Photography

If you've got a good camera in your phone that's a good option. The Galaxy and iPhone apparently are good choices.

Take one of those battery chargers as backup. The Anker 3200mha was recently on sale on Amazon for less than $15.

If you like the GoPro those backups work well too since they're USB rechargeable.

I've been very happy with the camera on the iPhone 5s, which can also shoot video at high frame rates. Download an app called PureShot, which lets you use it in manual mode, great for low light situations. You can also change the file save settings, letting you save the files in "raw" which is really just .tiff and about 22MB

I carried a point and shoot, a metal 35mm, a dslr and now just the iPhone.

Agree on the iPhone comments. I have a 5s (and I'm sure there are similarly good Android cameras out there, I'm just familiar with the iPhone.)

The phone cameras really have caught up with the inexpensive point and shoot cameras in terms of photo quality, and you may already be carrying it.

The iPhone doesn't solve the storage problem, though.

If not, I've had really good luck with Panasonic cameras – they tend to have nice wide lenses and perform well in low light situations.

If you're interested in a point and shoot, I've been impressed with the Panasonic Lumix DMC 25 my father owns. Great telephoto Leica lens.

The Canon S100 is worth looking at too.

I just saw a Sony Nex 5 with 18-55 lens on Amazon for $250. That would give you an APSC sensor and opportunities to exchange the lens later.

"If you're interested in a point and shoot, I've been impressed with the Panasonic Lumix DMC 25 my father owns. Great telephoto Leica lens."

+1. This is exactly what I have, great point-and-shoot. Spare batteries can be had cheap on Amazon, on a long trip I take a few charged up and snap away.

Thank you all for the insight.

While they do take great pictures and videos, and you guys make good points.
I would rather not use my mobile, Id like to keep it off at all times and use it if an emergency comes up.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC 25 looks like a nice camera, I just know very little about using any camera. So I would say ease of use is pretty high on the priority list.

Canon PowerShot SX710 HS Digital Camera seems like a decent camera.

It's a bit on the heavy side (not TOO bad), but I love my Canon G15. Lots of options (manual and full auto), good quality lens, good battery life, can shoot in RAW (or not), etc.

The G16 has been out for a while, so you might be able to pick up the older G15 around the higher end of your budget.

I am not sure about iPhone from the battery life standpoint, but for travel pictures iPhone camera is great. I think the niche between "serious" cameras and phone cameras is pretty much gone.

I used iPhone for street snaps while traveling to Patagonia and, in a sense, the iPhone shots came out more interesting than images taken with a $1500 system and a tripod.

Given that iPhone makes publishing pictures to Facebook or Google+ super easy, I told myself than I need to learn to use iPhone camera to full potential. You can get an iPhone battery case and extend battery life x2 or more.

The gap between iPhone and low-end P&S is gone or going fast. There's not much reason to consider a <$300 P&S since your iPhone is just as good, maybe better.

A higher-end P&S camera can expand your potential. Something like Sony RX100 (for landscapes) or Panasonic DMC-LX100 (better control of depth of field when you want it). These will give better image quality, some zoom control (that's usable, unlike cheap "8x!!!!" P&S), and more potential for creativity (e.g., narrowing depth of field to put focus on subject), but prices are way over what you indicated in OP. Although I guess you might find a used Sony RX100 mk1 or 2 for a couple hundred dollars.

iPhone basically takes one kind of picture, which is a semi-wide, very stepped down (aperture >16 ?) image. This happens to be a pretty good thing for many landscape pictures because you usually want everything in perfect focus. It's also the same thing that your high-end P&S or your $1500 DSLR will pick for you if you leave it on Auto on a bright day.