Any tips for taking better photos with Nikon d3000?

I recently purchased the Nikon D3000 it came with the 18-55mm lens, and i've been having a blast taking photos with it, learning how to use it and i really love it. I'm going on a mission trip soon to Nepal, and was hoping to get some stunning photos, but I'm worried that i might return home with some average ones… Which sounds strange… Because I realize that people take photos, not cameras… But i was wondering if you had any tips for taking good photos? Do you think i might need to bring an external flash? (I don't have one… )

No, for the most part an external flash is not necessary for travel photography, IMHO… You usually want to capture the mood of the place after all, and that is best done in available light. You could make a lot of use of the Nikkor 35mm/1.8G lens; it'll be very useful for photographing inside of, say, market halls. Any dimly lit or indoor place, basically.

A decent tripod would serve you well too.

The best piece of advice I can give you about the D3000 in particular is to stay off of anything but ISO 100 and 200 if at all possible. The D3000 has a CCD sensor instead of a CMOS, which basically means it is terrible at high ISO settings.

The best piece of advice I can give to anyone who owns a camera with manual controls is to learn to use those manual controls. Automatic functions generate average (or worse) photos about 99% of the time.