Your comment has caused me to reflect on the early game, and I think I agree with you. I suspect I hadn't noticed the slow early game because the catalyst for me playing the game was grieving a friend who had loved the game — this means that even if I had found it painfully slow, I would have been likely to push on regardless.

I'm trying to remember at what point it potentially gets better. It's hard to say without knowing how far you got in (especially because it's entirely possible that maybe you just didn't jibe with this game (which is fine, because subjectivity is cool)); I remember part of what I enjoyed about the game was the general vibes.

That being said, going off the map above, I think the most engaging parts of the game for me happened after Boulder City. The world gets more content dense as you approach New Vegas, and I remember enjoying the anticipation as I got closer to the city, and how I was beginning to feel like I understood the various moving parts of the world better (such as the politics around the NCR).

So I think the short answer is that yes, it does pick up. If New Vegas seems like the kind of game you usually play, it might be worth giving it another crack (but I can't gauge how far into the game it starts picking up, time-wise)