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For those of us used to seeing chicken cut into parts, wrapped in plastic, and cooling in supermarket refrigerators, a trip to a local Peruvian market is fascinating and a bit daunting. At the biggest market, San Pedro, just up the street from the Plaza de Armas, you’ll find fruits, vegetables, alpaca charqui (the Quechua source of our word jerky), pig’s heads, herbs, fruit juices, weavings, and much, much more. You’ll see a fair number of foreigners wandering here as well, so for an experience that feels more authentic, try San Blas Market or Rosaspata, both off the tourist track.

The excellent swell and proximity to Taipei make Yilan one of the most popular places for surfing on the island. The swell is biggest and most consistent in the winter, but fun all year round.

This shaded park near the University of St. Thomas is right next to The Menil Collection. The park is very shaded and nestled between streets lined with classic 1920s bungalow houses. This place really captures Houston!

The Arboretum on the western side of Lake Zurich is a perfect place for a stroll, rain or shine. You can buy a brat and have a beer or watch the sailboats and ferries making their way across the lake.

Northern China has some of the most amazing tasting yogurts. Since we don’t have any decent yogurt in Shenzhen, I pig out every time I go north. Stalls and shops around Xi’an sell really cool drinking yogurts. This stall was on the west side of the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda. The yogurt was perfectly tasty, though the best bit about it was the glass jars.

For decades, this rooftop terrace bar situated at the W Hotel (formerly the Hotel Washington, circa 1918) has provided some of the most stellar views of the White House, monuments, memorials, and beyond. P.O.V. is open year-round, unlike many other local rooftops, and encourages guests to show up by 9 p.m. Once you’ve found a spot to lounge on a velvet banquette, order a round of craft cocktails along with small plates from world-renowned chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten.

A Montreal favorite, this wine bar is known for its elegant food and drinks— and comes recommended highly by Ritz-Carlton concierge Simon Bajouk. The wine selection is vast and the staff is extremely helpful in guiding visitors to something that they like. “Trios,” aka flights, are another good way to taste through a well curated selection. (Cocktails and local Quebecois beer are also available.) The food ranges from snacks like gougeres and nuts to porcini arancini and short ribs. A dish of green beens with truffle oil and almonds was fresh, light, and delicious; the charcuterie plate was a generous offering of various local salumi.

Straight from the Pony’s mouth: PONY is Kadeau’s cheeky ”little brother” residing in the small, homely premises of Vesterbrogade 135, where Kadeau Copenhagen used to be. The idea behind PONY is a more simple approach to the good dining experience, revolving around a small selection of à la carte dishes and a daily four course menu known as the “Pony Kick”. The food is based on seasonal and local produce and is in that sense new Nordic, as it is at Kadeau. But it is also bistro in style, and at PONY we proudly cook using produce from both Bornholm and the rest of our delicious Danish backyard.

Chef Chuck Hughes’ first flagship restaurant remains one of the best good-time spots in Old Montreal, featuring a blackboard menu full of seasonal dishes and insane cocktails. The Caesar is a must-try and comes with a salad’s worth of vegetables and a whole snow-crab leg sticking out of a monster mug. After feasting on lobster salad, short ribs with cauliflower mash, or pan-fried sea scallops with carrot butter, hang out in this dimly lit joint and watch the night turn into a party, with the drinks flowing and the music thumping louder and louder as the cooks and waiters from nearby restaurants file in after their shifts.

If someone described the Lone Palm bar as something out of Miami Vice, they wouldn’t be entirely wrong—the neon signs, dim lighting, and white tablecloths in an otherwise casual, somewhat dive-y bar give off a certain Vice-esque vibe. Stop by the Lone Palm for a drink at the very beginning or the very end of your night—it fills up quickly. Attentive bartenders and oft-refilled bar snacks like Goldfish also make it a good spot for a post-work Happy Hour. Lone Palm is open every day from 4 pm to 2 am.

Australia is world-renowned for scuba diving, but you don’t have to go all the way to the Great Barrier Reef or Ningaloo. Most people don’t know there is plenty of good diving in and around Sydney, too. One of the best sites is Magic Point off the tip of Malabar Headland National Park south of Maroubra. There’s an extensive reef system and large caves that are home to weedy sea dragons, stingrays, and a recovering colony of grey nurse sharks (which by most accounts are harmless to humans). Local outfitters such as Frog Dive Scuba Centres can lead you there.

A popular and new cultural attraction in Montego Bay, the Rastafari Indigenous Village offers a fun and insightful day of Rastafari history, music and food to anyone interested in immersing and learning about this unique group. The day begins with a hike to the village, reached by spelunking across a river, and a medicinal plant tour. It continues with various activities, including culinary demonstrations of Rasta “Ital” or organic, vegetarian dishes, drumming circles and stories on the evolution and struggles of Rastafari culture in Jamaica. It’s an easy reach—about 20 minutes from Montego Bay—and a good pick for those short on time.

Chilean society is quite conservative by many standards with the younger generations finally starting to cut loose. Get more playful. Be expressive. US expat Jayne Morgan saw the opportunity to fill the niche for erotic toys in the capital, starting as private bachelorette parties. The idea was a runaway success and she’s expanded to now have two stories in Providencia and Barrio Lastarria to satisfy the demand. Sex toys, games, outfits, and erotic books, all imported of high quality and good taste, are all laid in her attractive stories with attentive staff. Monjitas 580, 2nd Floor (in Bar The Clinic Building) Phone: 56 (2) 2632 5988

Head outside the city centre, to the commune of Tervuren, for one of the most beautiful parks near Brussels. Just behind the Royal Museum for Central Africa (pictured here) is a large garden. Joggers and walkers frequent the network of paths through the forest and lakes are populated with fishermen on weekends. The park is home to Flanders largest Giant Redwood tree and there is a good deal of wildlife inhabiting the lake and trees. It is particularly lovely in autumn, as the leaves are changing colour, and in early spring, as the sunshine filters through the newly sprouted leaves.

It’s difficult to pin down what exactly Star Provisions is. Is it a cafe run by award-winning team Anne Quatrano and Clifford Harrison? Is it an upscale grocery store where you can buy artisan meats and cheeses found in restaurants like Abbatoir and Bacchanalia? Is it a home goods store selling beautiful pieces of kitchenware? The answer is all of the above. And while the restaurant is delicious (try the prosciutto, sweet butter, and parmesan baguette!), the store is often overlooked in all the foodie mayhem. The glassware, serving utensils, and other items are sure to add unique touches to your home.