Also, you can play as a hunter that WOW TBC Gold is considered to be one of the most effective classes to reach the level. You can solo so many things, like mobs you cannot be able to solo. This spec is fantastic for pets, and is used to make them very powerful. It is also possible to hold the agro that allows you to remove agro from the mob before it goes to.
Yes... the leveling out wow until cataclysm had many characteristics that really slowed the pace. It's important to drink water and eat food after a few pulls particularly at the beginning. Be cautious in avoiding dying too often. Back in the day there was a guideline for leveling that claimed to get players to level 60 (or 70 in tbc) in five days / played (so 120 hours) and cheap Burning Crusade Classic Gold that was considered as fast. So yeah it's definitely slow and time-consuming.