the noob-friendly signs are sorta unhelpful

Maybe its just me. Maybe you click on the sign and it gives directions to any mundane shop (but not the chapels and special buildings), saving everyone an extra screen and click for asking the TP directions.

I think I have more issue out of town, wheres the map for in field? If pulling the ingame map for Teleport with a marker isn't viable, maybe something inventory wise that just lets them know how in what direction to the nearest new zones/town (example: Go East for Killing Fields, West for town of Kurz)?

Ever play the original Dragon Warrior (Dragon Quest I)?

There was an that told you how many steps East/West, North/South you were from the starting castle.
Isn't there already compasses (tracking tools or something like that… been a while) in game?
Why not making them usable and have it run a calculation for either nearest town, or nearest dungeon then read off XXXX Is XX Rooms East/West and XX Rooms North/South.