Simplified or traditional Chinese characters first?

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Very strictly speaking, it is more logical to see how traditional Chinese characters have been simplified than to start with the simplified versions then go back to the original characters. If you have an academic interest in Chinese then this may be a good strategy.

However, my advice is to stick with the type of characters that is more relevant to you and learn that set first. If your place of interest is Mainland China, focus on simplified characters. If your place of interest is Hong Kong or Taiwan, focus on traditional characters.

It is perfectly possible to go from simplified characters to learn to recognise traditional characters. This is what I did, in fact. I recommend that you stick to always writing one type and if you want to learn both, just learn to recognise the other type. That will reduce your burden considerably. Remember that only the more complicated characters and radicals have been simplified. Many characters are the same in both traditional and simplified Chinese. Also remember that Chinese people generally only write one type, even if they know both types.