My Life In Travel: Jasmine Guinness

'I love Dublin for fun, New York for excitement and Venice for drama'

First holiday memory?

First holiday memory?

I was six and we were travelling around France in a canvas-topped Land-Rover, camping. I learnt to swim that summer. As a family we had lots of adventures. Once we ran out of petrol in the middle of the night and another time we were washed out to sea on a lilo.

Best holiday?

Travelling around Queensland, aged about seven, with my parents in a VW camper van. The animals, the landscape and the bush fires all made a great impression.

Favourite place in the British Isles?

Ireland, without a doubt. Every part has something beautiful or funny about it. It's changed a lot but the spirit remains the same. I grew up in County Kildare but I live in London now so I miss it terribly. I also love North Wales - we go as much as we can for weekends.

What have you learnt from your travels?

Always take a book that you know you will like. People who read on holiday always have a better time because it's total escapism, both physically and mentally.

Ideal travelling companion?

My best friend Zita. We used to travel a lot together. We always bicker but end up agreeing in the end.

Beach bum, culture vulture or adrenalin junkie?

I'm a culture bum! I love visiting places of interest and was always taken to lots as a child, so that was instilled in me from an early age. However, I also love a beach and a book.

Greatest travel luxury?

Music. I try to take a collection with me, but recently I've started to forget because I have a child and I'm too busy trying to remember things like arm-bands.

Where has seduced you?

Jamaica, Mexico, Cuba and Italy. I would like to see more of them but my life is so busy.

Better to travel or arrive?

It's heaven to arrive and hell to leave. As a model I travel non-stop. I can't plan, so I have to slot in a week or two when I can.

Worst travel experience?

Hundreds of delayed flights and being sick on a ferry in rough seas.

Worst holiday?

Jamaica for the millennium - it should've been heaven but it was hell. It's not a good idea to go on holiday with a boyfriend who is beginning to annoy you.

Worst hotel?

I once stayed in a roach- infested hotel in Istanbul for a work trip. I had to share my room with a male model, and pointedly all we talked about was our other halves.

Best hotel?

Jake's in St Elizabeth, Jamaica. It's very laid-back with a beautiful swimming-pool, good food and the best rum cocktails in the world.

Favourite walk/swim/ ride/drive?

A gallop along the beach in Ireland and a swim in the Tuscan river we used to visit.

First thing you do when you arrive somewhere new?

Lie on the bed to see if it's comfy.

Dream trip?

I always dreamt that I would marry in the Piazza Del Campo in Siena and go on my honeymoon down the Amazon, up the Nile, on a gallop through the pyramids, to Nepal and Kerala, on a safari and finally to Lake Titicaca in Peru.

Favourite city?

Dublin for fun, New York for excitement, Siena for beauty, Venice for drama and London for a huge mix of everything.

Where next?

To Corfu with friends. There are going to be lots of kids, so how relaxing it will be is anyone's guess.

Jasmine Guinness is a model