Now they rode away amid songs of farewell and good speed, with their hearts ready for more adventure...
The ideal itinerary to the Easterly Inn sees your company travel north along the western eaves of Mirkwood, up to the point where the Old Forest Road enters the forest. From there, you must go north across the land of the Beornings up to the Inn a day's trip before reaching the Forest Gate.
They changed/updated the rules for planning ahead for travel. I quote here. This is actually a bit more streamlined and in line with other bonus dice you get in combat and encounters.
Adventurer's Guide, p152, New Player Options
The following rules for Preliminary Rolls replace the rules for Combat Advantages and Planning Ahead for a Journey.
Preliminary Rolls
Adventurers learn fast that if they want to survive when out in the Wild, they better be prepared, whether they are leaving to go on a journey, or when facing the enemy in combat, or even when meeting strangers in an encounter upon the road. At the beginning of any one of the three main heroic ventures (journey, combat and encounter), all players are entitled to make a preliminary skill roll against TN 14 to determine their character's preparedness. Every type of heroic venture targets a specific skill (see below), but the results are interpreted in the same way: based on the quality of the result, every successful roll grants a hero a number of bonus Success dice (advantages) to use in the coming endeavour. Each ordinary success grants the player one Success die, a great success grants two dice, while an extraordinary success grants three dice.
How to use bonus Success dice
Heroes may spend their bonus Success dice to boost their rolls during the ensuing endeavour.
When a player is about to make a roll, he may add one bonus Success die to the roll. To add the die, he may spend one of his own bonus dice, or another player may spend it to give it to him.
Commonly, heroes spend their bonus Success dice on their Travel rolls when journeying, on their attack rolls or Protection tests when fighting, and on any useful roll during encounters.
During the same turn, a player may spend one or more of the dice in his reserve at any time (for his own roll or to help others), but any roll may be modified by a maximum of one bonus Success die.
Journey Advantages
When the fellowship has chosen the road they intend to follow to reach their destination, all players may make a roll of Lore to check if their characters know something useful about the lands they are going to traverse. Every successful Lore roll grants a hero a number of bonus Success dice to use during the journey – the companion leaves with the proper gear, or having planned the most appropriate course, or having listened to the best counsellors.
You all get a free Attribute Bonus (Wits) for having made this trip several times now.
Rolls: Lore + Wits vs: TN 14
Aerth: Lore 1 = 9,1 + 6 = 16 Success
Borir: Lore 1 = 1,6t +5 = 12 Fail
Pipkin: Lore 2 = 7, 6t,3 + 4 = 25 Great Success
Varuthil: Lore 3 = Sauron Rune,2,4,6t= Failure
Wren: Lore 3 = 7,1,5,4 + 7 = 24 Success
I'll be adding a place on your sheets for bonus dice so we can track these better. Sheet edited.