Getting through the airports and onto a plane with a laptop these days is getting more frustrating. Restrictions as to what can be brought on, and what has to be checked, are different per country, and sometimes (as is the case in the US) different per airport within the same country. BTN
ran a story recently on this topic.
Airport security isn't the only item to consider however when traveling with
a laptop. Power requirements, phone line jacks, dial tones, wireless connections
and customs are all part of the equation as well.
Airport Check In
To check your
laptop into the luggage compartment may or may not be an option for you. With
the way situations are right now, I would suggest you plan on checking the laptop
in. X-Ray detectors have been shown by several studies not to have any damaging
effects on the data on your drives. The metal detectors and metal detector wands
however are not so assured. These devices use a much stronger magnetic field;
so request that the bag is checked by hand, instead of letting them use those
devices.
 If you are packing
your laptop, it would be best to get a hard case for travel. If that is not
an option, there are padded travel sleeves available as well. If this still
is not in the budget, then at least make sure the laptop is in the center of
the bag, and surrounded on all six sides by clothing or other padding.
Remove cards, antennas and anything that sticks out from the laptop, whether
you are checking it or not. Several reports have suggested that the personnel
going through bags and security checking items are not very careful at times.
Save yourself the frustration and grief, and prepare your laptop as though ruffians
were going to man-handle the device.
Customs
Make sure you can prove that the laptop is yours, and was yours when you left
your point of origin. Some customs entry points are a little stricter on this
aspect of travel than others, so you may not have had the question asked before,
but you don't want any surprises on this trip. Paying duty on a laptop you own
is frustrating. This goes for anything else that you may be traveling with,
that has a prominent value, and is fairly new. Receipts, if you have them, are
best.
This brings up a side note I recently had problems with. Some receipts are
printed on Thermal
paper . Thermal paper is heat sensitive (hence the name). What this means
is that you may have the receipt with you on departure, and a blank piece of
paper on your return. While there are methods of viewing the faded out thermal
receipt, they may not be available at the customs point. Try to get your store
to give you a regular printed receipt before you leave.
Power Jacks
 There are 9 different power
plugs in use around the globe, so a multi power plug adaptor is a necessity.
These are very easy to find on the Internet, and at several local computer stores.
They also aren't very expensive.
You may also want to purchase an extra battery. I know for my laptop, this
is a very expensive luxury, but there are several times I wished I splurged.
Phone Jacks
There are 39 different telephone jacks in use worldwide. So if you are going
to use your modem, then you need an adapter for the country you are traveling
to as well.
Dial Tones
Dial Tones are also different, so you may have to dial your numbers manually.
Insure before you go what you will need to make these connections. The best
way is to contact the hotel or office you are going to visit, and ask them what
requirements you will need to make phone connections to the internet, or to
your home office.
Wireless Connections
 WiFi
access points (thankfully) are becoming more common around the globe. Your hotel
may have this type of connection available, or there may be several locations
near your hotel which will provide connection.
JWire, has a good search tool to help you find these before you arrive.
Using this tool with Google Earth, will
get you an idea of where you are going to be, and where your access points are
located.
Data
Most of the time we are not really traveling with a laptop, we are trying to
travel with data. It does us no good if we get to the meeting with the laptop
and the data doesn't work. As I've said before, there are very few verifiable
reports of data corruption because of air port security measures, but things
happen. Also, luggage gets lost, or his held, or perhaps the lap top was, despite
all of our best efforts, damaged in route. Planning for this contingency is
a wise effort.
It also isn't very difficult to insure that your data is available these days.
I've written several
articles on the use of on-line office programs. So if your data is in the
form of reports, presentations, or spreadsheets, then using these can make sure
you have access to them no matter where you are. Email, using a resource such
as GMail, or other account that allows larger files to be sent, may also be
an option. There are also several on-line storage areas, where you can transfer
files to your account and then retrieve them at your destination.
 These
options may also be useful if you are traveling with files that you would really
miss for security reasons, if the laptop was stolen.
Encrypted files in a online account are much more secure than files sitting
on a laptop.
Other options are portable external hard-drives and USB memory sticks. Both
of these are viable when you want your laptop in the check-in, but you want
your data with you.
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