Chestnut Offline Upload & Sell: Off
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There are many approaches. You say you're a first-time DSLR buyer - but are you new to photography, or do you already have your feet wet in other areas (like using a point & shoot, or other forms of photography?)
If you know your needs or creative style, that helps to narrow down your choices and preferences. My wife, for example, can use just a few primes, as long as one of them is a macro lens. She figured that out by using some of my zooms, and finding that she gravitated towards certain focal lengths, or finding herself being limited by minimum focus distances.
The kit lens isn't bad. Maybe get a 5300 with kit lens, and see where it takes you. If you want wider, there are wider lenses. If you find you want more on the long end, you've got plenty of options. If you find that you're limited by insufficient amount of light, or too great a depth of field, there are "faster" lenses out there (≤ f/2.8). From what you described, I can see using a very wide range of focal lengths... so you're gonna have to experiment and see where you end up.
If you have budget to play with nicer lenses, I'd forgo the 18-55, and get the 16-85VR and 70-300VR pair. That's my "travel duo", which usually satisfies ~80-90% of my needs while traveling. IMO, it's a great pair to start with, then realize what your style/needs are, and add more specific stuff.
Hope this helps
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