I had to learn a bit about cloud for work, but that was focus on Microsoft Azure. For non-company work I looked at Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services and I jumped into AWS. The biggest factor was Amazon allowing me to do a lot of experimentation for free! That got me in the door, or cloud.
My first project was a EC2 Linux host to run a demo WordPress site. That was a bit painful but I learned how to setup the Route 53 DNS, get a static IP, etc and it worked. For the cost of registering this DNS domain I had an online lab basically. I also setup a LetsEncrypt free SSL.
I needed an easier solution however so I deleted that then used Amazon Lightsail. I couldn’t believe it but in just a few minutes I had everything in place as before. I was also shocked by how fast it runs. Since the data center is in Ohio instead of the East or West cost it’s optical (fiber optic) much closer therefore the network is more responsive. If someone was young and just getting started in a career I would highly recommend learning AWS and Google Cloud. Google would likely be extremely fast since they have a data center within 100 miles but I don’t they they were offering free solutions for people like me.