Yeah, just to cheer you on, if you are using Emacs just for Org mode you really can just learn the Org mode commands and use the editor just like you would any other insert mode editor. If you want to do complex editing, then it helps to know Emacs.
However, Evil mode now works pretty amazingly right now if you like Vim. I use Emacs with Evil and Vim practically interchangeably. My biggest frustration is a bug (which is probably unfixable) with how undo doesn't always correspond with a vi command. There are some details with how buffers are specified, etc, but you can customise it to get close.
Spacemacs is a pre-setup Vim setup for Emacs using Evil mode which is highly recommended, though I haven't used it (I like minimal setups). I don't know if anyone has ever setup edit-mode key bindings for Org mode, but I just use the Emacs ones (I was originally an Emacs user before switching to Vim... and then back to Emacs :-P )
Those are interesting ideas. I'm actually not a Vim user either, but it at least has been at the back of my mind for years to to get around to learning. So there's a chance that may work.
I've also been thinking for a couple hours now about how much work it'd be for me to write a small app with the minimal feature set that I'd like from org-mode :) This is almost certainly a terrible idea for me to do in the context of the rest of my life right now.
Using Emacs just for org-mode is actually a pretty appealing option to me considering the description you gave. So I may give that a shot. Thanks!
One of the nice things about Evil/Spacemacs (maybe spacemacs-specific?) is that when you press one of the keys, you get a very useful screen with many of the commands (and then potentially sub-commands) you can issue.
Even as a years-long Vim user it taught me some new tricks.
However, Evil mode now works pretty amazingly right now if you like Vim. I use Emacs with Evil and Vim practically interchangeably. My biggest frustration is a bug (which is probably unfixable) with how undo doesn't always correspond with a vi command. There are some details with how buffers are specified, etc, but you can customise it to get close.
Spacemacs is a pre-setup Vim setup for Emacs using Evil mode which is highly recommended, though I haven't used it (I like minimal setups). I don't know if anyone has ever setup edit-mode key bindings for Org mode, but I just use the Emacs ones (I was originally an Emacs user before switching to Vim... and then back to Emacs :-P )