I am living in Canada and have basically no chinese speaking friends that I have met personally. Here are some things that have helped me keep my candle burning:

* QQ: I posted my QQ number publicly and after I got about 100 friends in 1 month, I removed it. Whenever I turn it on I instantly find many friends eager to chat. This brings everything up to the surface and my notebooks to the table.

* HSK: I took my HSK1 after studying with Popup for 2 months. It only cost me $20 and I got a 95% on the test. This is your linear road to 5000 words. WARNING: Don't feel trapped like you have to learn only these words. I paused my goal for HSK2 (partly out of boredom) and found some cool apps and other interesting study material and had a huge relief and wave of enthusiasm that I was free to let go of the HSK2 words. I recently picked it back up again and found I actually learned a bunch of the HSK2 words indirectly. This was exciting. I think I will take it in June.

* Movies: We had a cool thread going with a bunch of good movies getting thrown around. Pick one and watch it over and over (I avoid the Cantonese movies though...)

* China connection: start listening to the Sinica podcast if you haven't already. It took me a while to realize how valuable and far reaching these guys are. I'm hooked now...

Summary: keep the material fresh. Feel free to wander around and check out random material. I have 啪啪中文 as a foundation and the supplements as a 'diversification'. Be clear on why you want to learn to speak chinese and feed that desire.

good luck and have fun...