National debt and travel...

It doesn't affect my plans at all. I'm curious why you think it might.

currency exchange rates may be impacted?

Currency rates are effected by deficit spending which of course impact the national debt but other than to adjust my spending somewhat it has no impact on my decision to travel or where.

I'll bet the Canadian Dollar is doing well against the Euro too. Both the US Dollar and Euro seem to be in a race to the bottom because of mounting debt.

@ Brad, The Canadian Dollar is at ~$1.36 against the Euro today, which is certainly better than it's been in the past. The exchange rate with the U.S. Dollar is at ~$1.06 today, which is the best it's been since 2007 according to news reports I heard this morning. The pundits are predicting $1.07 in the near future. One currency exchange that isn't quite as good is Pounds Sterling. The rate today is ~$1.55. I visited the local four currency ATM a few days ago to get a few Pounds for my trip this year, and was hoping it would be a bit better. To answer the OP, the national debt is not affecting my travel plans at all.

Well, I am Canadian and I can tell you it affects my plans in that our dollar is higher against the USD than it has been for eons. Not that many years ago our dollar was at about $.62 against the USD. Today it is $1.06. As soon as your government settles its current problem re loans & interest I guess the Canadian dollar will fall a little but my travelling friends and I have already bought our US dollars for our trips later this year.

This is a fine question and all, but it proves again my theory that any "scary" news brought by the media will become a question here as to whether to travel or not.

Interesting post. I'd thought about posting something similar, but could not figure out good wording. Your wording is perfect.....very open-ended and non political. On one hand, I think Americans are used to "everything just working out, always has, always will." But, on the other hand, I remember saying to friends before we had the most recent market meltdown, "we are getting ready to go into something almost as big as the Great Depression...not the same...different lessons this time." I wish I had been wrong. My biggest fear is that the US ends up with problems similar to what Greece is struggling with...different, but similar. If our country goes into default, and if those who depend on government payments don't get them in a timely manner, could there be rioting, strikes? Let's hope it never gets that bad. Yep, as we've always said, "it will all work out." (Let's really pray it does.) Will it affect travel? Oh yes, but hopefully not in radical ways. It could be just a more subtle (yet direct) affect, as people pull back and postpone. Those who have the funds to travel may squirrel away more, with greater uncertainty of the future. But, do I think people will be sitting in airports not able to travel because the FAA is shut down? No.

With respect to money, the only way it has ever affected my travel plans is when the exchange rate has been way too unfavorable or when I don't have enough money to go to Europe. I've been to the UK but have also stricken it from my plans before when the exchange rate had GBP 1 costing nearly USD 2. I opted for the continent, where it was more like 1€ costing USD 1.50. As for the national debt, budget deficits, or the absurd notion that the US will somehow default on its obligations over politics, yeah...these things don't figure into the travel equation for me. And am I the only one who wishes that Republicans and Democrats would just go away along with their scare tactics (not that they should go away mad but just go away)?

Amen, Michael! They're being paid by us to do their job but they're so incompetent that I wish we could fire them all and start over. I don't see the national debt affecting my travel plans anytime soon. My own finances affect my travel the most. But I'm curious to see if the euro falls against the dollar, since Germany agreed to another bailout for Greece and may bail out other countries in the future.

I'm hoping for a stronger $ and price break in airfares before my trip to Spain! http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/25/news/economy/airline_tickets_taxes/index.htm?hpt=hp_bn12

Time for term limits!

Hope all you want. Not going to happen in the near future. The dollar is a commode in the world market just like wheat and pork bellies. As long as there is a bumper crop of wheat, surplus dollars, the value stays down because there is not enough demand to bid up the price. If something changes the demand curve and/or deficits are smaller then the value will increase. It is fairly economics but what drives the demand curve is a lot more complicated.

@ Frank, "The dollar is a commode in the world market" There's probably a joke in there somewhere, but I'll leave that to the more "creative" members on the HelpLine.

Frank and Ken: We used to say our Canadian dollar was in the toilet so I guess "commode" is a Freudian slip.

It was, it is. Meant to say commodity. But our dollar is in the toilet. I still remember a trip to Spain when it was .89.

Yes, the FAA is "shutdown", folks are still flying, and the government is losing what is estimated to be $30 million per day. Absurd. The national debt affects all of our lives in ways we don't even think about. But if the country defaults on its obligations we probably will have new and different ways to answer this question.

No exchange rate scares me because my first trip other than US or Caribbean was England in 2000. The pound cost me $2.50 so my grubby £60 pound room cost me $150 CAD.

If you're meaning the national debt talks - I'm just worried about the dollar tanking and ending up somewhere like 1 euro to 2 dollars. But I am not an economist. So I logged on here to see what people were saying. I was planning on getting all my money out of ATMs, but I'm partly wondering if I should quickly by euros before all heck breaks loose in seven days. I don't see a resolution happening any time soon.

To all my Canadian friends.....would any of you be willing to either adopt me or hire me for some reason so I can move to Canada, get subsidized health care, get news that isn't completely one sided or sensationalistic and watch curling more often than once every four years when the Olympics are taking place? I'm even willing to learn metric.

@Maureen, Actually, the winters in this part of Canada are usually not too severe. Last winter was MUCH better than that in NYC and some parts of the midwest and east. As I recall there were some airport closures and other problems caused by severe winter weather. If you like mild winters, the Pacific Northwest is usually the place to be. That's one reason that Victoria is so popular with Seniors. Cheers!

I'm with Frank II and would be willing to work any menial job, as long as it's good enough for a visa and gets me to Toronto. Although I would prefer to move there when the NDP is in charge. :)

Along the lines of leaving the country, I'm open to marrying a Canadian or a European, so if any of you know anyone...just thought I'd get that out there... :)

Canada would be great if it weren't for the dang winters. I was a bit worried before our recent trip, since the talk "deadline" happened while we were there (some Armegeddon was supposed to happen on 7/22 if the debt ceiling wasn't raised by then). I am glad that we're home before 8/2, on which day I think the real Armegeddon is supposed to happen. You know, dogs and cats raining from the sky, that sort of thing. This is just my thinking, but since Greece was all over the news in Germany, I think that the dollar tanking and the euro tanking are just going to cancel each other out and the rate won't change that much. But an economist I ain't.

It might be time to stockpile loonies.

I'm moving to Australia.... lol out of all the friends in this world I have she is the only one whos not complaining about their country. lol.