To take the camera or to not take the camera?

I am always the one with the camera.  It never fails, a moment comes up and someone says, "I wish I had a camera."  And then, like Harry Houdini, I magically pull my camera out as if I knew I was going to need it.  And in the rare case I forget my camera, I am legitimately bummed that I won't have it with me.  I am not sure why I have always wanted to bring my camera with me.  It started when I was younger and would play with my parents' camera.  I remember opening the back and carefully putting in a new roll of film, and the excitement I felt setting out to take pictures.  I could often be found wondering around the neighborhood with my handy-dandy camera, snapping photos of anything I felt worthy of a picture.  It was very typical to see film rolls in their little plastic holders scattered all over my parents' home.  I wasn't very good at labeling things, so we never knew what was on any of the rolls of film.  It was a guessing game a lot of the times, "I thiiiink this is the roll from the family reunion."  Only to develop the photos and come home with 150 pictures of our cat.  Most of the time we would procrastinate on developing the film, and then all at once, my mother and I would bring down a shoebox full of film and get all the pictures developed.  I can't tell you how many times my mom was perplexed at my desire to take photos of the same thing, over and over and over again.  The printed images would come back and there would be 100 photos of a flower in the front yard.  I guess I really loved taking pictures, who woulda' thought? 

This brings me to the present moment.  In less than two months, John and I leave for our big winter trip, where we will head back to Southeast Asia and visit Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam.  Last winter, I did bring my camera (duhhhh, teehehe!), however it was my top notch point and shoot.  Still small enough to put in my purse and a fraction of the cost of my current camera.  It survived, unharmed and holding precious moments from four weeks of backpacking around Southeast Asia.  I treated that thing like my baby, as usual, it went everywhere I went.  One thing is for sure, I will not travel without a camera. Nada!  So the next question is, which camera do I bring?  After shooting with my new Nikon DSLR, I can't imagine taking pictures with anything but my prized possession, however, do I want to take the risk and lug around my new "baby?" 

Does anyone have any suggestions or tips?  Any advice is welcomed!  At this point, I am leaning towards taking it.  I have a large backpack, and after seeing what little items I need to bring with me from our last experience, I am thinking there will be plenty of room for my camera to come along.  One thing is for sure, she'll be around my shoulder/neck the entire time, minus when I am sleeping. 

For the record, my little point and shoot did a decent job.  Here is a shot of John and me on the beach in Ao Nang, Thailand.  With a little touch up in Lighroom 4, it is a beautiful photo! 

Please, share with me your ideas!  To take the camera, or to not take the camera.  That my friends, is the question!

xoxo
Megan Kathleen