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Taking a different approach, what about a monopod? Bogen has one with a fluid cartridge base that seems to get well reviewed. Not sure of the dimensions, probably too long, but maybe...
Chris really hits the nail on the head, albeit in a roundabout way, someone pass the spackle <wink>. These little cams have very high resolution, but they MUST be stabilized commensurately. This leaves one heckuva problem for shooting with a pocket rocket.
I realized it the first time I shot an HC1, great image quality (for its time), but dang, you couldn't move without causing visual havoc! I've spent a fair amount of time since trying to find a solution... with mixed results. I'm beginning to feel that for really stable "handheld", you've got to have a shoulder support that dwarfs the camera! And your tripod needs to be just about the same as if you're shooting a "big" camera...
FWIW, here's some of my "solutions"
I use a cobbled up camera bracket rig that is similar in concept to the fig rig, but small and foldable, and it's fairly good for pseudo-steadicam moving shots, not good for static shots - one discovers how wobbly their body is while standing "still" pretty rapidly...
The smallest and most portable solution might be the small Sunpak monopod that has a belt clip so you can use it sort of like a Steady Stick, I've used it at a couple airshows and weddings, and it's not bad, currently I'm fiddling with connecting it to a shoulder support for 3 point support, but have yet to shoot live to see if I'm finally happy with the results.
If you can go with locked off shots, there are solutions like the gorillapod and the ultrapod that you might want in your bag anyway - small and effective, I've got both types in my grab and go kit...
It's somewhat going to depend on what sorts of shots you're hoping to capture and under what conditions. You may even find that you can't use a tripod in many areas in Europe from some of the postings I've seen... might want to research that a bit as well.
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