oooof 4500 shots, thats a lot of editing time and as well touches on the whole topic of shooting too much and how digital often has people shooting a gazillion shots of whatever and probably not printing more than a handful. I still find that I dont shoot that much, I guess its still a holdover from film days, I mean I can shoot a lot for jobs, usually more with theatre stuff where lighting is very sketchy and or movement of people on stage is tricky, but then from years of doing it, I am a pretty ruthless editor and so cut down stuff fairly quickly.
Its funny, but on personal trips, ive gotten to the point now that I often shoot less now, as I find I want to experience the trip less "thinking" of how to shoot. When I was in Costa Rica in may, the trip really meant a lot to me going back and seeing people I hadnt seen in decades, as well as being in the country again, so I really didnt shoot that much, but just enjoyed it.
In general I have always been less of a machine gunner so to speak, and look more for a peak action, and/or moment that will distill a feeling or experience, and so even with digital I hold back still. At times I regret this, as stills and vids really do open the doors to memories but I figure its always finding a balance of not overdoing it.
The nice thing nowadays is how easy it is to make ones owns photo books, which are a great way (imo) to recount a trip and with the page layout options, to make it a lot of fun using ones photos, not to mention having a lot more photos on a page than we normally would print out 4x6s or whatever.