Getty Images

From coping with jet lag to stammering your way through the phrase book, traveling abroad comes with plenty of challenges. But on Teresa Cook's recent trip, the real test was just keeping the cash from flying out of her wallet. The dollar, it seemed, was weaker than ever, forcing Cook and her boyfriend to shell out more than they planned, for everything from parking ($35 a night) to food (two coffees? Ten dollars, please). And Cook couldn't help being taken aback; when she'd visited just a few years earlier, the country had been a bargain for Americans. "Now we're just shocked by the prices," she says. But perhaps most surprising is that the couple wasn't vacationing in a notorious international money pit like London or Paris they were in Canada.

Et tu, neighbor? In recent years, American travelers have gotten used to watching their greenbacks shrivel away in the face of the mighty euro, but as it plunges to new lows some days, there may be no safe place for the U.S. dollar to go to get a little R&R. As travelers like Cook are discovering, the Canadian dollar is now flexing its muscle against the American dollar (a move duplicated a hemisphere away in Australia), and nations as diverse as Brazil, South Africa and Taiwan have all seen their currencies gain against the greenback, curbing the spending power of American visitors. Indeed, earlier this year, the buck fell to its weakest point since mid-2008, according to the Fed's weighted major-currencies index, which tracks how the dollar stacks up against financial big boys like the euro, yen and Swiss franc. "This is really the story of an extraordinarily weak U.S. dollar," says Camilla Sutton, chief currency strategist for Scotia Capital, who explains that regulators' effort to revive the U.S. economy with low interest rates is the main culprit.

For frequent fliers, packing with one eye on the latest exchange rates is second nature, but for some of us, these currency fluctuations are disorienting to say the least. And it's not just the drooping dollar that affects Americans abroad. The shock waves from the economic crisis hit countries around the globe differently some barely felt a thing, while others were battered and are now hoping to stanch the bleeding with tourism dollars. Then there's the ever-shifting tide of the next It destination; travelers who visit a country when it's hot often find themselves struggling with spiking prices and high demand, while those who arrive after the boom can take advantage of a glut of new flights and hotels, now hungry for their business. Below, five popular international getaways where travelers may face some curious currency curveballs.

CANADA

Americans venturing across our northern border this year will encounter more obstacles than just a bruiser of a Canadian dollar (the currency is now at its strongest point since 2007). The strengthening economy is also prompting hotel prices to rise; hospitality research firm PKF Consulting expects rates to creep up in nearly every major Canadian city in 2011. There is, though, one bright spot in the frozen North: Vancouver, British Columbia, where PKF is predicting an increase in empty rooms and a drop in rates. Vacationers can thank last year's Winter Games for the bargains, say experts; the city and its surrounding area got more than half a dozen fancy new hotels to accommodate the Olympic crowds, but now that the rings-crazed throngs have gone home, many of the properties are offering deals to try to keep heads in all those additional beds. The Fairmont Pacific Rim, for one, recently offered a $125 resort credit to guests booking a two-night stay.

AUSTRALIA

Robin Lloyd knows the power of the exchange rate. Back in 2001, when the Australian dollar cratered to 2-to-1 against the greenback, the Seattle-based software executive went so far as to book a last-minute trip to the country, where he and his wife "lived large" on their almighty U.S. dollars. But when they returned to Sydney recently, the couple were a long way from the travel styles of the rich and famous. This time, says Lloyd, they skipped the cute boutique hotels in favor of chains where they could use loyalty points and planned their days "around the free canap s and cocktail hour" at the hotel.

Earlier this year, the soaring value of the Australian dollar surpassed that of the U.S. version, hitting its highest mark since 1983 never good news for American travelers, and even scarier when the destination already has a wallet-busting rep. The prix fixe tasting menu at one of Sydney's hot restaurants comes in at $184 per person (without wine), and the country's largest hotel markets often boast occupancy rates of 80 percent or more (last year the average occupancy for U.S. hotels was just 58 percent). When it comes to navigating the country, many travel agents recommend a strategy that savvy travelers have long used in Europe: booking a tour or other type of inclusive travel package. Not only do companies have the mass buying power to keep rates reasonable, but the trips are typically priced in dollars and often lag the latest exchange rates.

ARGENTINA

That's not to say there's no such thing as a Down Under deal it just requires getting a bit more literal. South America has long been a haven for greenbackers, but some southern hemisphere vacation favorites have been getting pricier recently; the daily rate for a hotel room in Rio de Janeiro, for instance, spiked 23 percent last year. Argentina, though, has stayed steadily affordable in large part because the Argentine peso is now worth only an American quarter even as the country is growing into a tourism hot spot. Hotel construction in Buenos Aires is about on par with that in other South American cities, says Konstanze Auernheimer, director of marketing and analysis for hotel research firm STR Global. The real action, though, is on the higher end of the lodging market. Travelers seeking low-cost luxury digs may want to keep an eye on new developments in Buenos Aires and in popular wine tourism regions like Mendoza.

ICELAND

Nothing says "Pack your bags!" like a financial crisis. Just ask Andrea Wheeler, who recently picked up a guidebook to research an upcoming trip to Iceland. At first, the Rockaway, N.J., nurse nearly choked on the sticker shock of $600 hotel rooms and $120 dinners, but then she checked the fine print turns out, the book was published before the country's massive recession. The current prices ended up being about half of what the guidebook noted and sometimes even lower.

With its reliance on pricey imports, Iceland will never be an inexpensive destination, but with the krona down 50 percent since its 2008 collapse, right now it's about as close as it gets. Hotel prices in the capital, Reykjav k, were down 10 percent last year, according to STR Global, and even airfares are expected to drop now that Delta Air Lines has become the first American carrier to start flying to the island, putting some pricing pressure on a route once all but owned by Icelandair. There is one very large affordability caveat: In the wake of the economic crisis, which hit Iceland particularly hard, the country upped its value-added tax; the levy applies to everything from lodging to souvenirs and can now be as high as 25 percent.

EUROPE

And of course, there's no escaping the euro. The currency never seems to play nice with the dollar for very long (it's been steadily climbing since the beginning of the year), but no matter how high it goes, there are always a few American travelers who refuse to give up their dreams of the Continent. One obvious savings strategy is to steer clear of the most infamous budget killers, like France and Italy. But while some experts have speculated that the more economically troubled nations (think Greece or Portugal) are likely to drop prices to pump up tourism revenue, others, like high-end tour company Travoca, say those bargains have yet to materialize. A more creative way to play the euro zone is to look to the East. Prague and Budapest saw a spike in luxury development prior to the recession, says Margret Propper, an Alabama-based independent adviser with Brownell Travel, and are now plagued with a glut of posh rooms.

But sometimes the siren call of fresh pasta is just too much to resist. When Judy McDonald took her daughter to Italy this spring, the Birmingham, Ala., admissions director tried to minimize the damage where she could, including buying a multiday train pass that was about 34 percent cheaper than purchasing each leg individually. And it worked, too, until the pair encountered that most-European of travel experiences: a strike. At that point, McDonald says, she had no choice but to decimate her budget by hiring a private car to get them to their next destination. "Sometimes, you just have to do it and deal with the bills when you get home," she says with a sigh.