The haul of weapons, cash and terror handbooks he was carrying however told a much more sinister story.
An Islamic extremist, the 30-year-old was in fact on his way to fight for the Taliban against British troops.
In an email to a contact before he left Qureshi wrote: "Pray that I kill many, brother. Revenge, revenge, revenge."
Yesterday he became the first person to be convicted under tough new anti-terror laws.
However it emerged he could be out of jail in a year.
The Old Bailey heard Qureshi was arrested in October 2006 carrying a night-vision scope, two metal batons and two rucksacks.
He also had medical supplies, CD roms containing extremist material and £9,000 in cash hidden in seven envelopes around his body.
Qureshi, who arrived in the UK from Russia in 2004, boasted he had been sent to Britain by Al Qaeda for terrorist fundraising.
He kept snapshots of himself holding an M16 rifle and an AK47, both thought
to be have been taken in Pakistan when he attended a terror training camp.
He was also in email contact with Samina Malik, the so-called "lyrical terrorist" who wrote poems about her desire for martyrdom.
Malik, a WHSmith employee who worked airside at Heathrow, was given a suspended jail sentence in November.
Shortly before his arrest, Qureshi, from Forest Gate, East London, asked her in an email: "Sis, I hope you get this email before anyone else. What is the system like at work? Is the checking still very harsh or have things calmed down a bit?"
Qureshi was jailed for four and a half years yesterday but could be out on parole in a year.
He is expected to serve half his sentence and has already been on remand for 14 months.
He pleaded guilty to preparing an act of terrorism, possessing an article for terrorist purposes and possessing a record of information likely to be useful to terrorists.
Prosecutor Jonathan Sharp said: "Sohail Qureshi is a dedicated supporter of Islamic extremism.
"He intended after a brief visit to his family to travel either to Pakistan, Waziristan or Afghanistan and to seek an opportunity to engage in terrorist action."
Police had Qureshi under surveillance when he contacted Malik to ask about security.
When he was arrested, he was carrying a U.S. Marine and Canadian forces manual, a chapter from an autobiographical book he had written called My Father the Bombmaker, a copy of the Poisoner's Handbook, a picture of him holding an M16 and "motivational Islamist material" stored on a CD.
Documents found on the hard drive in his luggage included field manuals on camouflage and how to conduct military operations in severe and cold winter conditions.
Qureshi had described his intentions to carry out terrorist activities on an extremist web forum.
"I am not going for good as far as I know, it is only a 14 to 20 day operation, if it's in Pak, Afg or Waz," he wrote.
He also posted a "farewell" letter, anonymously, on an Islamist website.
In it, he admitted raising thousands of pounds from sympathisers in the UK which he intended to give to the cause as "bullets cost money".
The court heard Qureshi was born in Pakistan and grew up in Saudi Arabia, where his father worked as an engineer. He also lived in Russia for seven years.
A qualified dentist, he arrived in Britain in 2004 and worked as a dental assistant in Barking, East London, because his qualifications were not recognised here.
The Common Serjeant of London, Judge Brian Barker QC told him: "Any form of terrorism, whatever it is and wherever it is, is an affront to civilisation and can lead to untold grief and destruction."
In emails disclosed by Scotland Yard, Qureshi said that in 1996 he trained at an Al Qaeda camp in Pakistan and was briefly the "emir" of another camp in 1998.
Met Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke said: "Qureshi is a trained and committed terrorist, who by his own admission had contacts within Al Qaeda.
"He wanted to carry out terrorist acts overseas and gathered the equipment to help him do this. He was no amateur."
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