I’m getting ready to hop on a plane to Eastern Europe, where I’ll soon be reporting on cheap travel in four countries there. I’ll be doing some stories for Perceptive Travel and writing chapters for the next edition of The World’s Cheapest Destinations.

Meanwhile, here’s what this blog’s readers have been checking out the most over the past month:

10) Peru’s Salkantay Trek vs. the Inka Trail

9) Good & Bad Travel Gear Trends for 2012

8) Travel Safety in Perspective – USA vs. Mexico

7) Quit Your Job, See the World

6) Updates on the Cheapest Places to Travel, 2012

5) How Many Countries Have You Been to? (Spoiler alert—I don’t care.)

4) I Want to Move Abroad – Where Do I Start?

3) How to Get Around Spirit Air’s Baggage Extortion

2) 6 Places to Live for Super-cheap

1) The Cheapest Places to Live in the World – 2011

I’ll be doing a 2012 version of that last one in June. Stay tuned by signing up for the RSS feed (top right) or following me on Twitter (@timleffel).

I reviewed this innovative Camelbak All Clear bottle in detail over at Practical Travel Gear, but it speaks to such a strong travelers need that I’m mentioning it here as well.

Anybody who has read this blog for a while knows that I put bottled water in single-use plastic somewhere on the evil scale between Darth Vader, Dick Cheney, and Bashar Al-Assad. The manufactured demand for these drink-and-toss bottles of water has led to giant floating garbage dumps in the oceans and the soiling of almost any landscape where people leave the bottles in their wake. Almost nowhere in the world does a majority of them get recycled. Most end up on or in the ground, where they’ll stay for centuries. (The Grand Canyon finally banned them this year, but not without encountering massive pressure from Coca-Cola that led to delays.)

So I’m hoping this Camelbak All Clear bottle is a success. You fill it with ordinary tap water, turn it on, shake it around for about a minute, and drink. That’s it!

In places you couldn’t drink the water before, now you can. So far I’ve only used it in Mexico, but it worked like a dream there: I didn’t buy any bottled water for nine days and drank with this from six different taps. No digestive problems at all.

Sure, this magical technology is going to cost you. The All Clear retails for about $100. But have you ever tracked how much you’ve spent on water over the course of a few weeks or a month on the road? Chances are, that’s about how long it would take to pay for itself. Everything after that is gravy, plus you’ve kept 100+ bottles out of the landfills or streams. It charges by USB, quite handy, and there’s a carrying pouch for the purifier part. (You can put any Camelbak top on it when you’re actually drinking from it.)

You can get the CamelBak All Clear Water Purifier Bottle at REI.com or at Summit Hut.

If you want something that takes up less room and can be used with any wide-mouth bottle you have already, check out this review of the SteriPen Freedom wand.

Packable winter boots from Teva "weigh less than a pint of beer."

I just spent three solid days checking out the new travel gear that will be hitting the shelves later this year, at a trade show where all the buyers come in and figure out what’s going to be hot and should be in stock. You can catch individual reviews on Practical Travel Gear as they hit the market (and if you’re a guy, go see a little eye candy on the PTG Facebook page.)

Meanwhile, here’s the big picture view of what’s happening now and what’s on the way—plus how it’s hitting your wallet.

Commodity Prices are Way Up

The Week magazine has a section called “Boring but Important” and this is one of those subjects. It’s not just the filling of your car gas tank that has gotten more expensive. Many synthetic fabrics are petroleum-based and even those that aren’t take energy to produce. Natural fiber prices have seen similar spikes though. Fine wool prices doubled just from 2009 to 2011. Cotton prices jumped 150% in that time because of rising global temperatures and devastating droughts in places like Texas. Sooner or later, companies have to pass on those basic materials increases to the retailer and you.

But Competition is Fierce

Are you looking for a new breathable waterproof jacket, a rolling suitcase, sunglasses, a water bottle, a pair of good socks, or a pair of lightweight hiking shoes? There are anywhere from 30 to 100 companies now supplying each of those items. All of them are fighting for their corporate lives to get your attention and get shelf space in stores so you can find them.  So while prices simply have to go up for these guys to even break even, none of them has the ability to really sock it to you as a consumer. So it’s really hard to find travel gear that’s a bad value these days. Sure, you may find items that are more technical than you need or are aimed at upper-end travelers who are less price-conscious, but you can be fairly secure that if you buy a (legit) name brand item, you’re not going to get something crappy. The stakes are too high. With some companies, they’ll even guarantee anything in their line for life: Eagle Creek, Briggs & Riley, Osprey, Tilley Hats, and Gore-Tex for a start.

Everything is Getting Ridiculously Light

The technology in travel gear, apparel, and shoes has progressed so far so fast that if you have a backpack or jacket from even five years ago, there’s a good chance it weighs twice as much as what you would buy now to replace it. I’m routinely running into backpacks I can pick up with one pinky, wheeled suitcases I can pick up with a forefinger. This wheeled carry-on from Osprey at the right weighs all of four pounds.

