Strength Training - Thoughts from my First Trade Run

Because the beta is closing tonight and I need to do homework anyways, I opted to do a trade run to lvl my strength up. Since patrol pathing is not a thing in the NA/EU version, I thought i'd see how much I could lvl up by going on a trade run from Heidel to Olivia after hitting lvl 27. The journey took me ~30 minutes and was a net loss for my silver thanks to my lack of node connectivity, but I learned a few things from the trip.

First, bandits on the road make it annoying to do trade alone. I would suggest that everyone take part in keeping the roads clear near them as bandits make life difficult for those lvling their strength. I was never really in danger, but it did mean I had to pay more attention to the screen than I would have liked. Oh well...

Second, the journey did not even net me a lvl up. I am sitting here in Olivia still at lvl 1 strength. This means the time it will take for people to power lvl their strength is going to be insane, especially since afk lvling it is not going to be a thing.

Anyone else mess around with this system?