antarctica, Winter 2013: Antarctica, Winter 2013: Antarctica to Pakistan

Video of our first sighting of Antarctica: So many preview photos for an entry this time... simply because our first day in Antarctica just that stunning: We caught our first glimpse of Antarctica and its pack ice at around 10pm on...

Crossing The Drake Passage For Antarctica

by Calvin Sun | Dec 22, 2013 | Antarctica, How Did You Do That?, How's the weather?, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, Winter 2013: Antarctica to Pakistan

Don't get too seasick watching this! An epic wave occurs around the 0:26 mark: Today we boarded for Antarctica by sailing through what has been known as the most dangerous seas on Earth, The Drake Passage.My group first gathered at 4:10pm at the...

The Fate That Binds Us To Antarctica

by Calvin Sun | Dec 13, 2013 | Antarctica, Argentina, Serendipitous!, Winter 2013: Antarctica to Pakistan

We sail in less than 3 hours. Anyone worried that it's also the Friday the 13th? As we wait for our ship to be prepped, I look back on 3 years of travel and coincidences, how we got this trip off the ground and how at the age of 27 and within 3 years since my...

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