Around town I carry more basic kit, of course: usually, just my computer, power cord and surge protector. But when I’m traveling, the kit gets more complicated.

The Bags

Yes, bags is plural. For flying, I use a Kata Digital Rucksack. It holds all my digital gear and still fits under the seat of a 757 for security and easy access. Once on-site, I use a rolling bag. (When flying, the backpack is my “laptop bag” and the rolling bag is my “carry on” item.) My current roller is a Targus, and will be until I find the budget for the Jill-E bag I covet. For day trips, I have a Timbuk2 Hacker bag, a vertical messenger bag that also has tuck-away backpack straps.

The Basics

The two devices that I take on the road are my 13” white MacBook and my 8GB iPhone 3G. I have to agree with Imran; I have also questioned my laptop choice. I was torn between the MacBook and the MacBook Air when I bought my laptop. Several times since when I’ve been toting the MacBook I’ve wondered if I should have chosen the MacBook Air instead. The iPhone has proven itself an invaluable purchase that I’ve never questioned.

The Gadgets

My bag ends up stuffed with all sorts of peripherals and extra gadgets. The line-up changes but a few are constants.

• Surge Protector. I use a three-outlet portable surge protector by Belkin that also has USB outlets on it.
• Portable Hard Drive. Especially if I’m taking a lot of pictures, I like to back up new files while traveling.
• Ear Buds. Sometimes, I just want to plug in my iPhone and tune out while traveling.
• Battery Pack. My iPhone battery pack by Kensington doesn’t get used often, but when it does, it is a lifesaver.
• Ethernet Cable. Sometimes you get better access by plugging in (and sometimes, it’s the only kind of access available). Even in places that provide cables, I’ve encountered broken ones.

Other items (not pictured) include charging and power cables for my gadgets.

The Camera

Traveling with a dSLR really increases the amount of gear that I have to carry, as Simon described in his gear bag. My basic camera kit for traveling includes my Canon Digital Rebel XS with 18-55mm lens. Then there’s the battery charger, my SD card reader, a Spudz microfiber cloth and Nikon lens pen, and a Tamrac wallet containing extra SD cards and my back-up battery. Sometimes I’ll also carry my 75-300mm or 50mm lens.

My camera equipment is either carried in my Kata Digital Rucksack, a Tamrac Adventure Messenger 4, or in a Tamrac Aero Zoom 25, inside another bag. (Yes, bags is plural again.)

The Non-Gadgets

There are a few non-gadget necessities in my traveling bag when I’m on the road:

• Business Cards. Full-sized and mini Moo cards so I can make new friends and update old ones.
• Moleskine and Pen. Sometimes nothing can replace pen and paper for scribbling quick notes. Yes, that flowery thing in the middle is really a Moleskine Cahier. I own a scrapbooking web site, so I decorated it.
• Zip-Away Tote. It seems that I can’t go to an event without coming home with more than I started with. Hauling catalogs and swag is easy with my Timbuk2 Hidden Tote.

I’m on a never-ending quest for the perfect bag. What’s your road gear quest?

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On the Road

The first mobile scenario I prepare for is my traveling kit. I don’t travel as much as I did in years past, but I do make several trips each year and must prepare for durations that range from a couple of days through a week or more. My “long distance” tool kit is good enough that the duration of my trip doesn’t change it much.

Travel bag

I like the Booq Boa XS backpack because it is as thin and light as can be, yet will easily carry everything I need. It’s with me for years and has logged thousands of miles. It’s small enough that once I reach my destination it can become my knocking around bag, too. Unfortunately, Booq no longer sells this bag, but their product line is worth a look.

My main workhorse is the aluminum 13-inch MacBook. It’s thin and light enough to easily carry it everywhere, yet it’s a powerful laptop for getting my work done. A second battery goes in the bag as I don’t carry a power adapter when I’m out for day trips, and the two batteries easily get me around 10 hours of work, which is plenty.

