Leaving aside the (hopefully) unlikely case of the authorities deciding to install malware on my laptop, I've had experience of the roughness with which checked

Leaving aside the (hopefully) unlikely case of the authorities deciding to install malware on my laptop, I've had experience of the roughness with which checked baggage is treated and getting things stolen from said baggage. That makes me very wary of checking delicate electronics, unless the airports and airlines substantially improve their baggage handling. If this goes ahead, I can see myself travelling without a laptop for short trips, and sending it ahead via DHL for longer ones, taking a disk image on a USB stick for backup.