Once you’re looking for a place to establish your Fallout 76 camp, the world is yours to do as you see fit, for the most part. But there are a few things to keep in mind.
If you’re persnickety about how your camp looks, I recommend finding a flat area with short grass, if possible. Speaking from experience, a single tall blade of glass sticking up through your floor may irritate the hell out of you later on.
Consider things like where other players tend to be — do you want to be close to the action? Do you want other players to be able to shop your vending machines, thereby maximizing the amount of caps (money) you earn?
Two more general tips for choosing a location: look for a small body of water and look for an elevated area. Having a large water pump in your camp requires an actual water source, and higher ground makes you less vulnerable to enemy attackers.
Two of my personal favorite camp locations are the monorail elevator (in the Savage Divide region) and the Whitespring golf club, which has a pond you can place a water pump in.
Check out this fan-made interactive map to pinpoint crucial spawn locations throughout the open world, and that might help you be a little scientific about where you set down your roots. The key is to avoid lots of hostile creatures, consider your current needs, and have fun.
One last thing. If you load into the game world and another player has already established their camp where yours should be, you’ll be given two options: load into a new instance or build your camp someplace else.
Don’t get too attached; sometimes half the fun is starting over.