For longer trips, I have a cable stash pouch, which is where the MacBook adapter lives. This pouch also has an Ethernet cable, in case I need one at a hotel, and the indispensable Monster Outlets To Go. This gadget provides four power outlets that are surge-protected, so I never have to worry about outlets at any hotel. The Monster has saved my bacon on many occasions.

I now carry the Kodak Zi6 pocket camera on most trips as I never know when I want to shoot some HD video clips of gadgets for my work. The Zi6 is as small as can be but shoots very high-quality video. The battery charger and a USB multi-card reader go in the cable stash, and the Kodak goes in my backpack.

The only other gear that goes in my travel bag is connectivity-related, as I simply must have good Internet connectivity everywhere I go. Currently, I am using the Verizon USB727 modem for high-speed connectivity, which is usually so good I don’t worry if the hotel has Wi-Fi or not. Verizon has good coverage in all the big cities in the U.S. I frequent, and it’s usually all I need to get online.

I have my iPhone 3G in my pocket at all times for phone calls and for quick email work. This is not restricted to this scenario; I carry it all the time.

Day Trips

Day trip kit

I work from my home but frequently head out into the world for work sessions to stop myself from getting isolated. These day trips can last anywhere from two to five hours, so I don’t need to take much with me. I throw the Macbook and the second battery into the Booq bag, and off I go without a worry. Of course, the Verizon USB727 modem goes with me, too, just in case I don’t find Wi-Fi around. This little kit is all I need to work, no matter where I end up.

Work Sessions of Opportunity

Over the years, I have discovered that I often find myself with “work sessions of opportunity.” I have a special selection of kits for those times. What are these opportune work sessions? Let’s say I am out running errands and find myself with half an hour of unexpected free time on my hands. I have realized that using these times when they crop up can let me get a lot of work done if I am properly prepared. That’s where my special tool kit comes into play.

Most people aren’t able to capture these opportunities when they crop up because they don’t have the proper gear with them. That’s understandable, because the last thing any of us want to do is carry our laptops with us all the time. I get around that with the Viliv S5 Ultra-mobile PC (UMPC). It’s slightly bigger than a PDA yet is a full PC. It fits in my pants pocket, but since my work involves writing I often need a good keyboard.

UMPC kit -- no laughing at the man purse!

I use a portable Bluetooth keyboard, the Stowaway Sierra (unfortunately no longer available) and a Bluetooth travel mouse, also by Stowaway. These two gadgets go along with the UMPC into a man purse that I carry with me for non-work local trips. When free time crops up, I can pull these little devices out of the bag and take full advantage of it. The ability to do this means I’m able to knock off work earlier on many days than I could if I didn’t have this stuff with me. That makes it worth the embarrassment of carrying the man purse around.

UMPC in action

Use Your Head

I find it beneficial to have the different tool kits to fit the particular work sessions because my mantra is to keep things as light and simple as possible. My gear lets me get the most out of anything that I am confronted with during my day, yet I don’t carry anything nonessential. Most folks tend to carry too much gear with them “just in case,” but for me, it’s not worth it.

What’s in your bag?

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The Bag

Years ago, I bought an expensive backpack on a friend’s recommendation and regretted it because it offered nothing special. I now have a cheaper Samsonite backpack that’s comfortable and works just as well as the pricey one. The only complaint I have is that it doesn’t hold water bottles very well. The backpack has plenty of pockets and zippers to keep things organized.

The Laptop

I use the Fujitsu Lifebook E8210 laptop as much as my desktop. As a games reviewer, I play games on the laptop instead of my desktop. I don’t need the temptation to play games when sitting in my home office, working. I reserve game time for the afternoons and evenings when the kids are at home, as interruptions don’t affect my work.

My previous laptop, now in the hands of the 6-year-old, had a huge screen that made it feel like it weighed 20 pounds, so I’ve sacrificed the larger screen for something lighter. Alas, the battery on the Fujitsu is dead, requiring it be plugged in at all times. This sounds like no big deal, but all the boys in the family (hubby included) trip over the cord, unplugging the adapter.