Big companies like Columbia Sportswear, Sierra Designs, North Face, Mountain Hardwear, Outdoor Research, and Patagonia are putting out wispy thin jackets that are windproof, waterproof, and heat-reflective on the inside—but pack into a little pouch that fits in one hand. You can get down or Primaloft jackets warm enough to let you travel almost anywhere outside the Arctic or high mountains that will stuff down into your daypack. There’s almost no trade-off now between packing space and comfort. And yes ladies, it’s all getting more fashionable and slim-cut too.

Compact Suitcases for Small Living Spaces

Suitcases, backpacks, and bags have a way of taking up a lot of space in your house or apartment. If you’re fortunate enough to live in a place with lots of storage space, no biggie. If you’re in an apartment in a big city, however, every inch can count. I’m starting to see bags that fold down into much smaller footprints, something I would have drooled over when I lived in Hoboken, NJ and worked in Manhattan. The best iterations of this so far are from High Sierra (see an example on the left, only $30-$60) and Eagle Creek (on the right). Later in the year, Eagle Creek is putting out wheeled duffel bags that still fold down to a size you can stuff in the corner of a closet. Very cool.

Don’t Believe the Hype

Take a pause and go put on some Public Enemy music.

Ready now? OK, all the things I’ve outlined above are real. They’re tangible economic and market forces that influence pricing. Then there’s hype that’s driven more by fashion. A lot of what drives retail buying is what’s new, What’s New, and WHAT’S NEW?!?!

It’s fitting I mention Public Enemy because one of the huge (but baffling) trends I kept running into this year was “retro packs” and jackets. Some fashion guru apparently came out and convinced all these gear companies that Jansport had it all right 30 years ago and we just need to update those designs with some new materials. Yeah right. I used those packs and there’s a reason they’re not around anymore—they totally sucked compared to what you can buy now. You’ll be able to buy these retro packs on the clearance rack two years from now I’m sure. So wait a while before you do the time warp and you won’t pay top dollar for these.

Which leads me to my one piece of advice in all this: get last year’s model. Yeah, if your pack or jacket is from five years ago, it’s probably time for an upgrade to take advantage of the advances in technology. But in general terms, the advances from one year to the next are incremental at best. More often, they’re driven by fashion: a new set of colors, new patterns, or a different stitching pattern here or there. Outdoor Research typically puts out 40-50 new hats per year, Chaos even more than that. Do we need that many new hats to choose from? No, but if they just put out last year’s hats again, there’s nothing to talk about with buyers or the trend-happy magazines searching for a new look (or a new look that looks like an old look…)

If you go to the clearance rack at your local store, or the online outlet equivalent at Backcountry, Sierra Trading Post, REI, Moosejaw, or Campmor, you’ll find awesome stuff for 50% off. If you’re buying when it’s not the right season—-like Insect Shield hot weather gear for your Thailand trip when it’s autumn in North America and Europe—you might feel like you’ve hit the jackpot.

If you’ve ever had the bad fortune to have your laptop die in another country while you were traveling, or have had to replace a stolen camera, you have learned first-hand about the strange world of international electronics pricing. If you’ve ever been to the airport in Hong Kong or Panama City and wondered why you felt like you landed in a shopping mall, it’s because these duty-free zones are a bonanza for people who can’t get fair pricing at home.

Wired magazine recently published a rundown of what a 16GB Wi-Fi iPad goes for around the world. As you might expect, only one place on the list had a cheaper price than the usual $499 in the United States—Malaysia was a tad less at $483. Here’s a look at other places on the globe.

Canada – $507
Mexico – $519
South Korea – $557
Vietnam – $560
China – $579
Japan – $583
Chile – $595
India – $603
UK – $629
New Zealand – $633
Russia – $647
Hungary – $653
France – $672
Denmark – $683
Ukraine – $687

As you can see, there’s no correlation between how cheap the country is in other ways or how high national GDP is in relation to others. So why the disparity? And why is it even worse with non-Apple items like cameras and laptops?

In most cases, you can chalk it up to protectionism, inefficient distribution, or both. When I lived in Mexico, for instance, I learned that goods made in the U.S. or Canada can be imported freely, thanks to NAFTA, but goods made in China get hit with a big taraiff. So even if it’s a product from HP or Whirlpool, the “Made in China” tag drives the price up. With most cheap electronics and apparel made in China these days, electronics are more expensive than they should be—in many cases 50 percent more than in your local U.S. Best Buy store.

In protectionist countries like Argentina and India, the government has made imports artificially high in order to protect the domestic economy. Research in Motion actually had to open a factory in lower Patagonia, Argentina to start making Blackberrys there—otherwise they wouldn’t make it past customs. A million books are sitting in containers on the docks and you can’t buy a Harley Davidson motorcycle no matter how much money you have.

When I first visited India as a backpacker, it was hard to even find a camera from Canon or Nikon. You had to seek out a specialist store that had a special import license. And you paid a fortune for the product. Things are better now, but when the government recently said it would allow big box retailers like Wal-mart and Carrefour in, with a local partner needing to hold a 49 percent stake, the outcry was loud and widespread.

