Bluesea wrote:
<snip>
> How do you cope while on the road? I'm looking for a solution that doesn't
> have me depending on closed restaurants and filling thermos bottles and
> such.

In my last job I traveled extensively. I flew out on Monday and flew
back on Friday, always limited to a single suitcase. Not being willing
to settle for the meager offerings typically found in average hotels I
tried many things. What I finally settled on was the Bodum
"mini-Ibus" kettle. ( http://tinyurl.com/2yhzfr ), you can save a
few bucks if you shop around for it. It is small enough to pack easy,
will bring 24oz of water to a full rolling boil in less than 5 minutes,
and worked perfectly for a couple of years until I finally got off the
road. I found that you could place a cup, several baggies of loose leaf
tea, and a packet of those fill-it-yourself empty tea bag envelopes
inside of the kettle for easy compact packing. Alternatively a gaiwan
wrapped in tea towel and several baggies of loose leaf also packed well
inside of it.

The bottom line was I always had the makings for a proper cup of tea no
matter how far from home I was.

Nowadays I have a much more extravagant traveling tea service in a
small suitcase, albeit only suitable for driving, too bulky for flying.
http://www.pu-erh.net/static.php?StaticID=10

Mike
http://www.pu-erh.net