The Dunedin BookCrossing Convention was held in mid February, and I put my name down for it. This was to be my fourth visit to Dunedin, a dour little city near the bottom of New Zealand's South Island. There are other far more spectacular places, and I make no doubt that it's a miserable place in the depths of winter, but I love it. Short of Canberra, it's my favorite city in all the world, and that's after seeing some of the world's greatest.

Last time I went to Dunedin it was Sydney to Christchurch and then a long wait for a little prop job down. This time I booked Freedom Air Sydney-Dunedin direct. The sale price of $99 each way for a trans-Tasman flight was too good to resist. The taxes and charges came to about as much as the tickets. I'd have to find some way to get from Canberra to Sydney, but that was OK.

Freedom Air is Air New Zealand's "no-frills" arm, and I had to pay $5 each way additional to select my seats. I picked a good window seat - 6A so that I'd have a different view coming and going.

It would also be a good chance for me to try out some of the travel kit I'd slowly been accumulating since my April 2004 trip.

My base grade Dell laptop did the job, but it was big and heavy, the wireless card sticking out of the side had to be removed each time I stowed it away, and worst of all, if the guy in front reclined his seat, the laptop screen assumed an acute angle and became impossible to read. No matter how I struggled, there just wasn't enough room between my lap and the seatback to extend the thing.

My wife, a tiny woman, carried my laptop overseas once and returned vowing revenge. It was just too massive for her. So we went out and got her employer to pay for a Toshiba Libretto U100, a sweet little computer the approximate size, shape and weight of a trade paperback. It works well for her, but the three-quarter size keyboard is just a bit too dainty for my fingers.

So when I saw a Dell Latitude X1 at a trade fair, I knew I'd found my new love. It's light, just over a kilo, but most of all it's small. About the same size and shape as a copy of National Geographic. It has a wide screen aspect and the keyboard is almost full sized. It can operate in a fraction the space of my old Dell and comes with a bunch of goodies. Main drawbacks are the external optical drive and the short battery life.

I found a bargain on eBay and bought the bigger battery. With both batteries, I could get about six or seven hours out of it, more than enough for anything but a long and frenzied flight. The power adapter was also lightweight. Along with a pack full of cables and connectors, I was set. I liked the retractable cables, ensuring that the bottom of my carryon on pack didn't become a tangle of snakes after a day or two on the road.

My carryon is a Targus backpack. Mindful of disaster stories from other travellers, I've got one which has been designed around laptop padding. It's got its fill of pockets and compartments, but the main thing is to safeguard my laptop. I also keep my documents inside: three plastic sleeves - one for travel documents, reservations and so on. Another for accommodation reservations, so I can front up and show that I've reserved a room and paid for it over the net alrerady. And a third for personal details - addresses, phone numbers of people I'm to meet.

My backpack also doubles as my emergency luggage in case my checked bags are lost or delayed. I've got a light jacket that is wind and waterproof, but can be crushed up small. That will help keep me warm and dry if need be. Not teribly stylish, but practical. There's a Qantas red leather first class amenities kit which I bought off eBay. It's light but tough, and the main reason I got it is for the small can of shave foam - no more trying to lather up with dispenser soap in the gents! I've chucked some of the cosmetics and augmented it with other things, but essentially I can keep myself trim and clean for at least a few days if need be until my luggage catches up.

A water bottle in a mesh pocket. Getting dehydrated on planes is a worry of mine, and I like to take a sip every half hour or so.

Chewing gum so I can keep my Eustachian tubes open during climbout and descent. I've suffered blocked tubes before and my hearing is poor enough at the best of times that I can't afford to have even a temporary loss.

Small first aid kit - bandaids, lip balm, headache tablets and so on.

And odds and ends such as my Moleskine journal, a book for reading and my camera.

I wear cargo pants for travelling. This is so that I can put my Day-Timer in one of the big pockets and have my boarding pass, passport, arrival card and other things available at a moment's notice.

Polo shirt for comfort. Thick socks. As soon as the plane gets solidly into the climb I remove my boots and keep them off until descent. I figure that take off and landing are the most likely times for an emergency exit, and if it happens I'm not going to have time to do up my boots.

Boots are Columbia Razor Ridge. Rugged but comfortable. Almost shoes, but a bit deeper. I'm not going to get into fancy restaurants in these, but I'm not aiming to. I want boots that are equally at home off road and in city streets, and these are great all-round footwear. Comfortable, too.

A cap to cover my bald spot from sun and cold.

I'd put a bit of thought into my cell phone. Tri-band so I can use it overseas. Flip-top so it doesn't need a case and I don't have to lock the keypad. And a small camera built in. As light and inexpensive as possible. Of course it has its own recharger which is more clutter, but there's really no way around this.

My real camera is a Canon S2 IS. Sub-SLR in size, but powerful enough for serious photography. I've got a spare set of rechargable batteries and small memory card in the camera case. Collapsible lightweight tripod for night shooting and panoramas.

Main toiletries bag is a Kathmandu Deluxe: enough room for fullsize containers of shampoo and shaving foam, as well as all the other bits and pieces. Mesh zip compartment for stuff like dental floss. Small mirror for emergency shaving, and best of all, a sturdy hook so I can hang it up next to a handbasin or shower.

An extra-large sized microfibre travel towel. This folds up to a ridiculously small size in its own pouch.

Two mesh laundry bags - one for clean undies, socks and hankies. The other for same but dirty. I keep a few laundry tablets in the clean one so I'm not dependent on cranky hostel vending machines.

A few other things, but those are the essentials. They all work well on my four days in New Zealand. I spot one product I want - thebiblioholic from New York has a big bright yellow rolling duffle bag. This can hold a tonne of stuff, has a sturdy bottom, and rolls along with a telescopic handle. The yellow colour makes it easy to spot on carousels. I order one when I get home and it arrives a few days before I leave.

The big aim is to keep my gear organised, tidy and available. If I don't take care, everything gradually churns itself into one big mess and not only do I lose time in looking for or untangling things, but sometimes I lose things altogether. However the down side in buying lightweight spacesaving kit is that after a while I have so much I can't carry it all around!

Having a hobby which requires me to cart around a lot of books doesn't help.

New Zealand? Yeah, I had a blast! Released lots of books, took lots of photographs, met lots of BookCrossers and my team won the trivia night.