Impressive post, though I think reasoning and solutions are flawed - I don't think it is relevant if distance between locations make real life work sense, or if game tracks time in a way that make sense. The problem is that at least some portion of players notice how artificial the world is.
Making space between Grove and Goblin camp FEEL like a journey is more important. I don't think how game counts hours passing is terribly relevant, as most players won't think in those terms (I personally had no idea that there is a time clock).
I don't know what the process for creating an area like that is, but after playing D:OS1&2 and BG3 EA, it feels to me like they are made in zones - zone 1: crashed-ship, zone2: grove, zone3: forest, zone4: burned village, zone5: goblin camp, and then those zones are stitched together. I don't feel like there is enough thought given to how journey between zones will feel. And unfortunately, while impressive, single maps like that leaves little space to manouver - just adding more dead space to walkthough is probably not a good idea, even if it's possible (aka. wont destroy the map layout, or go beyond memory limits etc.).
