Since all have weighed in, I shall also.
Four years ago I operated from a bunch of Caribbean countries on a cruise -- /MM, 8P6CM, J6/, V25CN, PJ7/, /KP2, and /KP4 -- Loads of fun. Lots of contacts. I had to research and purchase the correct GPS to properly document the locations. I had to make several phone calls, get copies of my license notarized, arrange for funds to be transferred to an offshore bank to pay a license fee, and file lots of paperwork to arrange the licenses and to arrange permission to operate on the ship. There was lots of interesting equipment to bring, with documentation to get it into the stricter countries and through the American TSA -- try bringing a disassembled Arrow Antenna through the airport. In 8P6 I actually had to hire a taxi to race me to the government office to pick up the license in time to operate just two precious passes before the ship left the dock. In PJ7, I had to take a picture with a somewhat tipsy policeman who was really curious about the equipment just seconds before another precious pass began. Crazy!
After all that, I thought that QSLing would be about 20% of the work.
Nope.
QSLing was about 80% of the work. It took me more than a year to get it all done.
I did make it much harder than it could have been, since I made individual cards for each grid square that reflected the theme of the country and location of the ocean for /MM. And, I took a long time to transcribe the contacts from the audio recordings. There were a LOT of contacts. I wanted to be sure that everyone got their contact! Let's just say that I am a very big fan of using phonetics.
Now I understand and respect that 80% of the work is in the QSLing.
And, I'll add that for me LotW makes QSLing more fun and gratifying -- but it is a little more work.
I have sympathy for those who want their QSLs.
And I have sympathy for those who QSL. It's a lot of work. And it's a lot of fun. :)
73!
-- bag
Bryan KL7CN/W6