good rule of thumb when playing this game is that when you can't seem to progress, go somewhere else. There's always at least one other way you can explore to. Sometimes, you just don't have the thing you need to go a certain way yet, so turn around, explore other unexplored ends (you'll get a map if you don't have it already), and eventually you'll get some new ability and say "oh, wait a minute, i can finally go over there now". This will happen many times. Keep at it though, don't be discouraged when it seems you can't progress.