Yes, you can travel between towns, ---> it's just a bit time-consuming at first because you have to travel over the mountain until you're able to clear the tunnel between them. BUT your horse will get you there pretty fast and you can hop off and collect stuff along the way, so it's not too bad. :)

You do get rewards for completing requests. --> Items, gold, food, seeds, tools, and so forth, as well as relationship boosts.

They are also nice because they help break up the monotony of daily crop and animal tending. :)

--> I haven't met the weird guy yet. :lol: