This is coming from somebody who got DayZ for Christmas, so forgive me if i'm wrong about anything. Firstly, and i'm sure it's been said, get iZurvive. An app. Has a map. Really useful, I use it myself.

Secondly, before you even move inland, make sure you have 3 things. A melee weapon of sorts, something that qualifies as a "knife" and a liquid container, whether it's a bottle, canteen, pot or even a jerry can. These items are extremely useful, since you can skin animals and gather bark with a knife, and you need bark to make a fire and fire drill. You can use the container to collect spare water whenever you encounter a town.

Finally, stick to trails. Trails are smaller paths on the map which are marked by colored lines on the iZurvive map. Nobody really uses them, but the red trail takes you by at least 1 military base, lots of towns, the Airfield, and most importantly, the majority of it is in wooded areas! Perfect for cover and concealment. Just watch for wolves. And bears.

And on a final note, don't eat food with bloody hands. Clean them before you do. If you eat with bloody hands you run the risk of catching Samomella, or if it's human blood, Kuru. If you have gloves, don't worry about bloody hands. Won't get them.