I start with a simple shack, usually up on a rock for defensibility, until I kill Eikthyr.

Then I look for a good place next to a black forest close to a copper node. Good idea to have water nearby for tin too. This will make trips back and forth while smelting bronze easier.

After you have bronze nails, you can build a karve and explore further, ideally for a base location with multiple biomes nearby.

Don't worry too much about distance because while you are in the bronze age you will have access to materials to make portals, but you can't take ingots or ores through them without modding your game. That means either transporting ores, probably by ship, or building smaller bases close to resources.