Ohh the Nentir Vale - Moon Hills example that Mearls had showed a screenshot of before. Nice.
Think harder then, your players expect it. If needed take a 5 minute break. Then present a cool, detailed, complex new situation. This will be much better than the result of a dice roll. This would be my advice.
Wow, that is a pretty jerk move. Why insult someone who has method that apparently works for them (the DM and players). And, of course, you are not inherently correct. If this works for you great, but that doesn't mean it will work for others or that the idea sparked by a random table will not be better (and possible require harder more detailed and complex thought).
EDIT: PS - sorry for jumping into this discussion mid stream - I should have just moved on.
I probably should have left this discussion long ago.
I feel like this UA was quite underwhelming for experienced GM's and players, however for newer GM's it really provided some fun new ideas.
But I think it makes not much sense to continue this discussion. The fronts are - too hard. For me Random Tables is just something we did when we were still teens and which have no role in current RPGing anymore. Others seem to think otherwise.
I agree it doesn’t make much sense to continue the conversation. This is getting way off topic.
We have a fundamental difference in play style, but that’s ok. If it works for the group there is no right or wrong way to do it.
In my view, they still didn't get it right with this.
The problem I've had early on with my games is that tracking hour by hour, or even day by day, becomes too monotonous and becomes too much accounting. It just seems like work without much fun in return.
I really like the approach Cubicle 7 did with the One Ring and Adventures in Middle Earth, and I think there's a three-step method to port some of that over to a standard 5th edition game with high magic, but you'd have to 1. make exhaustion levels more meaningful (receiving a con check for them when the navigator fails a navigation check, or when the forager fails a foraging check, etc. This is an abstraction of getting lost for a time, or not doing a good job finding enough food or water, etc.), 2. make a special "long rest in a sanctuary" that is the only way to remove exhaustion levels, and 3. abstract travel over the entire journey (whether it's 3 days, or 5 days, or 10 days) instead of trying to track day by day or hour by hour.
Perhaps some form of stamina mechanic (combining exhaustion and hp loss from environmental hazards) that measured your ability to withstand travel might work. That way, the effect of things like being lost, starved, caught in the rain, attacked by mosquitos, or chilled to the bone) could sap your strength. Resting at a non-dangerous place (like an inn or residence) could recover them. Seems like it would be another complicated system to track.