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There's a 95 percent chance Senior Editor Christine Sarkis is thinking about travel right now. Follow her on Instagram @postcartography and Twitter @ChristineSarkis.

Christine Sarkis is an SATW-award-winning journalist and executive editor at SmarterTravel. Her stories have also appeared on USA Today, Conde Nast Traveler, Huffington Post, and Business Insider. Her advice has been featured in dozens of print and online publications including The New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler, and People magazine. She has also shared travel tips on television and radio shows including Good Morning America, Marketplace, and Here & Now. Her work has been published in the anthologies Spain from a Backpack and The Best Women's Travel Writing 2008. She is currently working on a travel memoir.

The Handy Item I Always Pack: The Trtl Pillow. It's easy to pack and comfortable, and makes it so I can actually sleep on flights.

Ultimate Bucket List Experience: Seeing the Aurora Borealis from the comfort of somewhere warm, like a glass igloo or hot spring.

Travel Motto: Curiosity is an amazing compass.

Aisle, Window, or Middle Seat: Aisle all the way.

Email Christine Sarkis at editor@smartertravel.com.

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Price and Where to Buy Toad and Co. Debug Range Pants: From $95 on Amazon.

How the Toad and Co. Debug Range Pants Rate:

Usefulness: 10/10. I tested these pants, which have 0.52 percent Permathrin insect repellant in the fabric, in a mosquito-rich environment and didn’t receive a single bite while wearing them. (To contrast, I got seven bites while wearing jeans.) Tick season is shaping up to be intense this year, especially in the West, and while others picked up ticks on the same hikes I went on wearing these pants, I came back free and clear of stowaways. These pants are also UPF rated 50, comfortable, have useful pockets, and include a drawcord hem to keep bugs from creeping up. And they’re pull-on (rather than button-up), which makes pit stops in the woods way easier.
Value: 9/10. For summer travel, these pants deliver all-day comfort, insect protection, and durability. At $95, they’re average priced for performance gear, and buying them is presumably a lot cheaper than contracting Zika, West Nile, or Lyme disease. Or yellow fever or malaria, depending on where you are.
Durability: 8/10. The repellant-shield tag on the pants says it repels ticks, ants, mosquitos, flies, chiggers, and midges for 70 washes. So if you wear them more and wash them less, you can get a lot of insect-protected wear from them, but eventually their bug-fighting power will diminish.
Cool Factor: 8/10. These pants look like adventure/performance pants, so they’re not runway ready, but they come in great colors and have a flattering fit. And without smelling weird or requiring constant repellant reapplication, they will keep you protected from insects.

Final Verdict: In a summer that’s shaping up to be a big one for mosquitoes, ticks, and other biting pests, Toad and Co.’s Debug Range Pants deliver valuable protection, plus comfort and outdoorsy style.

Editor’s Note: Reviews are based on usefulness, portability, durability, value, and “cool factor.” Some review products are sent to us free of charge and with no incentive to offer a favorable review. We offer our unbiased opinions, positive and negative, and will never accept compensation to review a product. If you have any questions or comments concerning our reviews, or would like to suggest a product for review, please email us at editor@smartertravel.com.

(Photos: Toad and Co.)

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