@al-renko,
Forget the "zenair 601 or similar light aircraft" perspective.
Pre-plan your flight and fly using a GPS device and make sure you maintain the GPS-logs as evidence. That is a cross-country flight.
All your flights flown using a GPS device (radio navigation aid) is a cross-country flght, at least, according to the EASA definition. It is that simple.
Distance and landing information is irrelevant.
WP