In other countries, such as Korea and Japan, there are simply too many middlemen. For a product to get from dock to store, it goes through several hands, each adding their margin to the price. You’re paying for the pass-through.

There’s no easy answer to how to get around this except to wait until you’re in the right country to buy. My Spanish tutor in Mexico had one request when I was taking a quick trip to the U.S. for a conference. “Can you buy a camera there for me?” I did, and a model that would have been more than $200 in Mexico was $119 stateside.

Want some free travel gear? NOW CLOSED – See gear winners list at the end.

I moved back from Mexico recently and unloaded all the stuff that was crammed into our storage facility. I’m talking all the things that were formerly occupying a good-sized house before we left with just a few suitcases.

After living a simpler life, an American house crammed with possessions has been a strange change. I have too much stuff. I’m not a pack rat, but I get a lot of gear to review because I run Practical Travel Gear and once in a while I need to purge. My pain could be your gain.

To get any of the items below, send your preference to the e-mail address that follows, along with the proof of one of the actions listed at the bottom. None take much effort, so this could be an easy score.

1) Eagle Creek convertible laptop bag

I like this Eagle Creek Global Commuter bag pictured at the top and I wrote a nice review of it (follow that link), but after trying it out on two trips I put it away and haven’t used it since. That’s just because of personal preference: I like keeping my laptop in a backpack because I can carry all my other stuff in there as well and I’m not advertising my wealth in cheap countries.

This one is really nice though, so chime in if it’s your style. It can be carried by hand, as a backpack, or as a messenger bag. It’s checkpoint-friendly, so you can just zip it open for the security theater at the airport.

2) Collector’s item laptop sleeve from Woolrich

This is a rare laptop sleeve made in signature thick Woolrich red and black patterned wool. Again, I like this, but I just don’t use it. A PR person from Woolrich gave it to me at a trade show and it would really make a statement to pull this wool laptop sleeve out in a coffee shop in Burlington, Montreal, or Seattle. But for the foreseeable future I’m living in warm and sunny places…

You can’t buy this sleeve in a store. It’s something they made special in the factory for a giveaway. It fits 13-inch laptops and netbooks.

3) Briggs & Riley Excursion Field Bag for the iPad

Think of this Excursion Field Bag as the modern version of the man purse, a quality item for carrying around your iPad, tablet, or Kindle, plus a phone, pocket camera, some pens, and other items. This is a great flashpacker daypack with a lot of cool features, guaranteed for life as all Briggs & Riley products are. I’ve got nothing bad to say about this tote except that I don’t have an iPad and don’t intend to buy one. Yeah okay, if I win one somewhere maybe I’ll start pining for this bag I gave away, but sometimes you’ve gotta let go.

4) Eagle Creek Tailfeather

My review of this Eagle Creek Tailfeather tote said “don’t call it a fanny pack,” because those words didn’t appear in any of the marketing material or tags. But let’s face it, there are two kinds of people in this world: those who like these carriers and those who don’t. I’m all for logic and practicality, but I haven’t pulled this back out since I first wrote about it, so it’s all yours if you want to give it a good home. It would be great for biking, hiking, or other pursuits where you need your hands and a should strap isn’t practical.

5) PodFlex Pro Flexible iPhone, iPod, Touch holder

This flexible smart Touch/iPhone stand is cool and it works well (see the full review and photos here: PodFlex Pro), but I don’t really watch videos on a tiny screen ever. If you do, you can use this on an airplane tray table, in the seat pocket, or on a nightstand, leaving your hands free.

How to get your free sh*t

I want engaged readers to get these rewards, so do one of the following you haven’t done already, then forward me the e-mail confirmation or the screen shot to prove you did. Send it to beach (at) perceptivetravel.com and include your shipping address. U.S. addresses only—sorry! I have to pay to send all this and don’t want to deal with customs.

- Subscribe to the RSS feed of this blog OR

- Subscribe to the RSS feed of PracticalTravelGear.com OR

- Follow PracticalTravelGear.com on Facebook

If you’re the rare creature that’s done all three already, then show me that. Send it to beach (at) perceptivetravel.com.

Deadline for entries is August 26, 2011 at midnight EST because I need to get this stuff out of my cluttered office. When there’s more than one request for an item, the winner will be picked at random. Items will ship by whatever method will get them there the cheapest after I notify winners the following week.

Update, August 29: We have winners! The following were picked at random from the requests for specific items. One item got no entries and has been re-gifted to a relative. You don’t enter, you can’t score!

1) Eagle Creek Global Commuter laptop bag – Brian Bruenderman of Kentucky
2) Woolrich wool laptop sleeve – Tom Hamann of Colorado
3) Briggs & Riley Excursion Field Bag – Warren Robinson of Maryland
4) PodFlex Pro iPhone/Touch stand – Kim Sanders of Pennsylvania

I’m notifying everyone by e-mail and sending out packages this week. Don’t forget, we do a gear giveaway every month at Perceptive Travel. So go sign up for the newsletter.