What camera and equipment should I take with me on a family vacation?

This was a question I recently had to answer. My objectives were to 

• travel lightly,
• refrain from looking like a photo geek around the pool, beach and local streets,
• capture high quality photos and
• not spend a fortune on yet another camera.

My solution was to take my smaller Canon Rebel Ti and to purchase a 40mm 2.8 pancake lens. I was not going to take any other equipment until I was offered a new toy, the Platypod Pro, a device billed as "the world's most compact base for a professional tripod head." It is so small, I just stuck it in my carry-on bag without worry.

Not only did the Platypod meet all my objectives above, it also gave me the opportunity to enhance my vacation photos with night shots and long-exposure waterfall shots. While on vacation, we visited a rainforest. Normally,  I would not have a tripod with me on vacation. But even if I had taken one, I would not have bothered taking it on an hour hike on a slippery trail through a rainforest. Knowing that there would be a waterfall at the end of the trail, I was glad I had my Platypod.

My wife took a photo of my setup with her phone:

 

And here is my result:

Here I am at yet another waterfall:

 

Finally, here is my hotel's pool at night:

Simply put, I would have missed the chance to take these photos without the Platypod. I was not going to take one of my tripods on vacation with me for the reasons stated above, and taking something as small and light-weight as the Platypod was a no-brainer.