The Phone

I dumped the Sidekick (it had the best keyboard, but terrible service and features) for the BlackBerry Curve to keep me connected with friends, clients and family. Not only does the Curve have a real keyboard (as opposed to the iPhone’s onscreen keyboard), but also has the best email system I’ve seen on a phone. My family has several BlackBerrys and iPhones, so I’ve tried them all. Being deaf, I depend on a phone’s instant messaging, text and email applications. The BlackBerry does a better job of providing these while allowing me to work faster. The iPhone is sleek, but not as efficient in meeting my needs.

For chatting with family, I rely on Google Talk. I use the BlackBerry’s built-in email and SMS applications. I also have the Google applications for maps and email. Although I don’t need a headset, I sort of have one in my cochlear implant. I don’t feel self-conscious about the cochlear implant thanks to the growing popularity of headsets.

The Camera

The portable Canon PowerShot SD550 has it all: it’s lightweight, takes high-quality images and the ability to capture videos. The only complaint is it doesn’t do a great job of taking action photos, a big thing when you have kids. Otherwise, it’s a great camera for the web worker who doesn’t need to worry about shooting sporting and other fast-moving events. I bring my USB card reader when I bring a camera so I can easily download photos to the laptop.

The Tunes

Car trips were never popular with me since childhood. Then I found that an iPod was a way to ease the pain, especially when I discovered the iPod’s lyrics feature. I have a second-generation iPod Touch.

I also still have my second-generation red iPod Nano. I love the feel, color and portability of it. The iPod Nano is my companion when I do the driving since my car comes with a MP3 player connection.

The Essential Leftovers

All the charging cables come with me including the camera’s backup battery and portable charger. The lightweight Logitech VX Nano Cordless Laser Mouse for Notebooks is a lifesaver when it comes to playing games on the laptop. Its receiver barely sticks out of the back of the laptop’s USB port, so I never have to remove it. I also carry a USB drive with Roboform2Go installed to avoid driving myself crazy with remembering passwords.

Another essential is Lapworks Laptop Desk. It absorbs the heat from the laptop instead of my legs, contains an adjustable incline for comfort and comes with a cover that works great as a mouse pad. The stand folds almost flat for easy carrying in the backpack.

What’s in your bag?

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Unlike most people, my kit tends to change frequently. I vary the contents of my bag based on my  needs, and my gear has evolved as I’ve ridden the trend from notebooks to UMPCs to netbooks and back again. Let me give you a glimpse as to what I mean, as my bag has evolved many times in the past few years.

Tablet PCs and UMPCs

In late 2004, I decided to move away from traditional notebooks and try my hand at using a Tablet PC. That led me to a Toshiba M205 convertible Tablet PC that I used the heck out of. It was my everyday travel computer that could be used with the keyboard, but could also handle handwritten input. At 4.5 pounds, it was considered reasonable to tote around. While it had integrated Wi-Fi, I’d often USB-tether a 3G Windows Mobile phone for EV-DO Rev 0 speeds. A computer and phone were all I needed.

That worked well for a while, but in early 2006, I got bitten by the UMPC bug. This disease affected me so profoundly that I purchased new Samsung devices as fast as they could pump them out. I started with a Celeron-powered Q1, upgraded to a Pentium-powered Q1P in 2007, and finally ended my run with an Intel Core Solo inside the Samung Q1-UP that I still own. Each of these devices offered a 7-inch touchscreen display and supported the Tablet PC features I embraced prior. The most recent model afforded me a higher-resolution display at 1,024×600 and also included a split QWERTY keyboard. It turns out that I didn’t need that feature, though, because my gear bag gained a very useful device in 2006: a Think Outside Stowaway Bluetooth keyboard.

Stowaway keyboard vs. traditional notebook keyboard

I took this keyboard everywhere with me because it worked with all of my devices: UMPCs and phones alike. It was a permanent fixture in my gear bag for months, although it was eventually replaced by a newer model in the Sierra. The main reason for the replacement? The newer keyboard added a dedicated row of numeric keys but didn’t really add much extra weight or size.

