A necessity: A long Russian novel printed on lightweight rice paper, available from all good second-hand bookshops.

A luxury: An electric coil heater and an endless supply of my favourite Sir Thomas Lipton's Yellow Label tea, which for some reason is available in every country in the world except this one.

A memento: A tiny St Christopher, which my mother gave me, in weight-saving aluminium.

If only: GPS and satellites had not been invented - soon it be will impossible to get enjoyably lost or be truly alone anywhere.

• Grains of Sand, by Martin Buckley, an account of his circumnavigation of the globe via its deserts, is published by Hutchinson at £17.99.