<BR>From a cheap Canadian:<BR>How many Canucks are heading overseas for their vacation this year? We were initially planning for last May when the Euro was selling for about $1.44 and the pound at $2.35. We had to postpone it. Today the Euro is at $1.65 and the pound, gasp, $2.56! I've also noticed a lot of price gouging in previously cheaper Euro destinations, especially Spanish hotels. Up to 30% more than a year ago when the peseta was in circulation!Now we aren't even considering it and the way it's going may never consider it. Am I pathetically cheap or are other fellow Canucks also having second thoughts? It looks like Montreal (again!).

I'm in my 30's so the Cdn dollar has been low ever since I've had any to spend! The older folks tell me it was once above the US dollar, but I don't remember it. If I had waited for the stupid Loonie to go up, I wouldn't have been all over the world.<BR><BR>I'll head off overseas again later this year, most likely to one of the Euro countries. I still go to Hawaii because it's beautiful and the beaches are free even if I don't eat at the best restaurants or stay in the beachfront hotels. I think we Canadians should continue to travel. Might as well spend the loonies before they go even lower. The money I have saved in mutual funds, etc. isn't doing anything anyway.<BR><BR>When I went to Spain last October, I thought it was cheaper than Canada for everyday things. ex. taxis, supermarkets, ice-cream, restaurants, bus fare. Fees to museums and sites weren't bad and some are even free one day/week.

Hello CDN$:<BR>My husband and I are 62. And I agree the loonie stinks.But then again life is too short to wait for it to go up.So go and enjoy yourself,have a great time.You deserve it. We just booked our 2nd trip to Spain for 2003 and will travel from there.<BR>Gail<BR>

Your cheap buck is sure great for us Americans, it is really cheap to visit such a nice third world country.

<BR>I totally agree, you've just got to do it as life IS too short. I guess our hopes were higher when we saw the Canuck buck rising a month a go and to see it hit bottom again hurts. <BR><BR>Btw 'Buck', I refuse to visit the States again (or in the near future) as it's just not worth visiting such an expensive third world country (in the past decade I've been through south and westside Chicago, New Orleans, Mississippi, parts of south-central LA - my gawd, I thought I was in impoverished Africa and Central America).<BR>Happy travels (however frugal)!!

As an American I agree with Canuck that we have more in common with a third world country than Canada. Super rich and poor, huddled masses. Look at Appalachia and the Tex/Mex border for example. Canada is not as extreme on either end.

Yes, the dollar sucks. I do remember when it was higher than the US dollars, but that was a long long time ago. We still travel, usually twice a year. In In the winter, we go to Mexico or somewhere else warm and then in the summer, we usually stay in Canada, although we did go to Greece and Turkey one summer. This year, we're driving to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. (We live in Toronto.) We're planning to go back to Turkey sometime, I'd love to go to Portugal, and at some point in the not too distant future, I'm planning to take a leave from work and do some more extensive travelling. Life is just too short. I work hard most of the year and I don't lead an extravagant lifestyle - the trips are important to me.

CDN$ - have you tried travelling in Central/Eastern Europe? Prices there have gone up dramatically in the past ten years, but they're still cheap compared to W.Europe or N. America. If you normally base your trips around cities, Krakow, Prague, Tallinn and Budapest (among others) are interesting in terms of history, architecture, art, music, museums, etc... Prague accomodation can be expensive, but everything else is still cheap. For spectacular scenery, there's the Polish and Slovakian Tatras, the Baltic coast, and the Croatian coast and islands. All of these places have good transportation links and relatively decent infrastructure. Eastern Germany (Leipzig, Dresden, Berlin) still seems relatively cheap as well, even with the Euro. Plane fare, of course, is a bit more expensive.

So our dollar shrinks by 10%.<BR><BR>Cut your annual plan from 21 days to 'only' 17 days.<BR><BR>Many would still be envious.<BR><BR>At least I did not have my vacation funds tied up in Enron or Worldcom stocks as some posters have implied.

I agree! My husband, daughter and I are going to Ireland to visit family in October and going home via Paris for 4 days. I have been watching the Cdn. dollar and have been a bit stressed about it. I have come to the conclusion that what's a few hundred dollars in the grander scheme of things and that's just the price of travelling. We may as well stay home if it is going to ruin or trip! I am interested on hearing from Canadians that have travelled to Europe in the last month to know what they think of the prices there for shopping. I have been to Ireland 4 times and in the past have always been able to find great deals with our dollar.

I always run into some Aussies when I'm traveling and their dollar is only worth $.87 Canadian. If they can do it so can we!!!

