Biggest Roadgeek/Trip Regrets

[Hunty2022]

This is a question/thread idea I've had for a couple weeks, and that question is what is your biggest regret as a roadgeek? It can be anywhere from missing clinching opportunities on trips, to cancelling trips, or really just anything/any route you really regret doing/not doing on the road.
Mine is easily taking US 421/I-785/US 29 back home instead of I-40/I-885/I-85/US 15 on May 18, 2023. The main reason I chose the former route is because I thought I was gonna be able to get a picture of NC-3, but the route didn't get me close enough. I would have gotten plenty of new counties in VA/NC from the latter route, including some in Virginia that I probably won't get for a couple years.

In second place is likely the decision I made to continue on I-495/I-66/US 29 instead of merging onto I-95, likely to I-295/I-64 on my way back home from Washington, DC on April 21. With the latter route, I would have my first photos for Stafford County, and expand into more of Prince William/Spotsylvania/Caroline Counties.

[74/171FAN]

Mine was probably learning that I-95 ended in Trenton, NJ, the hard way with my parents on the way to New York once because I convinced them to go through Philly for some reason.

Because of that, I was absolutely excited when the I-276/I-95 interchange opened in 2018.  While I missed the Golden Spike Meet, I did drive the new interchange the morning that it opened.

[Max Rockatansky]

Kind of regret not really exploring Lahaina given it burned down months after I passed through.

[oscar]

In Oklahoma I repeatedly missed chances to clinch the short US 266, as I zoomed past on the nearby I-40. When I finally clinched 266, it was in the dark -- no fun.

In the "trip" category, I soaked in a hot spring east of Eugene OR, a few days before the 2017  total solar eclipse passing through the area (which I avoided, like I did in Texas for the one last month). I hiked back to the parking area with a woman I'd soaked with. It turned out that she lived in the eclipse's totality path ... and she had a hot tub in her back yard. I should've tried harder to kiss up to her!

A related possible missed opportunity was that she gave me a little help steadying myself on the easy hike out. I wonder if she sensed that I had some mild balance problems, that became more obvious a few years later and perhaps could've been delayed or fixed if I'd figured that out sooner.

[1995hoo]

The thing that most readily comes to mind was beyond my control: In 1989, six of us in my Boy Scout troop, along with two adult leaders, went to the Canadian Jamboree on PEI. We drove up and back, taking three days each time (somewhat excessive, but on the other hand it allowed for a long stop at LL Bean on the way north). My father, as Scoutmaster, was in charge and he took the same route in both directions, including using ME-9 from Bangor to Calais and then up NB-1. I wish I had been able to convince him to use I-95/NB-95 and the Trans-Canada Highway across New Brunswick in one direction, both because I don't especially like using the exact same route in both directions and because I've still never been to the northern end of I-95 (that 1989 trip is still the farthest north I've been on I-95) because it's not an area I get back to very often. But I wasn't driving (wasn't allowed to, the troop's liability insurance didn't allow anyone under 18 to drive any other troop members) and I wasn't in charge. In the scheme of things, that was trivial because it was a great trip in every other way.

[Bruce]

Definitely should have pushed myself to go on longer trips during 2020 with the gas prices being at the absolute lowest I'll see in my lifetime. Also visiting more national parks and other popular natural wonders that are now extremely overcrowded and have limited access/entry. If I had more foresight, I would have been all over California for the back half of 2020.

[vdeane]

Not taking the express lanes all the way when I was driving south of DC to Florida in 2018.  I saw the high price, saw the regular lanes moving at the speed limit, and assumed that was just trying to meter the backup that regularly formed at the south end before they were extended.  A couple miles after exiting the express lanes, the regular lanes slammed to a standstill, and it was stop and go traffic for the next hour or two.  I could have easily gotten to my hotel in Richmond half an hour to an hour sooner, and kept my evening plans for that night (and morning plans for the next morning, which were upset by needing to eat breakfast after skipping dinner the night before so I could catch the series finale of Once Upon a Time) intact.

Later in that trip, with the benefit of hindsight, I probably would have taken I-75 all the way to Cincinatti (with one overnight moved from Nashville to Knoxville) and filled in that clinch, but at the time, I assumed it wouldn't be all that long before I'd be back in the southeast and filling in some of the clinching gaps.  Instead, I haven't been back since, and with the way things are going, I don't expect that to change any time soon.

Also that trip, I wish I had clinched the piece of I-10 between I-295 and US 17.  Like the above, I assumed I'd be back to continue the clinch in not too long.


Part of me regrets not going to the 2016 Toronto roadmeet (I had balked at the cost of hotels that didn't have bedbugs and backed out; silly me, these days I routinely book at places with double the cost of what I considered too much then!).  On the other hand, I loved the Birmingham roadmeet, which I wouldn't have attended if I had gone to Toronto.  Although I would probably still have my I-81 clinch either way... I probably would have clinched it on the way back from Florida two years later.

[wanderer2575]

I started a thread back in 2017 about missed road sign photo opportunities, and those remain my biggest regrets.

[jeffandnicole]

Back in the early 2010s, I had furlough days to use from work, in addition to my normal vacation days.  I should've just traveled around the country, hitting every state.  I've considered doing that now or in the future, but I know my days of taking long trips sitting in the car for 12+ hours a day are numbered.

If I knew county-clinching was a thing when I was young, I would've kept track of counties.  I don't have the memory to think back of my various trips and the counties I would've traveled thru.

From 2005 - 2015, I was getting numerous offers for free rooms in Vegas, which was surprising being that I gambled very little. Combined with cheap, direct airfares that were often under $80 each way, they were trips I couldn't pass up.  While we enjoyed those trips and did some traveling out there (I was giving myself yearly personal updates on the US 93 (and now I-11) Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge as it was being built), I still missed doing a few things in Vegas I wished I hit up, especially the neon graveyard.

Missing the 95/PA Tpk Golden Spike meet due to work.  My current office can view the NJ/PA Delaware River Bridge 8 miles away on clear days; the meet was just a few miles to the west of that location.