I have been traveling with a DSLR and a few lenses. It takes great pictures, but, to be honest, it is a pain in the ass as it takes up a good deal of room in the luggage and quite heavy. The locals at any destination look at the camera as an expensive item making you very high profile.

Just recently, I went on a multi-destination trip and this thing became like a brick in my luggage. Just heavy, bulky and at a few TSA checkpoints they wanted to take the entire thing out to look at it closely. It seemed like I was going more frequently to the secondary inspection area as the DSLR seemed to look more suspicious in the x-ray area.

This is just my opinion. I think the Canon G12 (G-Series) makes the most sense as a travel or mongering camera.

http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/digital_cameras/powershot_g12

It will accept a speedlite flash so you can bounce it off the ceiling creating a nicer effect when photographing the ladies.

It is not a pocketable camera. I had Canon G series camera once and you could put it in your jean pocket, but it was a very tight fit. It is better to use a belt pack like this one.

http://www.amazon.com/Lowepro-G-Res-10-Camera-Pouch/dp/B001LK8PUK/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1286657400&sr=8-3-fkmr1

Canon has a more pocketable camera that might work like the Canon S95, but it doesnt have a flash bracket so indoor photography might be challenging.

I wish Canon would come out with something like this http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1497 The reviews on the Olympus tough cameras say their pictures are "soft" it would be nice to have a camera that could take a beating at say songkron and take the quality photos that Canon cameras do.

I have a Canon SD800 IS that takes great photos and is small enough to fit into a jeans pocket.

I don't know about this new Olympus, but I've heard from a few people that their previous µ-Series of tough cameras were not as waterproof as advertised. I'm talking about rain and humidity, as opposed to submersion.

I think I will get bashed for mentioning a Sony;) Sony's cameras last a while and have a bulletproof design, but the picture quality has always been lacking when compared to the Canons.

However, this one pocket camera impressed me. You can easily slip this camera into your pocket with room to spare. It is specifically designed for low light situations..the kind of situation you might encounter in a hotel room or dark bar/club setting. Most point and shoots do not have good low light capability, but this one is much better with those situations.

I know someone with the DSC-WX1 which is a previous model and I liked it. The DSC-WX5 is an improvement on that model.

The true value in this little camera is when you slip it in your pocket. You are not toting around a huge brick-like device.

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921666234214

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/product/577635/review/cybershot_dscwx5.html

Canon's contender is the SD4000IS in the pocketable low-light camera category. This one is slightly less compact then the Sony and so will bulge your pocket a little bit more. This camera was designed to look like a smartphone so you can disguise your intentions.

http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/digital_cameras/powershot_sd4000_is