Take an immersion heater with you!

I remember listening to the advice of my elders and taking porridge, tea, Doshirak, and instant mashed potatoes with me to the USA.

My plan to save money didn't work. I needed boiling water. In the USA, it's convenient that any instant food can be heated in the microwave. But I didn't want that. I had this idea in my head that boiling water in a microwave is harmful. I still don't know if that's true or not, but the thought stuck.

I started looking for an electric kettle and ran into a big problem. They don't exist in the USA. There are expensive coffee machines, and in more specialized stores, you can find kettles for heating on gas stoves. That's it.

I won't forget how I went to about 15 stores, and to my standard question about whether they had a kettle, I would see a wide smile and a surprised look from the consultant. On eBay or Amazon, kettles were also a rarity and cost quite a lot.

In short, I ended up without a kettle for the whole summer, but the following year I took an immersion heater with me with the proud inscription "Made in the USSR".

Please, don't repeat my mistakes. Good luck!