There are three ways to play this one: Pick a place like Morocco or China where dollars are still relatively valuable; choose a destination that's close to home (Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean) to minimize transportation costs; or explore a corner of the U.S. you haven't seen before.

Don't use currency exchange kiosks. ATMs almost always offer the interbank exchange rate, which is much better than the rate you'll get at the kiosks. Take out enough cash from the ATM to last you for one day or a few — whatever you're comfortable carrying — to minimize ATM fees. If you must use a currency exchange kiosk, avoid the ones in airports and train stations and around major tourist attractions. Even when they claim to have a favorable exchange rate, they make up for it with high commissions. If you're traveling on credit, find out before you go which of your cards has the lowest fee for foreign transactions.

Your hotel, rental car, plane and train tickets are your most expensive vacation buys. Ask whether you can pay for them in U.S. currency before you go. If that's possible, get a quote in dollars, then run the price through a currency converter like www.XE.com before committing to see whether it gets you a better deal than buying in the local currency.

Counter-intuitive, but important. A practice called dynamic currency conversion seems like a good idea. You're checking out of a foreign hotel or buying a pricey souvenir and the clerk asks (or, often, doesn't) if you'd like the charge calculated in dollars. Saying yes means you will very likely be socked with an unreasonably high exchange rate. On big purchases like several nights worth of hotel charges, that's a punch in the wallet.

You can't change exchange rates, but you might be able to pinch enough pennies to offset the impact. Make finding a cheap plane ticket and a good, inexpensive hotel room your mission in life.

You can order foreign currency from most banks here at home, but you'll pay a lot for the privilege. Instead, hit an ATM soon after you arrive at your destination for a better deal. There is some risk in this strategy — not having money for an airport snack or cab ride if the ATM network is down. But life is a risk.