Before switching careers from teaching to international trade, I decided to take a year to do some odd jobs and clear my head. During this time, I realized that learning Mandarin Chinese could make a huge difference for my future.
Since I don't live anywhere near a school with Chinese classes, I decided to learn through apps and online lessons. I went with echineselearning based on the strength of their free trial lesson.
I would still like to learn face-to-face in future lessons, as opposed to just the computer. So, I may go to China if the opportunity comes up. However, for the time being, this is the best option to begin Chinese if you're in a situation such as mine.