Until 2005, I hadn't been further out of Australia than New Zealand twice. A beautiful land, but a three hour trans-Tasman flight doesn't rate anyone as a world traveller.

This changed for me when my sister-in-law showed up with a bottle of champagne one summer evening and the next day I was knocking on the door of my travel agent, saying "I want to fly to Washington. Tomorrow."

How that worked out is told elsewhere, but I gained enough confidence to book a flight to the 2005 BookCrossing Convention in Fort Worth. Via London, and because I had to take three stops to qualify for the ticket, I chose San Francisco on the way home. There's a journal telling the tale of that trip (amongst other things) if anybody is curious enough.

My TA for both trips was Tessa P of Flight Centre in Canberra, who is an absolute angel, and melted my heart with her Celtic charm. Everything went like clockwork on my travels, and I vowed that I'd book everything else through her.

But she disappeared off to Dublin in search of a new life, and I mourned for her, putting off any planning until I could find someone as capable as her.

I didn't find anyone, but I found FlyerTalk and other forums, and became drawn into the tales of travel and frequent flying and the benefits of lounges and platinum cards and so on.

Eventually, about January, I decided that I'd better get down to some solid planning and booking. My best ticket was a oneworld Explorer which could give me up to twenty flights. Why oneWorld? Because if I fly with oneWorld, I get the Qantas flights to and from Canberra included. International air travel to and from Australia pretty much all goes through Sydney, and nobody else but Qantas does the Canberra-Sydney sector. As well as that, oneWorld offers the destinations I need, which cuts out a few of the discount RTW tickets via carriers like KLM.

And of course, the clincher is that I can add the airmiles and status points to those I gained in 2005. My status with Qantas is Silver, which is equivalent to oneWorld Ruby, but I'm grateful for the modest benefits, most useful of which is an increased baggage allowance. I usually travel with a hefty load of books, and maximising the amount I can carry with me is important.

I find an itinerary-planning tool and rough out a trip, not worrying too much about dates, but concentrating on how to get where I want to go. I'm allowed up to twenty flights over four continents, with four flights in each and six in North America. I have to cross the Pacific and Atlantic oceans once each. There's a host of minor restrictions, but by and large it's a good deal. I smile as I check out the projected mileage and status totals. I'll requalify for Silver status by the end of the trip. I note in passing that if I took the trip in Business Class, I'd get enough points to make Platinum. That'd be nice.

I see in the newspaper that Flight Centre is holding a Travel Expo in a building a few blocks away, and one Sunday morning I go in to speak to someone about booking my flights.

Standing in line, I glumly contemplate the travel agent I'm waiting for. I hope she's competent. She doesn't have that sweet smile that Tessa flashes me, but I guess it will work out OK. It's the travel not the travel agent, OK?

And then I see, two or three positions down, a familiar profile. No! It can't be.

But it is. Tessa! I leave my queue, bustle up and she smiles at me as I say "There's only one travel agent I want, and it's YOU!".

I hug her in relief and gratitude when she gets a chance to sit down with me and work out a price. I'm so very glad to see her that I crack and request Business Class. I'm planning a lot more travel, that platinum status will come in handy later on and besides, I'm over the moon to have my travel once again in competent hands. Hang the expense!