I seldom do any kind of year-end round-up on this blog. After all, the cheapest places to travel are still cheap no matter what year it is. Things don’t change that rapidly.

But over at Practical Travel Gear, it’s a different story. There are three of us reviewing gear and gadgets all year and we like to take a step back to summarize which ones really made us sit up and notice. So check out the picks from me, Kara Williams, and John Gordon here: The Best Travel Gear of the Year.

Unlike most magazines doing this kind of thing, we’re not picking out the most expensive or the most luxury-oriented items in order to please big-ticket advertisers. Just useful stuff that’s worth packing, no matter your budget.

As for me, right now I’m enjoying some time off in Zacatecas, Mexico with my family. This is one of those amazing cities that’s a major secret, with hardly any gringos in sight. More on that soon. Meanwhile, you can check out this cool slideshow I posted last year on the Zacatecas Mexican Mask Museum. It’s so awesome I’m going back again.