Few pages I looked at did not see this spoiler I found. Not sure if someone posted or not.

You can walk a level 3 person up to freeside and east side of New Vegas. I found with my hardcoe toon, won it on hardcoe start to finish.
Do the beginning quests. Goto the old freeway and head to Sloan. Kill or avoid the Powder gangers. Once at Sloan head to Black Mountain, you want to end up at Neil's Shack. Now the tricky part. Stay on top the ridge by the shack. Do not get to close edge by path or you get muntants to shoot or run after you. When come to a wall looking mountain. Do not climb, unclimbable. Head a bit west. Use the cliffs the best you can. Stay against mountain wall and trying to jump or walk to each over hang. Just because you can see Vegas close now. Do not go straight down or you find many Deathclaws waiting for you. Keep on the ridges/over looks until you see Repconn HQ. Slowly jump down to hit the bottom then get the map marker for Repconn HQ. After that it is a cake to Freeside, Gun Runners, Camp McCarran, Shareholder Farms, and much much more. Once you get that then you can go back to Repconn HQ then head south on the road to 188 Trading Post. Get Veronica, first follower. Head south to Novac. Pick up the side quest to help with cow quest. Head behind the big rock, walk up and see the hidden nightkin, shoot or punch at it, and sit back to help Veronica kill the nightkin. Once you done that. Loot nightkin, turn quest in, head to motel, talk, ask for room. You get the room free, lots of storage space. bed that gives rested bonus and heal limbs on hardcoe mode, water with a few rads, and a place called home until Lucky 38. The rest is up to you.