Needless to say, we keep a close watch on the US dollar. It has been going down since August but a small uptick in October has been washed away as the USD has dropped to 110 yen per dollar today. I know ROARers are looking at the ZAR, Med cruisers the Euro, and our fellow LCTers in the UK must be also feeling the pain.

I get a daily email with mid-market rates; here is just a part of it:

Has anyone started relooking at travel plans due to the dollars fall?

Yes, even here in Canada we are watching the USD with alarm. It's nice for our ego to have our CDN$ so high, but in the long run, our fortunes run with yours, and most of our manufacturing sector depends on trade with the US. The CDN$ went up over $1.10 USD briefly yesterday.

Marc, I have overdone travelling this year, so I probably won't be doing any international next year, but I was in the middle of a Mediterranean cruise in Sept. when the dollar took a nosedive in the middle of the cruise. Boy, I wished I had bought more Euros earlier in the trip, and prepaid my hotel at the end. Yipes!
lYNN

More bad news this morning :ohmy: How low can it go?

We have planned a land based trip to Italy this summer with our school aged children. We have already placed a deposit and paid for air, so it seems to late to change plans now. We were hoping to book a Baltics trip on Regent for just the two of us, but that looks doubtful now. Looks like the two of us will take a U.S. based trip. I think this may be a boon to the US travel market.

Yes, after what we paid in the British Isles; we won't be goiing to Europe for a while. That was our most expensive trip ever. You don't realize just how expensive everything is until the AMEX bills start coming in. It is very very bad for American's right now. I hope the African rand stays somewhat civil. The pound and Euros are out of sight!!!! :eek:

It's reversing a little today against the European currencies. Unfortunately, Marc, the yen is getting stronger again. The "yen carry trade" is the culprit according to CNBC.

We are more inclined these days to focus on the lesser-known destinations. A side benefit to that decision is the $$$ has declined less against most (not all) of those currencies. On the way to looking things up for Antarctica, we came across a number of wonderful places in Argentina. We still want to do the Galapagos and I want to return to Cuzco and Machu Picchu in Peru. Chile is loaded with great places to visit. We are focusing more on Africa and Middle East/ancient sites. Greek Islands, maybe Libya, Morocco, Jordan again, Egypt again, other emirates in the United Arab Emirates all sound good for 2008 - 2010 travel outside the US.

We will, of course, still head to Wimbledon if the ticket gods are looking after us. The cheaper airfares compensate for the hotel $$$$$$$ prices. Either that, or use points to pay for the hotel rooms.

I heard there's a great place for friendly LCTers to bunk in Tokyo if Marc & Mrs. Marc are in residence .. ;)

Finally, the Tahiti flyer prices look very attractive for the PG with Susan.

Cheers, Anne

We have a daughter w/family on sabbatical in Greece. We planned to visit and return home on the last segment of the Voyager World Cruise '08. We've cancelled. They are not sure they can stay for the planned year. The USD/Euro rate makes daily life almost impossible on half salary. And we miss our grand kids who are doing very well at the Greek public school down the street.
Babs & Jim