A necessity: A book because there's a lot of waiting around when you are travelling. I like big, thick novels that I can get wrapped up in.

A luxury: An inflatable neck pillow so that I can fall asleep wherever I am.

A memento: Before I set off on my first trip to South America, my sister gave me a chain with charms on it. Friends have given me charms to add to it over the years, and I wear it whenever I go on a long trip.

If only: If I had masses of money, I would buy a private jet so that I could set off whenever I wanted. There's nothing more frustrating than being somewhere and not being able to move on because the roads are impassable or the buses have stopped running.

• The Internet Directory to World Wide Travel by Aviva Elias is published by Dragon Publications at £9.99.