Six years later, Americans are paying a lot more dollars
Sunday June 1, 2008
With all the talk about the shrinking U.S. dollar, I decided to look at how that dollar was exchanged exactly six years ago: Back at this time in 2002, we were nine months removed from the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and people were starting to think about travel again. It took $1.45 USD to buy one British Pound at the start of June 2002; as of this writing, that cost is $1.97. It took just 93 cents to buy one Euro; now that cost is $1.55. A Canadian dollar was 65 cents six years ago, now it is $1.00. There are places where the value has stayed virtually unchanged: the Barbados dollar, East Caribbean dollar and Mexican Peso are all fairly close to their costs in 2002.
POLL: How do the exchange rates on the U.S. dollar affect your travel plans?
1) I'm traveling to the U.S. My money goes a long way in America.
2) Heading south Barbados, the Caribbean and Mexico have a lot to offer.
3) Staying in the U.S. I live here and I'm not leaving until the exchange crunch eases.
4) I don't care Positive or negative, the exchange rate has little effect on my plans.
Comments
There are other places, less westernized, where the dollar is also relatively strong. You can buy a lot in Ukraine, Turkey and Romania. Transylvania has wonderful sights and sites, Sebastopol and Yalta are treasures, Istanbul is incomparable.
Great point, Jim…there are a lot of places where the USD is still strong (or at least holding its own). Anyone care to name some others they’ve visited?
Asian countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Phuket, India etc are places where the dollar isn’t doing too bad.
I live in Luxor, Egypt for the winter and it is very cheap here and there is no crime. The American dollar is down about 10%, but still is a great value here for your money.
Those of us who live abroard and are retired are at the mercy of the dollar.Having invested in an apartment furnishings etc, we have no choice but to stay and starve!