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Since 2001 the dollar has lost more than half its value against the euro. It now costs nearly $1.40 to buy one euro. But the decline against its major rivals is just the most visible sign of the buck's loss of purchasing power.

In much of the world -- from Brazil to Poland to Thailand -- one dollar buys less than it did a year ago, and far less than it did four years ago. On Friday, the U.S. currency hit a 30-year low against its Canadian peer.

The trend of a falling dollar isn't news to Wall Street or to the ranks of economists. But it was a shock to Katie Ochoa, 20, when she visited a friend in the Provence region of France in May.