I think you are talking about using the sims 3 camera style. Options Menu (3 dots top left of screen)>Game Options>Game Camera then check The Sims 3 Camera. It's a much better control system in my opinion.
Traveling is always better by using your sims phone or if you just want to go out in your sims local neighborhood (i.e. no loading screen) then just click the ground where you want you sim to be or if it is a City Living food vendor just click on that and your sim will go there from their apartment.
You can also using the mouse scroll and scroll all the way out until your cursor becomes a magnifying glass and then click 'travel'. This will bring up the world maps menu so you can pick which world and then neighborhood you want your sim to travel to.
Carl has a load of great guides too:
http://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/