Yes, I take a similar approach when I travel now, given the insanity at the airports, especially since TSA employees seem to take a liking to my Thinkpad (it gets pulled aside so they can paw through my laptop bag every damn time.) Probably it's because I have a few tools in it, I don't know. Anyway, all they'll ever see is fresh re-image of the OS with a few applications, and none of my work files. When I get where I'm going, I download whatever I need, and when I'm finished I upload any new files and then wipe the machine again. They're more than welcome to power up my computer or image the drive. They're not going to find anything I don't want them to find. That's mostly stuff that I do for work, source code and so forth, that I would be irresponsible to not take some steps to protect. Like you say, it's none of the government's business, and they have always maintained demonstrably poor security.