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On a sun-baked day 20 years ago, when I was living in the Comoros, off the East African coast, I learned a lesson. The shortwave was tuned to the world news from London, and the broadcaster reported unrest in my village. Only it wasn’t true. I’d just ridden my bike home from the school where I was teaching…and nothing was out of the ordinary. Note to self: second-hand dispatches to be taken with a grain of salt.

The Red Carpet Antiques Festival in Lyon, France, on October 3 sees traffic brought to a standstill as a vast red carpet is rolled out on Rue Auguste Compte, a route lined with antique stores. Live music and a food fair accompany the all-night festival, as shoppers browse the spectacular window displays.

The Phra Singh temple is just one of the 300 or so Buddhist temples that you’ll find in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai. The elegant temple library and exquisite murals in the 700-year-old shrine make it one of the city’s most visited sites. But it isn’t the only thing attracting people.

Brilliant yellow sunflowers, lush green ferns, banana, papaya and palm trees…the Vilcabamba valley is a nature lover’s retreat. You’ll see soaring vultures, vivid black and red tanagers, and small powder-blue finches that flit from tree to tree.

There’s always room for wealth creation. Despite the world’s economic woes, the number of people with $30 million or more in net assets rose by 5% globally last year. And according to the Frank Knight Wealth Report 2013, over the next 10 years there’ll be a 50% rise in the number of people breaking that barrier.

Alfredo and Yvonne Villoria were just another fast-paced, career-minded couple in Los Angeles. But money-making wasn’t enough. “We felt that something was missing,” says Yvonne.

Real estate prices in Ecuador are low—among the lowest anywhere. That means you can find some of the best bargains in the world. So if you choose this country, you may decide it makes sense to buy a residence.

Penny Ripple is perhaps Boquete’s most enthusiastic resident. “The landscapes here just blow you away. I can see Volcan Baru, a dormant volcano and the highest point in Panama, from my window. We’re about 3,500 feet above sea level in Panama’s Chiriqui province, near the Costa Rica border. I love it here,” she says.