The D3500 is a good choice, has lots good features and above all it is lightweight, especially good when you travel a lot, and you have to carry every ounce on your back.
I would think about a Nikon 10-20 wide-angle, it is mostly plastic but I like plastic because it is lightweight. Many people see it as low-quality, but if you witness the plastic in Glocks, Ruger, etc there is no problem.
If you take photos of outdoors you may want to get a "circular polarizer," you need this kind because the other kind interferes with the auto-focusing mechanism. You can get addition equipment etc as you gain more experience in you using it.
Also you may want to buy a book on how to take photos, I recommend buying your own book, that way you can always have it to reference and you could write it in if you had to, but personally I make liberal use of the stickies.