You could look at the Canon G9. I got both the G9 and the previous model, the G7. My main reason for suggesting a G9
1. Built solid like a tank, mine survived my sweaty palm from 35 degrees Celsius heat in thailand, minus 10 degrees alpine winter in germany and chewing gum. May be too heavy for your shirt pocket though
2. 12.1 Megapixels (1/1.7” sensor) with RAW mode for maximum image control
3. 6x stabilized zoom
4. live histrogram
5. superb image quality
6. Face Detection
7. ISO 1600 means you can shoot from a moving bus, there's also a special ISO 3200 mode
8. Good flash, but I don't use flash most of the time. There's even a mount for external flash.
9. Macro mode - you can bring the subject to 1cm from the lens at the widest end of the zoom. at maximum zoom, the minimum macro focus distance will become 50cm
You can leave the settings at "AUTO" and use the G9 as a point and shoot or you can invest the time to get use to the G9 and learn its very rich feature sets.
I spent the time to learn the G9's predecessor G7's functions. What's useful to me are
a) MF (manual focus) where camera shows you a blown up focus area and user can use the dial for manual focus under tricky conditions
b) custom white balance, which is created by aiming the camera at a white area and pressing the SET button to tell the G9 to treat that as white
Gotcha's
1) I left the ND filter ON for my entire 12 days trip in eastern europe during winter. I had only my G7 so I did not shoot in RAW. All my colors looks very dull. I call it the eastern block effect on my brain. So don't turn on everything on the G9 if you don't know what you are doing. If you can afford the space while you travel, shoot everything in RAW
2) I find that photos taken not by me at ISO 80 and 100 may come with lots of camera shakes. So if someone is helping to shoot for you, might be best to leave the settings at AUTO or turn up the shutter speed / use the flash.
3) You need to be careful if you use the G9 with the Joby GP2-00EN Gorillapod Flexible Tripod for Digital SLR Cameras. The GP2 may not be able to hold the G9 at all the position you want. I find myself looking for park benches and trashcans when I want to take a shot. That way I can set the ISO at 80 and end up with great shots.
RAW RAW RAW....
Shooting in RAW in G9 means you can focus on composing your shot and be able to touch up on your pictures when you get back.