Time spent at home is largely to practice what you've already learned in person. As you gain experience practicing at home becomes more feasible. I started off training around age 7 under my dad's constant guidance, and then when I went off to college at 18, around the time I was becoming more serious about my training, I'd occasionally watch videos to review forms while practicing daily on my own and whenever I came home my dad would closely observe me to be sure I was still making progress.
He gave me a more rigorous mental education than I'd have likely received at most dojos, though training with others in addition to my dad would have been helpful. It's best that you regularly practice around others for at least the first few years, and you'll always want to practice with someone else at least on occasion.
If you can't find a school to go to regularly, you might focus on improving physical fitness via weightlifting, jumping rope, and possibly some endurance activities you enjoy (bicycling, jogging, hiking, etc). If there is a YMCA nearby you may find a judo class where you can learn to fall, and a boxing class where you can learn what it's like to hit/be hit. After learning those basics you may simply focus on improving physical conditioning on your own.
Consider heading off to a place where you can stay at a martial arts camp and train daily for a little while after achieving moderate conditioning (from a weekend to a couple weeks or more). Spending a weekend training with a professional fighter, hitting and being hit by people who'd trained in various styles such as Muay Thai was quite rewarding for me as a supplement to everything else I'd been doing for years.
Becoming a black belt won't happen from infrequent training with an instructor, but basic self defense skills can be acquired much more quickly, it just depends on exactly what you're hoping to accomplish.
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