I recently read an interesting story by David Pogue in The New York Times about what he carries in his laptop bag on any given day.

Pogue made me reflect on how many gadgets I took along on a Caribbean cruise I took a few weeks ago with my wife and two friends.

My list of portable electronic gadgets includes much more than a digital camera and an iPod.

For this trip I took along four digital cameras. One is my old reliable point and shoot, an eight megapixel (MP) Canon 850IS. This one has gone around the world with me over the past few years. While there are better cameras out there, this one has never let me down.

The other cameras were all taken for a specific purpose because they are all waterproof. Two of them are new products for this year, which I will review in depth in the coming weeks — the 12MP Olympus Stylus Tough-8000 and the 12.1MP Canon PowerShot D10 IS.

Both of these cameras, along with my own 10.1MP Olympus Stylus 1030SW, were used on snorkeling trips by me, my wife and a friend who was traveling with us.

All of them worked to perfection. Each offered some features that were better than the others. But all in all, each performed well in the water. I’ve posted a gallery of the images at www.ellmanphotography.com/underwater.

Once on land, I used my Apple MacBook Pro laptop to download the photos for viewing and storage along with a SanDisk 32GB flash drive to back everything up in the event of a hard drive crash.

Going through all of this and not having the images when I get home is not something I do not want to deal with. So I preach, “Backup, backup, backup!”

All of the camera gear was transported in a Lowepro Slingbag 100. This is the perfect camera for travel. It’s designed to carry over a shoulder and rotate to the front in seconds.

In addition to the cameras, cases and chargers, the bag also stored extra memory cards in a built-in memory cardholder and two small tripods – a Joby Gorrilapod and a QuikPod.

My laptop was also in a Lowepro product, called the Backpack Factor. That came in handy because our flight took about five hours from DFW Airport to San Juan. We enjoyed the big screen (vs. the smaller iPod LCD) for in-flight movie watching.

Power is always an issue with a laptop, especially when using it to watch movies, so I travel with a small power inverter. Many airlines have power ports on the planes, and with the inverter, I’m able to connect my regular power supply to keep my computer up and running.

In addition, I’m able to charge my iPod and BlackBerry with the computer’s USB ports so everything was juiced once I landed.

As for iPods, I took along my iPod classic and an iPod touch. Each loaded with different movies, music and TV shows.

Another portable item brought along was a pocket sized XM radio. I was hoping to get some ESPN updates while at sea, but the coverage just wasn’t there.

On land, it works great and is truly becoming one of my favorite portable gadgets.

For headphones, both my wife and I use V-Mode Vibes. They are in-ear style, giving off consistent sound with exceptional clarity. They fit with incredible comfort and have a stylish design.

If you have ever been on a cruise, you know today’s ships are more like a floating city. It takes time to get around and even find someone. So combat this, I take along a small set of Motorola Talkabout 2-way radios.

They are pocket sized and come in very handy when one person is on one end of the ship looking for someone else who can either be a floor above them or way up on the 14th floor.

Be aware of airline luggage weight limits to avoid heavy extra fees. To combat this, I travel with a Balanzza Digital Luggage Scale. This is a small scale, designed to easily attach to any piece of luggage.

Once attached, lift it up for a few seconds and the weight of the bag is displayed, alerting you if you need to shift some items to another bag.

So there you have it. Everything brought along was chosen with a purpose and was small, compact and needed. For the most part everything worked great.

A final note unrelated to any electronic gadget I took on the trip: On the final night of the cruise, my friends who were traveling with us got engaged.

So I end this with congratulations to Elizabeth and Harold!

–Gregg Ellman