Don't ever be outside either at night or during a blizzard unless you have a really, really good reason for doing so.
You can get a fire permanently burning this way, though you will need to spend a lot of time every day gathering firewood, somewhere around the ballpark of 6 hours without tools. The way around this is to set a "permafire." Once you get a fire going, it will not usually go out if you keep feeding it with new firewood. Eventually they will run out and you will have no way to set any new fires, which means a quick death.
On that note, matches are your most precious resource.
Making everything you find last as long as possible is a core strategy to the game. Eventually you will reach a point where you won't realistically be able to replenish any resources other than firewood.
The most important thing to keep in mind is that nearly all resources in the game are both randomized and finite.
I haven't really played Pleasant Valley enough to say one way or the other.
Mystery Lake has less good spots for loot than Coastal Highway, but most of the really good foraging spots at Coastal Highway are camped by wolves, so Mystery Lake is probably slightly easier to survive in for a beginner.
Animals won't attack you, and your hunger/thirst/coldness bars won't deplete nearly as quickly.
Pilgrim mode is a great way to get your feet wet and learn the game before trying it for real.