It looks like the Euro will be in circulation for real beginning in February, 2002.

The Good news: You won’t have to exchange your Escudos or Pesetas or Lira or French Francs or Deutschmarks or Irish punths when you travel between Euro countries. They will all use the same currency.

The bad news: 1. Those DM or Pesetas or whatever that you have saved for your next trip will no longer be legal tender next Spring. Unless you convert them during the specified conversion period, they may be worthless; and
2. Some popular destinations (UK, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland) will not convert to the Euro in early 2002. So there may still be some currency conversion required for your next trip to Europe.