This $20 travel pillow saves my neck on long flights

• I never knew I needed a travel pillow until I found the $20 Travelon Deluxe Wrap-n-Rest Pillow.
• The pillow wraps around your neck to keep your head secure while sleeping.
• The filling inside of the pillow is firm enough to be supportive and plush enough to be comfortable.

As a restless sleeper, it's hard for me to fall asleep and stay asleep, but I can never fall asleep anywhere as easily as I can on the plane. For some reason, the movement of the plane and the soothing sounds of the engine never fail to lull me to sleep. While there are a number of problems that come with sleeping in a fairly upright seat surrounded by hundreds of strangers, the biggest problem I've encountered was not being able to keep my head from swaying and falling.

On average, I normally fly at least 25 times a year, but I had never used a travel pillow until last year. I needed something to support my head so I wouldn't experience neck pains or awkwardly hit the person sitting next to me with my head (which I have admittedly done before), so I figured it was time to start looking for a travel pillow to provide me with support and comfort while sleeping.

My search began by testing out some of the classic, U-shaped travel pillows that many people use. The very first classic travel pillow I tried on a two-hour flight seemed promising as it kept my head supported during a short nap. I used the pillow again on an much longer flight from Los Angeles to London, but was baffled when I experienced intense neck pain the first two days of my trip; it was almost as if I had never used a travel pillow to begin with. I knew the pillow was a bit too big for me, but I didn't realize that the size would be an issue until I slept on the plane on a longer, international flight. I realized that my head was still swaying and falling because there was too much space between my neck and the pillow. Not only was there too much space in some areas, but because of its U-shape there is a complete lack of chin support, so my head had free reign to go wherever it wanted for a longer amount of time.

I needed to find a more secure and supportive travel pillow than the classic travel pillows I was using, one to accommodate my smaller frame and restless sleep. A few days before another flight from Los Angeles to Europe, I found what I had been looking for all along just in time for the long flight: Travelon's Deluxe Wrap-n-Rest Pillow.

Read more: The best travel pillows you can buy

As the name suggests, the Travelon Deluxe Wrap-n-Rest Pillow wraps around the entirety of your neck providing full support for it. The wrap style is more customizable to optimally fit each person compared to classic travel pillows - you can decide how tight or loose you want it to be around your neck. I was able to wrap the pillow snuggly around my neck to keep my neck and chin cradled comfortably for hours. When worn, the pillow vaguely resembles a stuffed scarf, but I'll take comfort over style.

The filling in the pillow is firm enough to be supportive and plush enough to be held almost like a stuffed animal - something that I did on a shorter flight when I was too tired to actually wrap the travel pillow around my neck. At only $20, cheaper than most other travel pillows that wrap around your neck, I would consider this to be a worthwhile purchase.

Not unlike a mattress or the pillows on your bed, finding the best travel pillow to fit your needs might be a matter of trial and error until you land on the one that's perfect for you. I'm so relieved that I finally found Travelon's Deluxe Wrap-n-Rest Pillow - and surely anyone who has ever sat next to me on a plane is as well.

Buy the Travelon Deluxe Wrap-n-Rest Pillow from Amazon for $20