At the same time, my mobile kit was changing. The phone eventually got replaced in 2005 by a 3G USB modem card. While some folks prefer embedded 3G or PC Card/ExpressCard solutions, I like carrying USB WWAN adapters because they’re small and work with all of my devices.

Netbooks Come of Age

This type of setup worked great for me wherever I went. Unfortunately, the UMPC market generally dried up and heralded the coming of the current netbook craze. Like any good geek, I jumped on the trend right away and purchased the original Asus Eee PC 701 in November 2007, replacing  my UMPC and separate keyboard. Hence the gear bag consisted of a netbook, USB card for 3G connectivity and, occasionally, a small digital camera.

Netbooks really came of age in 2008, so it was time to say goodbye to the small keyboard of the Eee PC and hello to an MSI Wind U100 netbook that I still own. The Intel Atom CPU is much better suited to mobile computing: I routinely see five hours of run-time with the U100. It also offers a larger 10-inch screen and better keyboard than the Eee PC. Although I was able to cover the entire 2008 Consumer Electronics Show with my Eee PC, the Wind makes for a more enjoyable work experience. These days, when I want to travel light and only need to work for four hours, the Wind has a place in my gear bag along with a USB727 adapter for 3G. The cheap point-and-shoot I used to carry was replaced by a Canon EOS Rebel XSi last year.

Back to Notebooks

Over the past year, we’ve been doing more video over at jkOnTheRun, so when I know I’ll be editing vids, I take a current-generation MacBook with me. Like the Wind netbook, I can get four or five hours of run-time, so carrying my second battery essentially gives me an entire day. Videos are recorded in 720p high-def with an inexpensive Kodak Zi6 handheld. It has a USB interface, so I can easily transfer video files to the MacBook, edit them, and then upload them over 3G or Wi-Fi.

My gear bag has changed over time, but it has always met my needs. I’ve always made sure that I have the right tools for my tasks. If I simply need to write content, I can throw the MSI Wind in my bag and go. My 3G adapter is always in the bag; the only time it leaves is when I’m using it. When I want the comfort of a “big boy” laptop or know that I have video work, my Wind is swapped for my MacBook as it only adds 1 pound of weight to carry over the netbook kit.

Before I forget, I should mention the bag I carry. Sadly, it’s not one that most of you can get your hands on, however. Each year that we cover the Consumer Electronics Show as press, we’re given a padded backpack from the Consumer Electronics Association. It comes in handy to slog all our gear and also to hold the many pages of product documentation, datasheets and maps of the Las Vegas Convention Center. It turns out that this has become my bag of choice. Why? Simply because the oversized backpack has a removable messenger bag: I just unzip it and I can easily carry my small gear safe and sound!

What’s in your bag?

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The Bag

I use an ordinary backpack that I found in a sale bin. It’s well-padded and it’s also the most comfortable backpack I’ve ever had. It has a lot of secret compartments in which I hide valuables.

My backpack is important because I live by a “one bag” rule: If it doesn’t fit in my bag, I don’t bring it. My friends always laugh at me for having the lightest luggage, but I’m not the one who gets slowed down because of the weight I’m carrying. To paraphrase something I once read, “You’ll find that you can take anything with you. The joke is that you have to carry it yourself.”

The Laptop

I own a MSI Wind U100 netbook. It has a 10-inch screen and weighs 2.3 lbs, which is light enough to bring when I’m traveling. I store it in a padded pouch to keep it dry and protected.

The Phone

My phone is a five-year-old Nokia 3200. This is a hand-me-down from my sister, and I use it exclusively for texting and making calls. Since texting is so popular here in the Philippines, I always keep this phone on silent, otherwise I’d be interrupted every five minutes.

Other Gadgets

One of my most important gadgets is a 3G HSDPA modem from SmartBro. I always have two prepaid cards for it so that I’ll have enough credits to use it for emergencies. When 3G access is unavailable, it allows me to connect via GPRS. This may sound like a nightmare, but it’s an absolute necessity if you want to do online work in rural areas.

