It is a pretty known fact that traveling to a different country is expensive, but now with inflation prices going through the roof, the Federal Reserve (Fed) is increasing the value of the U.S. dollar to combat the inflation. This means that if you were to exchange U.S. dollar bills for a foreign currency like the Japanese Yen, you would get more Yen for a dollar than the amount from a few months ago.

The Federal Reserve is the United State’s central banking system. As of right now, the U.S. has an inflation rate of around 8%. The Fed is increasing interest rates so people will have less incentive to borrow money from the bank. Interest refers to “the compensation paid by the borrower to the lender for the use of money as a percent or an amount” (calculator.net). This lowers consumers’ desire to purchase goods as they would be so expensive. This relates to traveling because if the dollar is pricey in the U.S., the conversion rate to other currencies would be higher.

With all the countries in the world, it is difficult to determine where you will get the most out of one dollar, but there are places all over the world where you can save money when buying items in a foreign currency. With the dollar bill’s strength, you can save money in all countries. That being said, at this time going out of the country for vacations to places like the United Kingdom or Brazil will make it so you are spending less for more.

 Asian countries are some of many places where the dollar bill is worth more. 

For example, there is a ¥3,960 nail polish at Chanel Japan called Le Vernis. On the Chanel website in the United States, the product is $30. If you convert  ¥3,960 to USD, then the price of the nail polish will be $26.54, meaning you can save $3.46. At McDonald’s in Korea, the Big Mac is priced at ₩ 5,700 which is $3.99 in USD. In the U.S., a Big Mac is $5.49, making the burger $1.50 cheaper in Korea. Even if this amount doesn’t seem like a lot, if you visit a country for a few days, you save money on food, any products you will buy, and many other purchases. 

Traveling is something that is common on one’s bucket list or things one wants to do, so the high value of the dollar bill makes it the perfect time to travel. Claire Leininger (9) agrees, saying “I think that traveling to a different country would be fun, especially since it’s almost fall break and I can purchase more things without spending as much money.” With the many places people can travel to, people should take this opportunity to travel to many of their bucket place locations to be able to spend less on items they buy in the country.