Can I delay the the loss of hope?

One of the goals of the first story drives you to send scouts south to make contact with another town. Getting to a particular landmark triggers a change in the residents, dropping Hope and raising Dissatisfaction. Can I delay this action by postponing when I visit the landmark?

Solution 1:

Partially. You can take your time, but around day 15 a lone survivor arrives and triggers the Londoners event as if you had found the city.

Additionally, this survivor dies and counts as one of your people dead, this means an additional loss of hope and you are forced to get a corpse disposal law if you haven't.