The speakers on the MSI Wind aren’t very good, so I always bring my Philips earphones. I also have a no-brand MP3 player that needs to be replaced soon.

I also bring an power strip if I’m staying at an unfamiliar place. It’s frustrating to find only one working socket if you want to charge your phone and your laptop at the same time.

Optional Gear

If I’ll be gone for a long time or if I need to carry around large files, I bring my Maxtor external hard drive, which has a capacity of 320 GB. Also, if I want to take photographs, my partner lends me her Canon PowerShot S3 IS.

Non-Gadgets

Clothes and toiletries are a must, but I never take more than four days’ worth of clothes. If I’ll be away for more than a week, I prefer washing my clothes rather than lugging around the extra weight in my backpack.

I usually bring two notebooks with me: a small one for idea generation and my journal. For writing and drawing, I bring gel pens in different line weights. There’s also at least one book in my bag at all times. Waiting areas, long queues and boring afternoons were made for reading.

So those are the simple but useful things I bring with me when I step outside my home office. How about you? What’s in your bag?

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I always carry a backpack. Like Simon, I prefer to keep my hands free, and I think that backpacks are more comfortable than shoulder bags or messenger bags. I bought this backpack when I was living in San Jose, Calif., right before the dot-com bust (2000 or so), and it’s survived quite a bit of abuse from my carrying it every day.

Most of my gear is focused on the fact that I frequently travel to client sites or conferences to give presentations or training sessions on a variety of community management topics. I have a MacBook as my primary computer, and I never leave home without the adapter for projection units. I also always take the remote, which makes it easy to advance slides during presentations. I also carry the extended power cord for when I can’t get quite get close enough to the outlet.

Of course, I have the obligatory smartphone, an iPhone in my case. I use it extensively while traveling to check email, read and post to social networking sites, keep up on feeds, get directions, and more. I also still carry my older first-generation iPod Nano, which strikes people as odd, since my iPhone would work just fine for listening to podcasts. As a heavy iPhone user, I struggle with battery life, so I prefer to save the battery for other tasks by offloading audio to my iPod. I also like the tactile click-wheel interface on which I can easily adjust the volume or forward to the next podcast in my list without ever removing it from my pocket. I also carry an iPhone/iPod USB cord with a wall plug adapter to help manage battery life issues.

Aside from the iPhone or the MacBook, the piece of equipment that has saved me more times than I can count is my Verizon mobile broadband card for wireless Internet access. I can’t count the number of times that coffee shop or hotel Internet connections have let me down at the worst possible moment, usually when I really need to send an important document to a client. Having a reliable backup wireless source is a great investment for frequent travelers and consultants.

On more touristy trips, I also carry a cheap digital camera (not pictured for the obvious reason). Since I’m visiting Washington, D.C., for the first time in more than 20 years,  I decided to make time to also play tourist while I’m here, so I brought the camera with me.

What’s in your bag?

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There’s nothing particularly fancy inside, but it is all functional and each piece fits its required role perfectly.

The Bag

Like Simon, I’m a big fan of the backpack. I’ve had a Targus Sport for going on five years now and it is holding up quite well. Easy to sling over my shoulder, well padded for the laptop and filled with miscellaneous pockets for all sorts of supplemental stuff. Padded shoulder straps make it a comfortable carry even on a long walk.

The Laptop

My current laptop is an IBM ThinkPad R50e, which I’ve had for a few years. I prefer a 15-inch screen for a good mix between portability and usability. I’ve bumped up the RAM to the 2GB maximum, but otherwise it still works quite well for everything I can throw at it.

I’m a big fan of the ThinkPad line of laptops in general. In my experience, they have proven to be very reliable and offer a lot of functionality at a good value. I imagine my next laptop will also be a ThinkPad.

A lot of people tell me I should go Mac, I say I’ll consider it when I can get one with a TrackPoint , as I honestly can’t imagine my primary machine not having one (yes, I’m “the guy who likes the TrackPoint,” mock away…) My current model doesn’t even have a touchpad, which is ideal for me.

