There are products you buy because you need them.
And then there are products you buy because somebody convinced you that your life would be dramatically better if you owned one.
The Walking Critic has a fairly healthy suspicion of the second category.
Products is where I look at the things that make up modern travel and modern life — from luggage and travel accessories to technology, gadgets, clothing, personal essentials, food and drink products, and the increasingly bewildering collection of things competing for space in your suitcase.
This isn't a shopping catalogue. I'm not here to tell you that everything is "amazing", "game-changing" or "a must-have".
Quite the opposite.
I've spent more than 12 years in London working as a buyer for my family business, responsible for purchasing thousands of product lines across everything from giftware and luggage to luxury furnishings and design. I attended international trade shows and saw new products, new ideas and new innovations long before many of them reached the mainstream market.
That experience has left me with a reasonably useful habit:
I look at the product, not the advertising.
For travellers, that means asking whether the suitcase is actually well designed, whether the travel gadget solves a genuine problem, whether the jacket works when the weather turns nasty and whether that clever little accessory deserves valuable space in your luggage.
It also means looking beyond travel.
Products influence what we eat, how we cook, what we drink, how we communicate and how we experience the world. Technology increasingly sits in the middle of all of it — particularly as artificial intelligence, digital payments and smart devices become part of everyday life.
Some products are beautifully designed.
Some are brilliantly practical.
Some are absurdly expensive.
And some are simply rubbish.
The Walking Critic will tell you which is which.
This PRODUCTS hub brings together my broader observations, discoveries and recommendations, while individual Product Reviews provide the deeper examination of products I've actually put under the microscope.
The philosophy is uncomplicated: if I'm going to recommend something, there should be a reason.
Good design. Good performance. Good value. Good idea.
Preferably all four.
Because travellers don't need more stuff.
They need better stuff.
