The world's currencies fluctuate from day to day, and the values I'm about to cite may have changed by the time you read this post. But the direction is clear. For the past several weeks, the U.S. dollar has declined constantly and significantly against major European currencies. As I write this, the Euro costs $1.50, the British Pound $1.65.

But that's just the beginning of the doleful news. Since you will always need to pay approximately 5% in fees and commissions when you obtain your foreign currencies from a money-changer (even the best of the ATM machines charge fees that eventually amount to about 5% of published exchange rates), the Euros you purchase will usually cost you around $1.60 and the British Pound around $1.75. We are getting to the point where, when you seek the U.S. dollar equivalent of a European price, you will always need to add about 60% to 70% to the prices you encounter. A European hotel room priced at €100 will end up costing you about $160. A British hotel room costing £100 will cost you about $175. It's an expensive world out there.

Your response, in my opinion, should be to seriously consider the use of alternative, cheaper lodgings for your next trip to Europe. You should think about lengthening your stay in each European city to a week so that you can rent an apartment at a considerable savings. Even more effectively, you should consider the use of hostel accommodations, even if you are a couple traveling together. Nearly all the new European hostels -- and there are a ton of them, in every major European city -- contain private rooms for couples and are no longer made up exclusively of dormitories. Go to such websites as Hostels.com (www.hostels.com), Hostelworld (www.hostelworld.com), EuropeanHostels (www.europeanhostels.com), and others, and you'll be impressed by the many options you have and by the generally low cost of European hostels, which often reduce your overnight lodgings expense to as little as $25 and $30 per person.

Regardless of your age, background or current condition, think "Hostels" when you plan your next European trip.