There's a bug where there's a chance the quest will not ID a trader and give a "0.0" distance.
Some comments have suggested this happens when the trader is more than 3 kilometers away, but I've had it happen in a game where I could literally see (and visit) the trader outpost. Talking to the trader did not update the quest.
If this happens after completing the tutorial sequence, exit the game, delete the save/character, and restart a new game. You only lose about 10-15 minutes this way, and spawn back in on the same map.