my friend, let me introduce you to a macro that will change your life. i used to hate those cave maps too, but now they're my bread and butter. /macro SEEK powexec_location target Teleport
this will teleport you to whoever you're targeting if they're in range. now every teammate is a convenient travel node. use the minimap to see who's where you want to go, select, and boom, you're there. it becomes its own minigame chaining from one teammate to another to get across the map. you really feel like an omnipresent god while your teammates are stuck obeying the laws of physics.
caves become your best maps to navigate because slowing everyone else down means they stay in your range for longer. for this to work best, you need to slot as much range in tp as you can -- two +5s will cover it handily -- but it'll work okay with just one plain io in it.
on my empathy defender this means i can zip around applying buffs and often heal a team split into two entirely separate rooms. i also take combat teleport for finer maneuvers, and that gets me to the "oh shit" button that is phase shift.
another useful toy is /macro NOPE "powexeclocation up:max Teleport"
that'll give you an instant "escape into the sky" button if things get dicey. it's actually super peaceful vanishing from a battle and just hanging in the sky for a sec. to get back down, use the SEEK macro on a teammate you just left. this is also my first teleport of any overland travel because it puts me at a high and unobstructed vantage point from which to pick my direction.
a similar concept but with short-range, insta-cast combat teleport is
/macro BACK "powexeclocation back:max Combat Teleport"
that'll instantly pop you a full combat teleport straight backwards. great for kiting and getting out of melee after you buff, pbaoe, or whatever.
as for teleport being slow as a travel power, are you spamming the teleport again as soon as you appear in your new location? they recently backloaded teleport's animation so you can skip a lot of it just by teleporting again the instant you arrive, and for lower mana cost. this plus the range enhancements on teleport get me there so fast i end up teleport targeting half the team to hurry them along.
lastly, teleport's built-in float window is all you really need, but adding hover makes teleport a real luxury experience.
i hope any of this has been useful for you; get comfortable with this stuff and you'll never use your directional keys again!