On my last visit to Japan, I brought home a cheap pair of reusable plastic chopsticks. The hard case they came with lets me toss them into my bag without worrying about them breaking, and usually I wrap a handkerchief or cloth napkin around the case.

I use these chopsticks more often than I would have expected. I used to be a fork person, but I've converted – once I got used to using them, chopsticks turned out to work better for the things I'd otherwise eat with a fork. Today I ate some salad on the plane that I brought with me to the airport, instead of spending $8 on wilted lettuce.

If you need a utensil, here are some options which I don't own but which seem nice (referral links):

• Plastic chopsticks – $8
• Titanium spork – $15 I have something like this for camping, but the Light My Fire-brand spork seems way expensive these days.