I do have an extra battery I bring along for long trips and a power brick that is easily accessible.

The Connection

For connectivity, I use the Sprint Mobile Broadband service in conjunction with a Novatel S620 card. The coverage here in my area is excellent and the speed is good enough to avoid any frustration. It’s nice to not have to worry about finding hotspots and just knowing that I can connect anywhere. I wish I could avoid the monthly fee but on more than one occasion it has proven to be indispensable.

The Phone

I just recently moved into the smartphone era with the purchase of a Samsung BlackJackII . In addition to phone calls, it also works quite well for handling my other data needs. It syncs beautifully via IMAP with Gmail, my calendar is kept up to date with the help of GooSync, and Tiny Twitter keeps me connected to my friends there. I don’t do much browsing on it but I do recommend the upgrade to Opera Mobile, which I prefer over IE Mobile. My phone was cheap through AT&T and has proven to be a good mobile companion.

I have a Bluetooth headset but I find it so horribly uncomfortable that except when I’m obligated by law to use it (like when driving in Chicago) I tend to forgo it. The lack of a good headset tends to keep me off of the phone while driving, which is probably a good thing anyway.

The Camera

I’m not much of a shutterbug, I guess. I take the miscellaneous photo with my phone or for “heavy duty” needs I’ll borrow the Nikon E3100 from my wife.

The Tunes

To keep myself sane in a noisy environment or to grab myself some entertainment, I use a set of either Shure E2C or E3C sound isolating earphones which do an amazing job at both. They have been discontinued, but the SE210 appears to be the logical replacement. Honestly, you can’t go wrong with them.

I also have an ancient MPIO FL100 MP3 player which continues to serve me well for the limited times I need it.

The Extras

I also keep handy various power bricks and adapters to keep things charged. I’ve got a USB key with PortableApps on it which can let me be productive on someone else’s machine if necessary, and there are always a couple of blank CDs handy as well.

The Non-Tech

I take advantage of the multiple pockets in my backpack to carry along the basics like notebook, pens, tissues, mints, hand sanitizer and I usually try to remember to bring along a book for “offline” time.

That’s what I carry. What’s in your bag?

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Given my extended trips, I have to stay productive, so I tend to over equip. I emptied my Keen bag today to photograph what’s inside to demonstrate how I need to be ready for virtually anything for my work.

Here’s what’s in my bag.

My Bag
The Oswego Keen bag is relatively small as far as laptop bags go. It isn’t really meant for laptops but works well for mine.

My Computer
Still plugging away with my black MacBook. Can’t leave home without it.

Digital Camera
And I’m still using the Nikon Coolpix L5 (7.2 megapixels, 5x zoom). Yes, I  should probably upgrade, but it still does what I need it to do: takes images suitable for web sites.

Video Cameras
While I did recently covet The Flip HD at Costco, I’m still using The Flip Mino and keep my white Flip Ultra (30-minute version) on hand as backup (my Nikon Coolpix can function as a third video backup, too). I also have two mini tripods, one that I purchased with my Mino and a Gorillapod by Joby that I picked up at a conference.

Digital Recorder
I’ve used the Edirol / Roland R-09HR Portable High-Resolution Audio Recorder to record a number of presentations and to do interviews. I have recorded in .wav on occasion, but really like the convenience of recording good quality MP3s.

Portable Hard Drive
I won the 320GB Seagate FreeAgent Go external hard drive and yes, it is pink and very thin and light. I haven’t even used it yet but it fits in a pocket inside my Keen bag, and I figure I should have it just in case. Right now, I’m still just drooling over it and showing it off. Of course, I need to find out how to make this Windows drive work with my MacBook. I thought I saw instructions somewhere, but now I can’t find them!

