Multiple catalogs to work on laptop (small hard drive)

[Eridium]

Using Mac OS X.6.2, Lightroom 2.5 I think

A question about Lightroom catalogs:
I'm living in Brazil for a few months and have only a Macbook Air to work with.  It has just one USB port.  I want to edit images in Lightroom using my USB mouse, so I can't have my external mini hard drives connected while working in LR.

I think I can find a work-around by
1. creating multiple catalogs that
2. will be LR edited on my MBA then can be continuously backed up to my externals
and
3. later recombined when I get home to my regular desktop computer.

I'm sorry if this is a silly question, but how do I do this?
I already created a "Brazil" catalog.  I think I should organize catalogs by city/region so I can work on 30GBs or less at a time.

Can I
4. Sync up a catalog from my internal HD onto an external?  I want not just the photo images, but the Lightroom edits backed up.

Any step-by-step instructions or points would be appreciated.
*Thanks in advance* for the help.

PS  I can't just use a USB hub … the HDs are self-powered (G-Drive Mini and Seagate Freeagent)

[Roy]

Things you could do that are less hassle than multiple catalogues.

1. Bluetooth mouse or use the MBA trackpad rather than a mouse. Frees the USB port. You could then plug in a drive. But it doesn't let you back up the drive easily.

2. Better. Small powered USB hub. Supplies power for all devices connected to it. You can plug the mouse into the hub. You can connect two drives. Keep full catalogue on the drive. Copy drives.

[Eridium]

Things you could do that are less hassle than multiple catalogues.

1. Bluetooth mouse or use the MBA trackpad rather than a mouse. Frees the USB port. You could then plug in a drive. But it doesn't let you back up the drive easily.

2. Better. Small powered USB hub. Supplies power for all devices connected to it. You can plug the mouse into the hub. You can connect two drives. Keep full catalogue on the drive. Copy drives.

Thanks Roy.

I am not in North America and a bluetooth mouse is unavailable.  I am also traveling so I don´t want to buy and carry more hardware, especially anything with an AC adapter.  I already have way too much.  Either hardware option would be a huge hassle.  Also things cost 2x-3x here what they do in North America.

So I´ll return to the original question of how do I work with multiple catalogs?
I would also be happy if someone just pointed me to a helpful resource that they use for Lightroom catalogs.

Any responses welcome.

[robertDthomas]

I had the same question and I googled "sync lightroom between laptop and desktop"  many hits but I chose this one, tried it and it is simple and works fine.

http://www.lightroomkillertips.com/2008/fr...op-and-desktop/

Hope this helps