Travel Gear: The Best and Worst of the Year

Travel writers' evaluations of 2009's winners and losers

Practical Travel Gear published a short list of the best and worst travel items for 2009. There were, of course, good suggestions for tote bags, clothing and miscellaneous accessories, and some on the "worst" list that made me laugh out loud. Contributor John Gordon wrote, "Some things I just don’t understand, like Planesheets for covering airline seats. Besides the dubious claims of cleanliness, I’d just feel a little weird being the only passenger on the plane sitting in a zebra-stripe seat." I've got to agree on that one, though in this age of swine-flu fear, I suppose there are travelers who feel more protected by temporarily slip-covering their airplane seat in washable or disposable covers -- butt-ugly as some of them are.

No one asked me, but I'd include among the best those TSA-approved luggage locks. They're not new, but neither is Ex-Officio travelwear that the site praised. I've always wondered about unlocked bags both as invitations to pilferage and as ways that someone behind the scenes at an airport can make anb innocent traveler an unwitting mule for smuggling contraband. I'd include noise-canceling headphones, not new either but invaluable on a small, noisy airplane or a long flight on any plane at all. And finally, I'd include those not-new-either inflatable neck pillows, which are great now that airlines have become chintzy with little pillows. I like to sleep on planes and appreciate the comfort.