The current state of the dollar has made international vacations much more difficult. 4 years ago, I went to London for vacation. I thought it was outrageously expensive then. 4 years ago the dollar was worth .56 British Pounds. Today the Dollar is worth .5 British pounds, a decline of 11 percent. Against the Euro the Dollar has declined from .8 to .63 Euros or nearly 21 percent. For that reason I’ve got no trips to Europe planned.

So where should I be planning my trips if buying power is my concern? Iceland, South Africa, and Hong Kong - according to this excellent currency exchange table tool. The U.S. dollar has gained against those three currencies. Against the other 18 currencies listed, it’s depreciated significantly. The Polish Zloty along with other currencies from Central Europe have shown the greatest appreciation. I noticed this first hand between my two trips to Hungary in 2000 and most recently in 2006. Central Europe was even cheaper 10 years previous right after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The appreciating currencies of central Europe is testament to the strong economic growth and greater ties to western Europe of the last 20 years.

As useful as the chart from tokyoahead might be, it ignores many relevant currencies at least from a U.S. vacation perspective. Most notably the Argentinean Peso. Argentina suffered a disastrous economic meltdown between 1999-2002. In 2002, Argentina was forced to drop it’s 1:1 exchange rate with the U.S. Dollar. Today the U.S. Dollar is worth 3.15Argentinean Pesos which is up from 2.975 in 2004. In Argentina, the dollar still goes far. Argentina is not the only country where the Dollar still has some buying power. Many of the island nations of the Caribbean peg their local currencies to the U.S. dollar and as result Americans can still manage to do OK on vacation.