Bricks, Masonry, Asphalt and Concrete - pavers on a walkway

recently I put in a paver walkway that leads to my front door. The pavers I used are similiar in size to an average brick. 17' x 4'

I put down 4 or so inches of road base first, then compacted it. next I put down sand.

The project came out pretty darn good for some one who nows nothing about this kind of work. My real question is, after putting the road base down and then the sand evenly. From what I have read prior or been told, all you have to do is put down the pavers and put sand between then compact the pavers. I don't know if I put too much sand down, cause it was a pain to get them where they should be. It was a job to keep them level and inline. I wanted to try a bigger paver project, something like a 20' X 25', and I would like to know what I was doing wrong. or is it just hard to do it for us rookies :)

This may be hidden in what you did, but did not mention: seating the pavers in the sand as you laid them and checked them for level, sweeping the sand onto the pavers at completion and working it in with a plate compactor.

Here is a good run down on the finer points of mortarless paving.

http://www.bia.org/pdfs/brick_patio.pdf

Hope this helps.