You’ve already gotten lots of great tips and info. My response is going to be a little more different than all the wonderful responses you've been given.
Let’s start….
1. What is a good beginning camera? I’d recommend one of the Film Cameras made by Canon or Nikon. I see them all the time for $25 or less with a lens. If you lived near by I’d let you borrow one of mine. You aren’t going to learn much getting a digital camera and just taking 1,000s of clicks. Using a Film camera will slow you down and you’ll be forced to learn from your mistakes. It will also give you the opportunity to learn how to meter using manual settings.
2. I really can’t recommend a good web site. The web sites I like won’t teach you much about photography if you’re just starting out.
3. A very good book I’d recommend is
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse. It is not a Photography Book, but it is one of the best books I’ve ever read. It will train your brain to visual. To see. If you want a good photography book
Photography by Barbara London, John Upton, and Jim Stone is the text book used in most photography classes. I have 6 copies of it. I’ve found them all while Good Will Hunting. No, I’m not a hoarder. I’m involved in a project where I loan and gift equipment and such to young people interested in photography.
4. How much should you invest in photography equipment to take vacation photos? As little as possible. To assume that the amount of money you pay for camera equipment will equate to better images is completely wrong. At the risk of sounding ‘arrogant’ (because I am nothing of the sort) I could let you use my best (expensive) camera equipment and I could use one of my $1.00 film cameras and we could go out to the same place I would take better pictures. The camera is just a tool.
5. I don’t remember why I got interested in photography. It was a long time ago. Back when dinosaurs still roamed the earth. If I remember I’ll let you know.
6. The film I use depends on the camera. Kodak and Ilford still make great B&W films and Fuji makes some great color slide film and has filled the void left by Polaroid in making good instant film. I can develop my own B&W film but sometimes I get lazy and just pay a few bucks to have a lab do it for me.
7. I would have to dig up some old photos to show what I did when I started. As for what my favorite photo is. It’s the one I took today or yesterday. It’s constantly changing and what I would call a favorite isn’t always a good photo. I have my own personal reasons for what makes a photo a favorite of mine. I really don’t care what anyone else thinks about them. I call it Photography Masturbation. If you can’t please yourself you can never please others.
A few clicks I like…
This was taken with a Canon 1Xe. It’s an obscure film camera that Canon made when the industry tried to re-invent film using the APS format. I really like this camera and I paid far less than the $1,000 it sold for new.

I took this when I was walking toward the place I wanted to go. I saw it. Put the tripod down and got off a quick click. I didn’t see it as ‘funny’ when I took it but I would guess that others may. I took it in context to where I was. Behind me and down a block was an area where a lot of homeless drug addicts hung out. It was a message to those people. Spelled wrong but the thought was well meaning.

This is an image I’m working on for a small portfolio. I got the idea from a few photos I posted here awhile back. This isn’t the finished image. The process of taking an image to getting it to where you want it to be for printing can be a long one.

I took this when I took ‘Faces’. I was using the Oly camera that alfredo talked me into buying and this was done with the built in B&W art filter.

I have 4 different Body Cap Pinhole “lenses”. This was taken with one of those. On this “lens” I put the pinhole in at an angle so the focus would be waaaaay off.

One of the things that I see quite often is that most people are always looking down. Don’t do this. Look around you. The first thing I always tell someone who is just starting out: Take a camera and go for a walk. Around the block. Whatever. And don’t take any photos. Just look around you. Learn to ‘see’.

I screw up all the time. I don’t normally take photos of people on bright sunny days unless I’m using a flash but I didn’t intend on taking people pics when I got this. I couldn’t read my exposure when I took it and my shutter speed was too slow. I quickly adjusted for it after I took this but the moment I wanted was gone.

When I took this I knew I wanted to ‘develop’ it in B&W. I went a little over the top on it but I still like it and it holds strong memories for me. This is my idea of a ‘vacation’ photo.

As I said before my favorite photo is usually the one I just took. That’s the case here. I bought a Kodak Z650 while Good Will Hunting. It’s a decent camera but it does a horrible job of metering in low light. But, what is a bad thing for most people is something I like. The poor metering creates a nice ‘moody’ image. I used a tripod and the manual settings on the camera.

This was taken recently with a super lo-tech point and shoot camera. I like it.

Something I see all the time is what the photographer here is doing. It always pisses me off. I’m always seeing people taking photos in the ‘Pole Up the Ass’ position. They stand straight and just move the camera up or down or sideways. Bend down. Lay down. Hold the camera over your head. Oh, and I took this with a free multi-lens camera I got when I ordered ‘x’ amount of film. I really heart it. It takes four images in about 1 second and puts them on one frame of 35mm film. The results are always unpredictable and that’s why I like it.

This was taken with a Vivitar 22mm film point and shoot. It’s a great little (fun) camera. And you can get much wider angles than any digital point and shoot.

That’s it. Have fun.
:hi: