You can always just rest the camera on some rocks. I took this photo below like that as I stupidly flew to a remote south pacific island with no shops to watch a volcano erupt and left my tripod in the car back in Australia. A gorillapod or similar would help when using a light lens. I have also used duct tape and a walking pole as a temporary monopod. Manfroto sell walking sticks with camera mounts on the top (search for MMOFFROADB ) . There is always a way to get the shot ;-)
Haha that's a great story. Shows that planning is good, but being able to improvise is always better...traits you're learning when travelling, it seems :)