by Calvin Sun | Jan 16, 2023 | Blitzkrieg!!!, Côte d'Ivoire, Getting that VISA, How Did You Do That?, January 2023: Côte d'Ivoire, Layovers, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, Weekend Trips
The end of 2022 was coming around and nobody was yet taking up my offer to repeat our Caribbean adventure last January. So my gut started talking and I began to consider postponing the original plan in favor of a different excursion. Poking around options...
by Calvin Sun | Dec 19, 2022 | Blitzkrieg!!!, Border Crossing, December 2022: Senegal, The Gambia, & Guinea-Bissau, Getting that VISA, Guinea-Bissau, How Did You Do That?, Senegal, The Gambia, Way Way Off the Beaten Path
Starting from an hour’s south of Banjul at a last minute villa I found on Booking.com in Old Yundum, we set out at 6:30am in the morning. Good timing because we started driving approximately 5 minutes right after the power went out in the house from what...
by Calvin Sun | Jul 19, 2022 | Cape Verde, Getting that VISA, July 2022: Cape Verde, Walking Tours
5 days off in the middle of summer, and flights dropping down to $800 roundtrip from NYC to Cape Verde…what’s not to like? Taking advantage of the new (just opened up 10 months ago!) Air Senegal Flight HC408 route, direct from NYC to DSS (NYC to...
by Calvin Sun | Jun 19, 2022 | Fail, Flying Fancy, Getting that VISA, How Did You Do That?, How's the weather?, June 2022: Svalbard, Lessons Learned, Norway, Svalbard, Way Way Off the Beaten Path
Postponed 3 times over 3 years, we’re finally making this voyage happen. It may not be starting off pretty once we arrived, but what matters is that we’re here. Using miles for my first voyage on SAS Airlines, I spent only $70 to snag...
by Calvin Sun | Mar 11, 2022 | Getting that VISA, How Did You Do That?, Iraq, March 2022: Central Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Serendipitous!, Way Way Off the Beaten Path
Less than 4 years ago I was invited on a whim to join my friend Rik Brinks for a beer in Kurdistan Iraq. So I went without a moment’s notice, not realizing how easy it was to get in with a visa on arrival. There I ran into not only Rik, but also...
by Calvin Sun | Oct 10, 2021 | Getting that VISA, How Did You Do That?, October 2021: Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia, Way Way Off the Beaten Path
Got my third booster for COVID-19 yesterday! And what better way to revel in my potential side effects of the booster than a 12 hour red-eye flight from NYC to Abu Dhabi to Riyadh? The days of loopholes and hurdles to obtain a business or transit visa...
