pookymimi

thursdaysd on May 11, 12 at 8:49pm

pook - so how much luggage do you travel with? Do you drive?

I travel with a carry on and a suitcase for my daughter and I.
All the things mentioned are small and fit on the top zippered part of my suitcase and half of them are used on our 4 weeks and don't come back.

My kids and I do lots of hiking and I cook every day at least once in all the apartments we stay in.

spcfa

The dual voltage water heater is a must. And you shouldn't travel without Ziplocs for any reason. You should also have a bandana with you - essential for impromptu picnics.

For a knife I travel with a no name sandwich spreader with a serrated edge - I keep it in a folded sheet of cardboard to protect the edge, but I just saw one from Rikon with a cover that would be better:

http://www.amazon.com/Kuhn-Rikon-San...277528&sr=1-11

This type of knife will cut a tomato much better than a swiss army knife.

I also travel with a small collapsible 12 oz. bowl that has a lid and packs flat. I can use the lid as a small plate, or cover what's in the bowl to take snacks. If I don't need to use it for food I can keep my bedside stuff in it so that it's all together. At various times I've used it for a soapsaver, as a drinking vessel, and as a mini ice bucket. Handy tiny lightweight multifunction item like this is a winner. Picked mine up at Marshall's for $3 - made by Progressive.

Finally I have a polypropylene fork and soup spoon (got those at REI many years ago).

And, while absurdly frivolous, I also take a lexan wine glass which unscrews and snaps together (Magellans), and a tiny corkscrew.

So far these items have served me so well that I'm not even looking around for new travel food related gadgets.

palmettoprincess

I pack a one quart plastic deli container. The thick kind that soup is packed in. I made tea using one large tea bag and a couple packets of Splenda. I pour water of the tea bags and let it sit overnight. Find a few cubes of ice and viola iced tea. I use the container to store tea bags and splenda. In a pinch it can be a bowl to eat cereral with or store left overs. Thats about all the cooking I do.

pookymimi

spcfa on May 17, 12 at 12:27pm

The dual voltage water heater is a must. And you shouldn't travel without Ziplocs for any reason. You should also have a bandana with you - essential for impromptu picnics.

Amen!
I'm bringing what we used the most on 2010. I couldn't find ziplog bags for our daily lunches, in several places in Italy and some apartments didn't have containers for fruit, that I use to put my toiletries now.

As we travel by train 8 hrs at least 3 times I MUST have snacks for the eating monsters and I learned on what will hold us in the train from our 2010 trip.

palmettoprincess

As for the can openner and corkscrew could a multi tool device work? You wouldn't be able to carryon something like a pocket knife but you could pack it in checked luggage.

happytourist

1. Salt and pepper in those small travel packages
2. small can opener: http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Porta...owViewpoints=1
3. collapsible drinking glasses
4. knife in a case (only if you're checking luggage) (This is the one I have had for years: http://www.shopinthekitchen.com/stor...e-Cherry-4%22/)
5. Screwpull travel corkscrew: http://www.amazon.com/Screwpull-S111...8241038&sr=8-5
6. wine bottle stopper
7. ziplock bags and folded sheets of aluminum foil
8. bandanas make good emergency plates and napkins (buy them at the dollar store)
9. some plastic flatware
10. I have some very small jars for cayenne, cinnamon and mixed Italian herbs which I use when we're doing a lot of cooking--otherwise it's not worth hauling around.

palmettoprincess

happytourist: I liked the can openner and looked at that merchant's site on Amazon. It was pretty neat.

I liked your idea of using bandanas as plates. Some of my favorite travel memories are of making do. We went to SF for a week last year and was trying to save money. Two days before going home we found a Whole Foods. They had a rotissie chicken with two deli sides on sale for $12. We remembered utinsils but forgot plates. One of us used the lid to the rotissie chicken, two of us used the lid to the deli sides and mini plates and I just ate of the the rotissie chicken container. We were starving so it tasted great.

Lynn_Brown

Swiss knife is a power tool. With it you don't have to bring anything. For food, I recommend you bring something that both you and your husband can eat so you won't have to prepare a his and hers food package.

The best I can tell you though is to go for fruits in every country you visit. Aside from the nutrients, they come in handy wherever you go.

LSky

A small swiss army, baggies, bandana and a sarong. After that, you can get what you need.

I always pack a small immersion water heater and a couple of packs of instant oatmeal.