
There is usually one around each main camp, but the also randomly roam The Zone. Only certain Stalkers will take you places, they are all dressed the same though.
The fast travel can be a little inconvenient to use. You can go up to 10kg above your max, but suffer massive stamina penalties if you do so. Moving your stash forward as you progress though the game is a good idea. There is one at each hub areas main camp. Look for cooler sized blue or green metal boxes. On the topic of hoarding, there is in fact several storage boxes throughout the game. Because of this random exploring might actually get you something, but probably not much really.
You can still get coordinates in a variety of fashions, but it's no longer necessary.
Unlike previous games you do not have to be told about a loot stash before it is full. The higher rank stuff is better saved for late game. Most guns use 2 different types of ammo. It does not, you will only lose a random amount of money. At some point, it may appear that a certain option will cause you to lose all of your loot. You will eventually run in to friendly Stalkers who will point you to the nearest friendly camp. In the first hub just pick an objective and go for it. Artifacts are a much better source of money, as is the campaign. They aren't worth much and need to be repaired before being sold anyway. Unload them for their ammo and drop them. Generally don't bother carrying enemy guns around. Good things to horde include ammo of all types, med-kits, bandages, anti-rads, food and energy drinks. The best artifacts usually are ones that's increase your radiation resist, carry weight and stamina recovery. If an artifact you want to use has a radiation penalty, make sure have one that adds radiation resist. Artifacts are very hit or miss as well. The detector will point in their general direction but you have to find them. Artifacts now only spawn in the fixed anomaly locations around the map and can only be picked up with the detector out. Spend some time figuring out how your anomaly detector works. There aren't nearly as many as in previous games. Most aren't real hard and offer middling rewards. Since weapons can be repaired and modified though a good weapon can stick with you a long time. Finding a better gun isn't a huge priority since your starting weapon is pretty decent.
People you can talk to are represented by a star on the mini-map. Call of Pripyat is hard game and does still crash once in awhile.
Save often, save early, keep multiple saves. Press the walk button while holding or toggled crouch to enable low crouch. Unlike previous games, this game has 4 quick item slots you configure in game. Rebind anything you don't like including quick save and quick load if necessary. Before you play go check your keybindings, you will need most of them at some point. Unlike the previous two games, Call of Pripyat does not require any mods to run well or fix bugs.