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...

Ghost Festival In Dali

by Lei Zhao | Feb 10, 2014 | August 2013: Lei Goes to China, China, Guest Posts, Let me tell you a Story..., Post-travel Reflections, Serendipitous!, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

The following is the second of 4 guest posts on China by Lei Zhao, who continues to contribute to the Monsoon Diaries adventures time and time again. Lei Zhao and I have been close friends since 7th grade of middle school. Saying that we've been through a lot...

Hong Kong & Macau: 2 Different Worlds Inside China

by Lei Zhao | Feb 5, 2014 | August 2013: Lei Goes to China, China, Fit for Foodies, Guest Posts, Hong Kong, Macau, Serendipitous!, Walking Tours

The following is the first of 4 guest posts on China by Lei Zhao, who continues to contribute to the Monsoon Diaries adventures time and time again. Lei Zhao and I have been close friends since 7th grade of middle school. Saying that we've been through a lot...

Escape From Snake Island

by Calvin Sun | Feb 2, 2014 | Camping, Crisis, Fail, Guest Posts, How Did You Do That?, Lessons Learned, Macedonia, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Way Way Off the Beaten Path

The following is a guest post by Brandon Green of Brandon is Still Alive, who graciously asked if he could contribute to the Monsoon Diaries adventures. Brandon Green and I had taken the same Calculus III Honors class 9 years ago during my freshman year at...

One Day In Bahrain

by Calvin Sun | Jan 7, 2014 | Bahrain, Blitzkrieg!!!, Walking Tours, Winter 2013: Antarctica to Pakistan

Our flight back to NYC from Lahore required a daylong layover in the Kingdom of Bahrain, of which we fully took advantage.It's a country most recently famous for being the nearby (and relatively more liberal) weekend destination for vactioning Saudis who need a...

One Last Day In Lahore

by Calvin Sun | Jan 6, 2014 | Epiphanies on the Road, Mythbusters, Pakistan, Winter 2013: Antarctica to Pakistan

Today was the day we needed to see all the major sites of Lahore other than the Badshahi Mosque. Beginning with a relatively early morning at 11am, we set off for the massive city-sized Lahore Fort: The first major part that you'll come upon entering...

Where Are Salwar Kameez Born?

by Calvin Sun | Jan 5, 2014 | Mo' Money Mo' Problems, Pakistan, Serendipitous!, The Nightlife, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, Winter 2013: Antarctica to Pakistan

Part of being in Pakistan during December is that you'll make it in time for good weather, good food, and the annual wedding season; stay here long enough and you're bound to get invited to one without any prior notice.This is what happened to me today when I thought...

A Wedding (The Walima) In Karachi: Part 3

by Calvin Sun | Jan 4, 2014 | How Did You Do That?, Mo' Money Mo' Problems, Pakistan, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, Winter 2013: Antarctica to Pakistan

The 3rd and final part of the wedding is the Walima, where the groom's family hosts the bride's family on their turf (their home, their city, their neighborhood, another venue, etc.), and everyone has one last dinner together. We started our first full day in...

Kool Karachi

by Calvin Sun | Jan 3, 2014 | Fit for Foodies, Pakistan, Winter 2013: Antarctica to Pakistan

After arriving in by train from Lahore, we settled in at a really nice place thanks to Mariam's family: We then got a driver and tried to hit the ground running: We passed by the house of the Bhutto family (the family of Benazir Bhutto, who...

« Older Entries

Next Entries »