| Destination | Arrival | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lagos, Nigeria | December 29, 2023 |
| 2 | Badagry, Nigeria | December 30, 2023 |
| 3 | Cotonou, Benin | December 30, 2023 |
| 4 | Abomey, Benin | December 31, 2023 |
| 5 | Ganvie, Benin | December 31, 2023 |
| 6 | Ouidah, Benin | December 31, 2023 |
| 7 | Togoville, Togo | January 2, 2024 |
| 8 | Lomé, Togo | January 2, 2024 |
| 9 | Accra, Ghana | January 5, 2024 |
| 10 | Cape Coast, Ghana | January 4, 2024 |
| 11 | Kakum National Park, Ghana | January 5, 2024 |
| 12 | Accra, Ghana | January 5, 2024 |
| 13 | São Tomé, São Tomé & Príncipe | January 7, 2024 |
| 14 | Príncipe, São Tomé & Príncipe | January 8, 2024 |
| 15 | São Tomé, São Tomé & Príncipe | January 9, 2024 |
| 16 | Libreville, Gabon | January 10, 2024 |
| 17 | Douala, Cameroon | January 11, 2024 |
| 18 | Malabo, Equatorial Guinea | January 12, 2024 |
Monsooners:
Letti “Deepak Chopra” Hale, Sandy “Don’t Forget To Smell the Fried Chickens” Rie, Lauren “Sacred Fores” Lee, Priyanka “Flagstaff” Shetty
Remarks:
“I had too much fun on this trip, Calvin” – Lauren
“Everything has been amazing” – Letti Hale
“This trip is already so memorable. I love it.” – Lauren Lee
“Thank you for making this trip so effortless!” – Letti Hale
“Dear lovelies,
I am grateful for the grace, smiles, patience, passion, and warm hearts you shared with me
It was one of the most memorable trips for me because of you
Much gratitude for your presence & sharing
I wish you nothing but love, peace, happiness, joy, and good health
“See you on the road” – Jack Kerouac
“We are all walking each other home” – Ram Dass
🌎🇸🇹🇬🇭🇧🇯🇹🇬🌍
much love.” – Lauren Lee
“My people. I didn’t get to say goodbye 🙁 I’ll see you soon! Thanks for an amazing adventure. Just landed in Cairo – missing y’all. – Letti Hale
“Safely landed in HK!! Miss you guys already.” – Sandy Rie
| Destination | Arrival | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Niseko, Japan | February 17, 2024 |
| 2 | Koror, Palau | February 24, 2024 |
| 3 | Saipan, Saipan | February 26, 2024 |
| 4 | Guam, Guam | February 27, 2024 |
| 5 | Yap, Federated States of Micronesia | February 28, 2024 |
| 6 | Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia | March 3, 2024 |
| 7 | Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia | March 3, 2024 |
| 8 | Majuro, Marshall Islands | March 3, 2024 |
Monsooners:
Megan “Monsoon United” Whyte, Sujay “Apres” Sheth, Bruce “Fiber” Zhang, Lyla “5 Star Uber Rating” Kamigaki, Lydia “Snow Day” Chan, Jeffrey “By The Numbers” Wing, Andre “Ronin” Thomas, Taejin “Master Ch(i)ef” Kim, Kunal “Full Send” Desai, David “Backcountry” Park, Yuhan “PowPow” Lee, Brett “Mercury Poisoning” Margolias, Jenny “Wa(g)y(u) of the Samurai” Ngo, Natalie “Bluebird” Tan, Eric “Snowbird” Kim, Stephanie “Federated States of Florida” Liu
Remarks:
“dear february & inner voice,
with no expectation i followed your little trace on the snow and found myself ending up in the magical land, japan.
throwing snowballs, riding side by side with new friends we just met, drinking tasty sake, eating bowls of ramen after snowboarding, taking care of each other & making sure no one fell on the slippery night street, having conversations until our eyes couldn’t open anymore.and numerous more beautiful & unforgettable moments that makes this trip dreamy and real at the same time.
