Laptop Editors... Gear/Accessories for easier movement/Internal or External hardrive editing

I'm considering buying a laptop for editing on the road as I've had a few travels lately and might be doing more soon. I'm just thinking through every angle just to make sure I'm making the right decision.

In this case I'm thinking about portability and ease of movement.
For those that have 17inch laptops do you have a bag that fits your laptop and external harddrive or you have a separate case for your external harddrive.

Would it make better sense to spend more money and buy a laptop with dual internal hard drives (say SSD for boot drive + HDD) that way you can edit off the 2nd HDD internal drive and not have to carry around an external harddrive.

From your experience what setup/accessories has made your life easier when editing on the road in light of all the equipment you have to carry.
thanks.