Where Have We Been?

Monsooners: Antarctica – Anderson “All-Star” Lee, Tabitha “The Alchemist” Shook, Vineet “I Didn’t Do It” Devaiah, PJ “The Champ” Danarh, Arti “Child of the World” B, Dennis “Vormund”, Joreen “Unfiltered” Tay, Victor “Designated Driver” Ng, Simon “The Historian” Lu, Grace “The Scholar” An, Lui “Guardian of the Dungeon”,  Morello, Alex “Enabled by the Guardian of the Dungeon” Hardy, Esther “Perpetual Motion” Wisse, Patrick “The Grand Cannon” Le Quere, Benjamin “The Virtuoso”, Scott “Streaking Redefined” Frazier, Sandra “Queen of the Amazon” Friedel, Serena “Queen of the Ice” Yuan, Gareth “The Guvnor” Johnson; Pakistan – Mariam “O Darling, My Darling” Dar

Remarks: “This was such an amazing trip and I’m so glad that we had a perfect mix of new friends that came together that made it so fun and memorable. Definitely surreal and felt like a dream with TONS of photos and videos.” – Simon Lu

“Thanks to everyone part of the Monsoon Diaries/YPT Antarctica trip for making the experience even more memorable and fun. Keep striving!” – Grace An

“It’s the most epic trip I’ve ever taken.” – Tabitha Shook

“Special thanks to The Monsoon Diaries and Young Pioneer Tours for making this the trip of a lifetime!” – Tabitha Shook

“My trip was amazing. What an incredible end to the year with an expedition to Antarctica and a floating party. Can’t imagine a more perfect mix of friends to experience Antarctica with.” – Scott Frazier

“…an epic trip to Antarctica.” – Vineet Devaiah

“We had wonderful days in Antarctica with lovely and stinky penguins.” – Arti B

“Ice and penguins and more ice and snow and glaciers and a perfect honeymoon.” – Dennis

“Unforgettable trip to the white desert!” – Joreen Tay

“Antarctica is met stip binnen gekomen als de indrukwekkendste ervaring tot nu toe.” – Esther Wisse

“Have safely returned from the most remote place on earth with Young Pioneer Tours and the Monsoon Diaries — feeling great.” – Alex Hardy

“…an amazing Antarctican adventure!” – Patrick Le Quere

Monsooners: Andrea Trillo, Mel “Puffin-Toed” Tri, Danny “Gonna Shank You” Tran, Jenn “The Unicorn” Lau, Tracy “Queen of Scots” Thai, Bill “Prefontaine” Zhang, Alistair “Monkey Bars/Where’s Alistair?” Morgan, Suhrid “Subkuch Milega” Mantravadi, Freema “Gunner Wants Sum Borscht” Vinnikov

Remarks: “Calvin, thanks for the experience I am gonna convince more Columbia Kappas to go do a Monsoon Diaries adventure!” – Tracy Thai

“Had a blast in Iceland!” – Bill Zhang

“I must admit you are quite committed. I am impressed. Will definitely travel again. Thanks for everything (our fearless leader)!” – Danny Tran

“Had an incredible time with these guys. If you love to travel definitely check out monsoondiaries.com . . . Amazing time. Great peoples to travel with. Go check it out.” – Danny Tran (to his friends)

“Had an awesome time in Iceland, thanks so much for organizing everything. I will definitely stay tuned for future Monsoon adventures!” – Freema Vinnikov

“Yo mate – had a great time in Iceland. Was good to see you. Made some great friends and can barely speak today due to singing so much.” – Alistair Morgan

“I had a great time with you mate – would love to travel with you again, so if not this time (although feeling good about this time), keep me updated as I’m sure I can hop onto your next trip.” – Alistair Morgan (again)

“Dude, get your 7 hours [of sleep] tonight. You need it, LOL! I had fun. Hopefully I’ll be seeing you real soon!” – Andrea Trillo

Remarks: “Thank you for planning an amazing trip to Central America – it was an awesome experience! . . . I look forward to traveling with you again, perhaps when you go back to India!” – Bill Zou

Remarks: “Thanks for the great trip as well. Tell everyone it was great meeting them!” – Sam Wong

Remarks: “I wanted to thank everyone for sharing this experience with me. Calvin reminded me the night of Ruchika’s birthday that NO ONE, not even my future husband, will ever understand or have shared the moments I shared with you all — my first trip outside of the U.S.A. and discovering myself through backpacking. 

I’m so blessed to have met each and every one of you. I made a comment to some of you that it’s amazing how 17 different personalities managed to get along; there was not one person on this trip that I did not enjoy spending time with. 

Continue to travel the world, get to know yourselves even more, and thank you for sharing your stories with me and allowing me to share parts of myself with you too. You ladies and gents are beautiful people!” – Maria Villa

“I just wanted to say what a pleasure it was to travel with you all. It was a trip in every sense of the word, and I am so glad to have had the opportunity to share the unique experience with such a diverse group. 

I hope that our paths cross again whether it be a visit to each others’ home cities or serendipitously abroad. If you are ever in the Southern California area, please don’t hesitate to shoot me an email or give me a ring. 

Lastly, here is a quote that I wanted to recite over a toast at our last dinner in Krakow (thanks again, Calvin!) since I thought it fit our adventure well, but I did not want to butcher it: 

‘The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.’ – G. K. Chesterton” – Jan Ferrer

“It was a blast! Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts, along with your hand warmers and beers. It’s been a serious pleasure getting to know all of you and I’m humbled by all of your experiences and stories. . . . 

And finally, Calvin, thank you thank you thank you for leading by example. I’m sure our paths will cross many times again.” – Carolyn Hou

“[Since my first trip with The Monsoon Diaries], I’ve been to more places in the last year than I have been in my entire life. And in another seven days, I will board a plane for my fourth Monsoon in the last year, this time to Eastern Europe, as a third-time veteran of The Monsoon Diaries’ family—and with newly granted co-blogging privileges . . . click for more at ‘Why I Move’” – Cynthia Koo

Remarks:  “Sorry for this late response but never really had the courage to thank you for the organizing and planning our Iran trip. I grew and learn a lot about myself because of everyone on that trip. I meant what I said about you inspiring me as a human being. I should have done things that I only love to do and to take action in accomplishing my dreams and and love of life. 

Words really don’t teach but it was you being an example that help me realize it. I know you would be an amazing doctor and traveler. I really don’t know how you do it as a world traveler and a Med student at Columbia, but now I know for sure there is no excuse and anything is possible if you have the passion and the love and it is thanks to you.” – Anonymous

“Traveling to Iran with Calvin and the Monsooners was such an amazing, insightful adventure. I met friends and explored places that I’ll remember for a lifetime.” – Jade Shyu

“Thanks for doing all the planning, teaching us all the survival tips and being a fun and reliable  leader for all of us. I got a lot out of this trip.” – Seulbee Lee

“Thanks for the awesome trip. I came out poorer in the wallet but richer as a person.” – Jane Yee

“[Remembering] this, after only a few days of home life, brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for a life changing experience. The highs and lows of the last two weeks are the reason why it the best two weeks of my life.” – Melissa Le