As fall arrives in the northern hemisphere, Nicaragua remains warm, with temperatures averaging 79 F. That makes it easy to enjoy the outdoor festivities that sweep the country. The San Jerónimo festival, in the city of Masaya, sees a statue of the country’s patron saint taken from its usual haunt, the church altar, and carried around the town, accompanied by traditional dancers. One of the procession’s highlights is the Mozote y Verga, in which dancers reenact great battles of Nicaragua’s past from the Filibuster War of 1856 to the ousting of the dictatorship in 1979. The event kicks off on September 30.

As I watch the sun setting on the little Korean fishing village of Sinnam, the cicadas singing and a cool breeze blowing in from the sea, I can just about make out the silhouette of a giant penis on the horizon. Which makes sense, of course. Sinnam, in Gangwon province, is home to Haesindang Park (known as Penis Park to visitors), a sculpture park dedicated to sometimes crude, often hilarious, effigies of the male genitalia.

September is a special time in the South African town of Hermanus. The end of this month heralds the arrival of giants just offshore, as the southern right whales return to mate and reproduce. You can get amazing views of these 50-ton behemoths from your hotel room, or catch one of the many chartered boats for an even closer look. Right whales are famously friendly and will often approach boats…a trait that made them an attractive target for the whalers of old. The waters off Hermanus are home to another, more terrifying denizen of the deep: the great white shark. And this is one of the best places in the world to get up close and personal with this awesome predator…from the safety of a cage, of course. For around $110, you can even get a cameraman to film your dive for you.

It’s easy to succumb to the stereotype that Tokyo is a cold, concrete skyline with a 24-hour lifestyle dedicated to hard work. But I know it as one of the friendliest cities I have ever visited, with overwhelming personality and too many hidden cultural gems to count. The Imperial Palace is definitely worth a visit, with its immaculate gardens and history stretching back centuries. The palace was first built in 1888 by Emperor Meiji the Great, who oversaw Japan’s transition from a feudal society to one of the world’s great powers.

Everyone likes to complain about inflation, right? But I have news for you: There are big changes afoot that are going to make many of the things you buy not more expensive, but less. Crude oil now threatens to test its price low of 2009. But oil isn’t the only commodity under pressure. Coffee is down more than 40% since its recent peak in October of last year. You know what’s doing nearly as badly as coffee? Copper. Copper has broken not one, but two important lines of support. In July, Goldman Sachs slashed its price target for copper in 2016 by 44%. In fact, all industrial metals are doing poorly. I’m talking copper, aluminum, tin, nickel, iron.

In 2012, Connie and Mikkel Moller planned a trip from their hometown of Auburn, California, to Panama without checking the local calendar. They flew into the busy hub of Panama City, and hopped on a bus to the fishing village of Pedasí. Little did they know it was Carnival season…one big, nationwide party, with the biggest concentrations of revelers just minutes from the town center.

Though the evenings come sooner and the cold is beginning to bite, there’s still enough sunlight in an Irish September to enjoy the splendor of the countryside. Summer leaves are fading to shades of brown, amber, and fiery orange. On the telegraph wires, swallows gather in preparation for their annual migration to southern Africa. I enjoy all four seasons in Ireland, from the first winter snowdrops to the summer strawberries. But it’s days like today, the last vestiges of fading summer warmth before winter arrives in earnest, that you really appreciate walks in the countryside.

Judith Greenwood has been dreaming about Italy for as long as she can remember. She studied Italian in college, traveled to Italy during her studies, and many years later—still enthralled with the language, culture, food, and lifestyle—moved to vineyard-rich Umbria, where she has been fully immersed in Italy’s legendary food culture ever since.

“We love Penang for a number of reasons,” says Carol Kildruff of her and her husband Hank’s decision to move to the Southeast Asian island in 2005. “It wasn’t purely for financial reasons, although that was a bonus. Winters in Canada are brutal, and we really wanted somewhere warm for seven months of the year. Of course, when we found out that Penang has the best food in the region, it clinched the deal and made the decision to move all the easier.”