..can we have the dream again, inner voice?” – Yuhan Lee
“Med school sucks but you guys are amazing. Thanks for teaching me how to board! And thanks to everyone else for cooking and cleaning. This past week is definitely the happiest I’ve been in a long time!! See you all sooner or later 🙂 :)” – Bruce Zhang
“Awesome week with all you amazing people. 🙏🏾. Calvin and I are going to buy the apartment between us and have Monsoon headquarters NYC. When that happens you will have a permanent couch to sleep on.” – Brett Margolias
“😘😘😘😘😘😘😘 It was so so so nice to meet all of you and enjoy Niseko together. From the 1st YOLO gondola run to Karaoke! Hope to see u soon! ❤️” – Natalie Tan
“Thank you – for being you, for bringing the right vibes, for making it all mesh beautifully. Love you all.” – Lydia Chan
“Everything reminds me of niseko” – Taejin Kim
“Have a safe flight everyone! I’m honored to have met an awesome group of people on this trip. Thanks TJ for inviting me and thanks everyone for being chill af. If yall ever come to Korea please let me know! I got uuuu 👊” – Eric Kim
“Thank you everyone for a remarkable powdery Japan ski trip. I am grateful for all these memories and laughter we had together.
Sorry didn’t had a chance to properly say good bye to each one of you before I left this morning. I am on the bus to New Chitose Airport now. Hope to see you all very soon on the future trip.
If anyone is visiting San Francisco let me know! Happy to show you around and take you to yummy food places. :)” – Yuhan Lee
“Thank u for being the best planner and arranging all the jigsaw puzzles together ❤️. I had a wonderful time!!!” – Natalie Tan
“Dang I’m like really sad lol. Which means! I had to have been really happy while I was here.” – Bruce Zhang
“Great seeing old friends and meeting new ones on this trip! Had an amazing time in such a beautiful place. Thanks to all that helped organize and safe travels – looking forward to many more adventures soon!!” – Sujay Sheth
“Thank YOU for being so organized, generous & awesome 🥹 had so much fun with everyone.” – Jenny Ngo
“Reunion labor day weekend in atlanta for dragoncon!” – Taejin Kim
[Video]
Lydia: OK Nat, how was your first monsoon?
Nat: I loved it, I don’t know how I’m gonna go back to reality.
Lydia: What was the best part?
Nat: Just hanging out with people who are so fun, who are so spontaneous, who are so friendly, and doing things I really like doing.
Lydia: Did you like the extra [perks]?
Nat: Who doesn’t.
Lydia: Was it nice?
Nat: Yes.
Lydia: Would you come on another monsoon?
Nat: Yes!
Lydia: Next week?
“Yes! So happy I decided to full send it and join this trip with a little fomo induced convincing by @Sujay Sheth and @YuHan Lee. Cannot wait to see you all (mon)soon! :)” – Kunal Desai
“Best week ever 🫶” – Natalie Tan
“Jean claude van DAMN we look good 😎” – Kunal Desai
“CALVIN!! Monsoon in Korea!!” – Lyla Kamigaki
“I must admit, Calvin D. Sun picks some really good Michelin restaurants for these trips” – Lydia Chan
“I must have gotten so bored of smiling 😂😂😂😂😂” – Natalie Tan
“So many memories!!” – David Park
Bruce: [shows photo of Jimmy Butler as his iPhone background] This was my phone background for the last month or so as I was finishing up preclinical.
It’s a picture of jimmy butler, a star player on the Miami heat during the 2020 finals and it’s a photo of him bent over in exhaustion trying to will his team to victory. I used it as motivation to push me through my last little bit of exams.
Calvin: One day you’re gonna put a photo of yourself as your background!
