Well, EXP is useful for leveling to increase max stamina (especially important at lower levels where going to work/school/etc. means you end up wasting stamina regen because your max is too low. At high levels it's more or less just a free refill with a slight boost to max stamina (and every 10 levels past 100 gives a FL slot up to 150 I believe)
As for Life Crystals, Event Map ?-4 and ?-8 is almost always the best for those