Tim Leffel’s Cheapest Destinations

Cures for a Weak Travel Dollar

One of the articles I’m working on right now is an April issue piece for Budget Travel magazine on how Americans can still find a deal here and there in the most popular cities of Western Europe—in high season. This is not an easy assignment, believe me. Trying to get in and out of Europe on vacation in ‘08 without spending what you would on an engagement ring takes some work.

Too much work if you ask me. Maybe I’m just a “path of least resistance” kind of guy at heart, but it seems far easier to just wait it out and go to more dollar-friendly destinations until we get a new president who is more fiscally responsible. I just got quoted in a Forbes.com article called, appropriately enough, How to travel well on a weak dollar.

I’m not thrilled that they mentioned my off-the-cuff $3,000 estimate for a two-week vacation to Guatemala, because in print that looks like a lot. But in there is airfare for three, including an internal flight to Tikal, a Spanish immersion course for three, and loads of family-friendly restaurant meals that were a long way from street food. That doesn’t include all the souvenirs though: Guatemala is a great place for shopping.

That was in early June though, which is not high season. My next family trip is to Mexico and at the worst possible time: the week before Easter because that’s my daughter’s spring break. So flight prices are brutal and hotels are at a premium. Thankfully we’ve got a little beach casita to stay in. Plus by some miracle I was able to get one of the tickets covered with mileage. Not at the lowest mileage level, mind you, but I’ll take what I can get when prices top a grand. And for the other two we were able to use two $400 vouchers that resulted from being bumped on an earlier trip. (More proof that it pays to build in extra time on your trips.)

After getting there though, things will be inexpensive. We do have to get a hotel for two nights. One night will be in Valladolid where we’ll pay about $120 for two standard rooms at the nicest hotel in town. In Merida, three are staying in a suite for about $65. We will be eating lots of $5 meals, drinking plenty of $1.50 beers, and I’ll be picking up a bottle of 100 percent agave tequila for half what it costs me at home. I just can’t imagine heading to Italy right now and spending my days eating $30 plates of pasta…