I didn't even realize there was a perception about friction being harder than indexed. I started on indexed bar-end shifters (tri bike), then went to brifters, then got a bike with friction DT shifters. I'd say it took maybe two shifts to have it down. Actually, not even that. There was no learning curve. The distance to move the lever to get the chain to move where I wanted it was pretty intuitive. To the OP, don't let friction shifters scare you off.

In fact, earlier this year I did a 400k and opted to take my tri bike because it had the option of using friction shifting. I had some issues with my brifter set up on a couple rides so I took it knowing that if I had any issues I could switch to friction and the problems would go away.