I keep exact dimensions on my battlemaps, but I tell my players that world and regional maps are not always drawn to a complete scale. Some places are actually further apart than they appear, some regions may be smaller or larger than actuality, but the general layout matches. I’ve also told them somethings are left off entirely.

It seems to give them a close enough idea of how to get places while still giving me the flexibility to make the trip interesting for them

Do you mean you want to

1. Create a map and make some portion of the map bigger with space curvature to show more details
2. or Create a map of a (fantasy) world where there actually is space curvature, and in that world a place actually looks smaller from the outside?