I was a pro photographer years ago.
Ever since I tried out a Canon PowerShot, the big camera bag has stayed home on trips. Mine’s a few years old now and I’ve done thousands of shots (we have three active kids). They have one now with a 50x zoom for about $500, I believe. I’d buy it in a shot if I were the least bit unhappy with my current camera. Even has a shoe for a real flash.
I am the son of pro photog and grew up with cameras and developing film. Moved to digital a decade ago and I love my Canon G9 Powershot, great little camera with a lot of SLR type settings in addition to "dummy" point and shoot.