A difficult or trying experience; a hard time or task: While the ground crew didn't exactly have to carry me onto the plane kicking and screaming, it was no picnic/ It's no picnic, teaching people to play(1888+)
Idioms and Phrases with no picnic
no picnic
Difficult, no fun, as in Recovering from abdominal surgery is no picnic. This expression, alluding to a picnic as a pleasant occasion, was first recorded in 1888.