I'm living in Thailand, and have been travelling a lot lately around these region. If you're really concerned over the acceptable picture quality and have to travel a lot, I suggest that you consider a compact camera, an additional battery, and lots of memory card instead of carrying along your notebook. Canon IXUS S500 or S70 are quite considerable regard the price vs performance. The DSLR will be too bulky ! You need to carry at least a telephoto and wide angle lenses along, regardless the burden of tripod and external flahs if necessary ! Unless you're seriously taking picture and very concerned for the pictures' quality, go for the compact digital camera. In my personal perception, the film camera still outperform the DSLR camera regard the pictures quality. The DSLR technology is still not mature. Yet, there are a lot of room for sensor & memory improving. Besides, the price is still very expensive. But, soon, DSLR will catch up with the old conventional SLR camera. Base your judgement wisely. Good luck.