Bruce: I just changed it to this [sends new iPhone background photo of himself on this trip] bc this makes me happy and gives me motivation in a different way . . . That day is today! Haha
“I’ve transcended to the next level of sushi heaven” – Brett Margolias
“[About not saying goodbye in person] . . . Means we’re meant to meet again even sooner 💕
[About making sure this is just the beginning of her adventures] . . . I am 😉” – Natalie Tan
“It’s ok, we’ve had 6 straight days of 🍀✨” – Jenny Ngo
“CALVIN ❤️❤️❤️. Thank you so so so much for such an incredible trip! It was amazing to be a part of it 🥰” – Megan Whyte
“Put me back in the waitlist for Tomorrowland, final answer. If I get a ticket I will find a way to make it, no matter what.
If I’m gonna go tomorrow land there is literally no other group of people I’d rather go with.” – Bruce Zhang
“This one really came out of nowhere and turned into an unforgettable trip! Grateful to travel with such amazing people!!
Sometimes the most rewarding experiences lie outside your comfort zone.” – David Park
“Niseko 2024 🇯🇵⛷️🏂 Unforgettable memories with some amazing people 🙏🏼💙🙌🏽” – Eric Kim
“I had such an amazing trip. Literally the best in years.” – Natalie Tan
“Fancy dinner time at KAMIMURA in Niseko Hirafu Village. That truffle butter was amazing.
Some items were a bit much (potato marinated for 510 days?), but such an amazing experience overall and with great company. I heard the Japanese riesling was top notch.” – Taejin Kim
“[sends podcast video] A long video but this clip of this podcast made me thinking of monsooning. Delayed gratification doing things that in the moment might be hard but ultimately are good for you and most importantly the confidence you get from traveling is very transferable to the rest of your life.
That last day I went down that black bc I knew me challenging myself was more than about snowboarding but doing something I was uncomfortable with.” – Bruce Zhang
“How is it only a wk ago we were scrambling for the 7am bus.. feels like a lifetime ago !! I miss our trip!” – Natalie Tan
“Thank you for letting me tag along with you! It was definitely a once in a lifetime trip and now I want to see the rest of the pacific islands! Isaiah is awesome and I hope we can go on a trip together.
I’m looking forward to more details about the next island hopping. Have a good flight home!!” – Stephanie Liu
“I’m out here now in [Hawai’i] for a week doing a surf camp and just wanted to say if I had not traveled with you I probably would have never done a solo trip like this.” – Bruce Zhang
“I told my friends that it was one of the most fun trips I had in a very long time. . . . You’ve built something …truly meaningful.” – Jenny Ngo
“So honored to be part of this community!!” – Megan Whyte
“Life long friendships…Thank you Calvin for putting this trip together and you are amazing! Also, Megan was a rockstar for showing us the Hokkaido mountain.” – Yuhan Lee
| Destination | Arrival | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tripoli, Libya | April 16, 2024 |
| 2 | Nafusa Mountains, Libya | April 17, 2024 |
| 3 | Gharyan, Libya | April 17, 2024 |
| 4 | Sabratha, Libya | April 18, 2024 |
| 5 | Leptis Magna, Libya | April 19, 2024 |
Monsooners:
Paul “Atreides” Woo, Mihaela “BeBest” Kracun, Francois “Birthday Bourdain” DeAsis, Leshawn “Dune” Anderson, Corinna “DickPuncher” Algranti
Remarks:
“Feel like I still owe you a proper thank you message for everything but haven’t had time as been busy being in the moment😜. So I m sending you this instead which will invariably stress me out about having to send something later and about the fact that it will for sure be underwhelming after this entire unnecessary setup.
Or maybe I don’t send anything and in between the lines of this is actually the message.” – Corinna Algranti
“Hey brother, hope you got back to the US safely. I know I tend to keep my birthday on the down low but for what it’s worth what you guys put together on the last day really meant a lot to me. Just wanted to mention that. Much love and until the next one 🤙” – Francois DeAsis
“Thank you for cultivating and sharing your community with me.” – Mihaela Kracun