Microphone
I’m using the Rode Podcaster USB mic, which has been incredibly effective for recording my podcasts on the road regardless of my environment. I’ve been able to get clean and fairly consistent sound, even in hotel rooms and bathrooms. It’s amazing how directional the mic is and how great it cuts out extraneous ambient sounds (like footfalls, dog barking and heater clanging).

Phones
I have two mobile phones. One is an LG En-V through Verizon with a Wyoming number. I held onto this over the last few years because when I originally moved to Alaska, I was unable to get a good national plan that worked well in remote parts of the state. Then my local telecom contract ran out, and I ran to the AT&T store to get an iPhone. Each phone serves different clients and when one doesn’t work well where I’m located, the other does so unless I’m in the middle of Wyoming or the long stretch of highway between Tok and Anchorage, I’m pretty well covered.

I’m trying to do my part and be safe on the road. I just put in 1,000 miles on a rental car driving around Wyoming in less than a week’s time, so an earpiece for my mobile phones is a must. I have one from Motorola.

I also have my share of chargers and adapters, including a USB charger for my car/rental car.

What’s in your bag?

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I’ve started by laying out what I carry. The requirements I have for my gear are simple: It needs to be durable and light enough for easier lugging, but powerful enough for me to be able to get my work done on the road.

The gear I usually take to conferences

The Bag

Having a decent bag is vital. It needs to be sturdy enough to protect your gear, while at the same time being lightweight and not taking up too much space. I like backpacks, as they are more comfortable and leave your arms free.

I have two great bags for my gear; my choice of which one to use depends on whether I’m taking my camera and lenses with me or not.

Crumpler Salary Sacrifice

On the rare occasions I decide not to lug my camera, my bag of choice is the excellent Crumpler Salary Sacrifice. It contains a removable laptop sleeve that perfectly fits my laptop.

Most times, though, particularly when traveling to conferences, I will take my camera and lenses, so I need a bag that can comfortably and safely store all of my photo gear. Enter the excellent CompuTrekker AW from Lowepro. It’s sturdy and has movable, velcro-secured padded inserts to make compartments for all of my photo gear. It also has a separate, padded compartment in which to store the laptop, and a big pocket on the front where I can store other travel essentials. It’s a surprisingly roomy bag — even after storing all of my gear I usually have space left over for other stuff, despite it being small enough to meet the size restrictions for carry-on luggage. The “AW” in the name means “all weather” — the bag has a nifty rain cover hidden in the bottom so you can protect your gear from the elements. I took all my equipment, including my laptop, trekking around Sri Lanka in this bag and everything came back in one piece.

The Laptop

My laptop is the no-longer-available Dell XPS M1210. It has served me very well, although it’s getting a little old (the current version is the XPS M1330). It’s a great little laptop because with a 12.1-inch screen it’s small and light and therefore very portable, but it’s also reasonably powerful and can do everything that I need it to while on the road. I have two 6-cell battery packs, so can get a lot of work done without needing to find a power outlet. Even though it’s been battered quite a bit, it’s proved to be a very durable machine. The only other bit of computer equipment I take with me is the laptop’s power brick.

When I get around to replacing this machine, I will go for another small, 12- or 13-inch laptop, probably a MacBook.

The Phone

I always carry my iPhone. It’s great for those moments when I don’t want to pull the laptop out of the bag just to do some on-the-fly Twittering or quickly check my email. I always have to make an effort remember to take the USB lead, though, as the phone’s poor battery life means that it doesn’t last very long if I forget!

My photo gear inside my Lowepro bag

The Photo Gear

My camera is the Canon Digital Rebel XT. Although it’s a few years old now and the casing is quite worn, it’s still going strong. The lenses I take with me depend on what I’m planning on shooting, but typically for a conference I take my Canon 70-200mm f4 L zoom lens in order to shoot high-quality photos of speakers from a distance, and a large aperture Canon 50mm f1.8 lens for portraits and low-light photos. I have a Canon Speedlite flash for lighting. I also usually take a lightweight Manfrotto tripod that I can strap to by bag. Also essential — spare battery, charger and plenty of memory cards.

What’s in your bag?

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