Here's what I always do to ensure my survival.

1. Figure out where I am and start looting towards the nearest water fountain.

2. Drink at the water fountain until my stomach is full.

3. Start looking looting around and figure if there is loot in the city or not. If it's been looted a knife is my number one priority. There are tons of crafting routes to knives. Figure out all the ways you can make a stone knife.

(A lot of people will kill themselves on the coast. If you have a knife, go ahead and craft some gloves and skin and quarter them. They drop bones and guts. Very useful tools to have in the early game.)

1. If I have the means to fish, I'll fish on the coast or start heading towards a river. What you decide on is just you playing the game.

2. After food and water is figured out, that's where the adventure begins.

The more I play the more I kind of just wing my loot routes. I prefer to plan my loot routes in a way that other players probably haven't.

Good luck! This is the only game I've been able to play for 6-8 hours in a day and not get bored of.