And now to lift the mood a little with some serious travel inspiration. Often the problem with booking a trip isn’t deciding where to go, but rather when. Or maybe you know you have a week free in April, narrowing down a destination is overwhelming.

The way we see it, nature sometimes gives us a hint about where we should go at certain times of year, so Flight Finder Hannah dug into the globe’s greatest showcases in every month to help us out.

Here’s a taster of this season’s picks, or you can check out the full calendar here.

September - Sort sol (Denmark)

When? Spring and autumn, but you’ll get the best display in autumn as the birds head south

CC image courtesy of Carsten Gerlach on Flickr

Picture millions of birds dancing in the sky in unison as the sun sets. Yep, that’s sort sol.

Every spring and autumn in Denmark, starling birds migrate in their millions. For around 20 minutes each night, large flocks block the sun completely as it sets—hence the Danish term for “black sun”.

The best place to see this is at the Wadden Sea National Park, with an estimated 15 million birds passing through it each season.

It’s worth keeping in mind that while you can try and see this by yourself, booking with a tour guide practically guarantees seeing the marvel—these people are literally tracking the birds 24/7!

You can expect to pay around £25/$30 for a guide, but they’ll even give you some extras like tours around the nearby marshes and other closed nature areas.

The closest major city to the Wadden Sea National Park is Billund (yep, it’s not just for Legoland visits!). You can fly to the city directly, and from there the National Park is a 1.5hr drive away.

October - Catatumbo Lightning (Venezuela)

When? April-November

CC image courtesy of Vickie Verieu on Flickr

Now, here’s one for the storm chasers!

In Lake Maracaibo, where it joins with the Catatumbo River, there is continuous electrical activity. Its unique geography and weather conditions mean lightning typically occurs in the area for over 100 days a year.

In real terms? At earth’s “ lightning capital”, you can expect storms lasting up to 9 hours, and in October, it reaches up to 28 strikes a minute. Unsurprisingly, it has the Guinness World Record for most strikes per square meter.

Given it’s so common, locals are fairly used to the persistent storms. However, legend has it that the lightning was a gift from the Gods to the indigenous people who lived there—and you can’t be ungrateful, can you!

Please note that most governments currently recommend against travel to Venezuela, so this is definitely one to keep in your back pocket for when the situation hopefully becomes more stable. Always remember to check guidance in your country before booking.

November - Hutt Lagoon (Australia)

When? All year round, but colour changes throughout the day.

All aboard the Barbie hype train!

Clearly, no one told Margot Robbie that there was a cotton-candy coloured Barbie pool waiting for her in her home country. Ah well, we’ll tell you about it instead.

Hutt Lagoon is a salt lake on the west coast of Australia, where the extremely high salinity turns the water vibrant colours. Throughout the day, the lighting can change the colour of the lake to lilac, red, and of course, bubblegum pink.

To see the brightest pink, try to get there on a clear day by either mid-morning, or sunset. But if you want to see the colours transform, make sure you’re there before the sunset starts. You might have to sit and watch for a few hours, but it’ll be soooo worth it.

Time for another road trip! Once you’ve landed in Perth, you’re gonna head north, towards the Kalbarri National Park (we’ll come back to that…). It’s a solid 5 and a half hour shift along the Indian Ocean drive coastal highway before you get to Port Gregory Road, but with loads of spots to visit along the way, you can make it everything and more.

Once you’ve had your fill of Barbie-esque waters on Port Gregory, keep going north for another 45 mins up to Kalbarri. This spot could’ve arguably made this list on its own with the otherworldly ‘ Nature’s window’ created by layers of tumblagooda sandstone. But hey, everyone loves a good 2-in-1!

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We’d also like to add in a one-off for this year, which will be pretty darn special for anyone in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in mid-October.

The end of the annual International Balloon Fiesta will align perfectly with an annular eclipse on 14th October, where the moon will partially block the sun, creating a ring of fire in the sky. Add to that a horizon full of hot air balloons, and it sounds pretty spectacular.

What better place to get this show on the road than in Chicago?

The so-called Windy City’s nickname blows its gales out of proportion, so starting outdoors is a good way to see what it’s all about. It’s hard to miss the variety and scale of architecture, which grew from the ashes of the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. Hop aboard an Architecture Center River Cruise to see it all from a different angle.

Amidst the towering skyscrapers, Millennium Park is the go-to spot for the big city dwellers to catch a breather. Known for being home to the world’s most famous bean, you can also escape the crowds in its secret garden oasis, or catch a concert at the summer music series. Unfortunately, you should expect access to the Bean and parts of the park to be limited until spring 2024 due to renovation works.

Illinois’ impressive—and sometimes unusual—constructions continue outside Chicago, too. There’s everything from a house resembling a glass cage to the intricate Bahá’í temple in Wilmette, as well as a sculpture park that you’ll have to try hard not to treat as a vast adult play park. It’d be remiss of us not to mention one of the more unusual Abraham Lincoln monuments out there, too.

Then there are all the natural wonders that the state has to offer—much more than just prairies and cornfields. We’re talking about cascading waterfalls and deep canyons in Starved Rock State Park. Or swamps and wetlands teeming with wildlife at the Cache River State Natural Area. And of course, there are the 320 million-year-old rock formations in the Garden of the Gods. Especially heavenly when that fall foliage comes out!

All the important (or silly, or strange) travel news from across the web this week.

• It’s (kind of) the end of Airbnb, Vrbo, and co. in New York. A local law that came into effect on Tuesday means that hosts in the city will now need to be present for the entire duration of a stay, and only a maximum of 2 guests are allowed at one time.
• If you’ve been looking for more eco-friendly ways to cross the Atlantic, we’d advise against following the example of the Florida man who built a giant hamster wheel so that he could run across the ocean.
• It’s been a seriously bad week for one Delta passenger, who has had to see endless headlines about their flight from Atlanta to Barcelona turning back due to an unfortunate bout of diarrhoea. Pilots made the call to turn around two hours in, considering the mess throughout the plane to be a biohazard. Ouch.
• And finally, it’s paw-some news for Ruben, the “ world’s loneliest lion”, who has been returned to Africa after spending years alone in a private zoo. Thanks to Animals Defenders International and Qatar Airways Cargo, he is now being rehabilitated at a wildlife sanctuary in South Africa, where he was greeted as all cats should be—with sausages and catnip.