It's only painful if you have no patience. Forty-one levels in roughly eighteen hours is pretty fair for a new player. To be fair though, I got twenty of those levels for free for being Highmountain. I'm not in any real hurry though. We have a bit of a wait till BfA gets here. If you rush it all, you won't have anything to do for a few months. Gonna take my sweet time.
I love that the world is dangerous again. I think the most mobs I pulled is four and that was an accident. Barely survived only by popping every cooldown I had and playing smart with my Victory Rush.