Cost of Living...

As I look at a map of the world and wonder all the places we can go, one thing that I think about is... I wonder if I have enough money to get there... and I wonder how much it costs per day.

To this second question, there are many indices to help gauge costs abroad.

The first thought I had was to check lonely planet, or CIA world fact book, and see what they had.

The second thought was to calculate GDP per capita for that country.

After doing some research into these "cost of living" indices things get a little more complicated... but here's a good one. The Big Mac Index, calculates per country. Results for 2008

Another one, perhaps a bit more scientific would be the Mercer's Cost of Living Index, calculates per city.
A link to their newest list here.

Some interesting notes from that index... New York is the base at 100. Other cities are either higher or lower... all based on NYC (ranked 22).

SF = 81 (ranked 78)
Auckland = tied with SF.
Moscow = 142.4 (ranked 1)
Sydney = 104.1 (ranked 15)
Beijing = 101.9 (ranked 20.... HIGHER than NYC)