Do not feel bad, I also think that forest are great for survival. First thing I always do is repeating herb quests and gathering food in forest. One thing better than forest are fishtopia beaches - bum paradise.come on! its not that far.
Regular forests are relatively safe (IF your weak isn't high enough), its a harbor, Worth the trip, even if you engaged with Bandits then just run past them, Lona is much faster than them, they won't notice you immediately Giving you an assured escape.
there is also a pine forest which is very close, That one is dangerous but you can easily avoid the dogs there, just some sneaking.
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