My answer is go, but just be a bit more frugal. This board really helps in finding great travel deals. My favourite is www.laterooms.com which can save you a bundle on hotel rooms. Also be careful in buying rail passes. Yes, they are great, but resist the temptation to buy one without checking out the cost of point to point tickets or checking with the individual rail lines to see what their specials are. This is a great idea in the UK where there are some great specials. Also, consider Euroline bus service for quick and inexpensive coach links from one European capital to another. There are numerous ways to save, and when our Loonie is low, you really have to work a bit harder. As a general rule though, don’t ruin a vacation by not seeing what you want. If money is really tight, consider postponing your trip for a few months and maybe picking a cheaper time of the year. But by all means don’t stay at home. Life is too short. That’s my two cents (Canadian cents BTW) worth! <BR><BR>Dale <BR><BR>P.S. It was back in the mid 70’s when the “Beaver Buck” was worth more than the “Yankee dollar” <BR>

You're right about the exchange rate making a difference. Yes, I know you have to just suck it up and go for it sometimes, but it's hard to pull it off. For example, I was hoping to go to the UK next summer to see family and show the kids around, but I've been doing some preliminary pricing, and I don't see how we can afford it. Just getting there is going to be prohibitive, and I hear prices there have skyrocketed, along with the value of the pound. We travel on a budget in North America by camping in our own tent trailer, but that won't work in the UK. I desperately want to go, as my kids will soon be unwilling/unable to travel with us, but short of winning the lottery, I don't know how we'll do it. I'm just praying for the pound to drop...

<BR>I read an article in the Edmonton Journal earlier this week where some big wig financial analyst predicts the Canuck buck to drop even more over the year. It really is hard to keep your head up with this whole issue. It was just over a year ago where they were predicting we could be up to around $0.75 USD by the end of 2002. And, after researching hotels for London, i simply refuse to pay Cdn$170 for a tiny single. What can I say? I still think I'll be doing Montreal. At least it has a bit of Euro ambience.

Huh? What does it matter that the OZ$ is worth less than the CDN$ is worth less than the US$ is worth less than the UKpound? The Italian lira was worth almost nothing and the Italians travelled a LOT. It means nothing to compare the value of one unit of currency X to one unit of currency Y. What really matters is the number of units you get.

Hey Eur, it does actually matter a lot. For example, imagine a bed & breakfast in England (outside of London!) priced at 50 pounds per night, per person. When the pound was worth $2.14 Canadian (as it was the last time I was there, in 1989), that would be the equivalent of $214 per night for two people. Now, imagine that same B&B with the pound being worth $2.42 Canadian (as it is at this moment). Presto! Your night's lodging is now $28 more costly -- and that's just one night. Throw in everything else you have to pay for (and we're not even taking into consideration the skyrocketing prices in pounds), and it adds up!

And you didn't get a pay rise between 1989 and today? Poor Anne.

Hello again, Eur: Actually, not much since then -- the norm in this country for the last few years has been layoffs and pay freezes, and 2 to 3 per cent increases the best you can expect from most employers. (And speaking for myself, I have one more dependent than I did in 1989, which I think works out to a 33% pay drop!) Note to CDN$: We went west this summer, and it was amazing. Highly recommended. Can't wait to go back, but I'm not driving again in a hurry. Did you know that it takes 2.5 days just to get out of Ontario??!!

Anne,It is too bad you and your family have to travel in summer when the flight most expensive. But, for accommadation, you could easly find nice B&B at 30-40 per room per night(not per person)outside London. Last September, I paid average 20 pounds for single ensuite B&B in Wales. The year before,I paid 22 pounds for a nice 2 star hotel in Windermere,Lakedisctict in July.This April, a 3 star hotel room with huge breakfast for 2 costed my sister and me 60 pounds in Kent.<BR><BR>Generally speaking, for a 10 days trip (off seson,not in London or Paris,exclude flight)in Western Europe,I have budgeted about C&1500 for the last 3 years.<BR>

I too am old enough to remember the Cnd $ being higher than the US$. With the rates as they are now, most of my dollars get spent in Canada (Toronto, Montreal,Quebec City). My 20 yr old son and I are currently planning a trip to France next June; it just means a bit more research to find reasonable hotels and meals. We'll still shop and if we really want something we'll get it. I have explained to him that the difference between this year's Euro cost and last year's is about 40 cents or $400/1000. As a retired teacher it means I will pick up extra days supply work to add to the pot. Stay home? Not necessary with good planning and saving.