1. Kill the Powder Ganger in Goodsprings and take his stealthboy.

2. Head as far north as possible, sticking to the mountains east of the road.

3. Once the mountains peter out and you're forced to the ground, use the stealthboy and walk north at a comfortable pace.

^ Did that my first time playing the game. It was my first ever use of a stealthboy. It probably took a lot less than a half an hour. Probably somewhere between five and ten minutes. It's not really "gamey" either. You're just being clever.