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What would cause you to lose interest in roadgeeking?

Started by hbelkins, January 21, 2019, 04:34:53 PM

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hbelkins

There are a number of aspects to this hobby. A non-comprehensive list is general roadtripping, seeing construction or other features, photography, county visiting, route clinching, collecting items such as maps/signs/traffic signals/other memorabilia, attending meets, participating in online forums or communities, and so on. I probably left a few things out.

What, if anything, might cause you to lose interest in the hobby or various parts of it, or possibly give it up altogether?


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.


MNHighwayMan

#1
Losing the ability to drive would be a big one for me.

But even if I could then find someone to drive for me, losing my sight would be even worse. So much of this hobby depends on eyesight that going blind would be a killer. I even made a topic about it once.

hotdogPi

1. Signs get removed everywhere because self-driving cars don't need them.
2. Instant teleportation anywhere.

I can't think of anything else, other than dying.
Clinched, minus I-93 (I'm missing a few miles and my file is incorrect)

Traveled, plus US 13, 44, and 50, and several state routes

I will be in Burlington VT for the eclipse.

kphoger

I periodically lose interest in roadgeeking because other areas of life become more important.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

GaryV

I probably wouldn't lose interest in roadgeeking.  But I might lose (and/or gain) interest in particular aspects of it.

And certainly I'd lose interest in some implementations of it.  Already has happened for MTR.

jakeroot

A lot of the typical roadgeek stuff has never really been interesting to me: route numbers and designations, long trips by car, old signs and signals, old infrastructure in general, navigating by map, etc.

My primary roadgeek interest is in traffic control (signs, signals, bike paths, sidewalks, plazas, etc), especially studying how people, and the various modes of transport we use, get through an area. This is why I'm in the Urban Studies/Urban Design program at U-Wash. As such, I don't see myself losing interest in traffic control, since my job will likely be to work with cities to develop long- and short-term growth plans for an area, especially with regards to how people move through and interact with an area.

It's decently likely that I'll end up working and living in an urban area, not likely to be commuting by car. Long-term, I see my interest in roads waning in favor of metros, trains, bikes, scooters, etc. When in DC, I ride the Washington Metro like clockwork, and have already developed an interest in the carriages that are used, and specific features of each series of train. I use scooters to get around Tacoma a lot, so I'm presently studying their effects on urban areas. I've developed a preference for making cars more expensive and less enjoyable in urban areas, through tolls like congestion charges, higher gas taxes and registration fees, the elimination of free parking in commercial areas, etc. This sort of ideology might seem insane to most roadgeeks, but I don't appreciate the car like I once did.

tl;dr -- I've already started losing interest in most roadgeek things

Roadgeekteen

Something else coming causes roadgeeking to take a back seat, but I will always be a roadgeek in at least the back of my head.
God-emperor of Alanland, king of all the goats and goat-like creatures

Current Interstate map I am making:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?hl=en&mid=1PEDVyNb1skhnkPkgXi8JMaaudM2zI-Y&ll=29.05778059819179%2C-82.48856825&z=5

MNHighwayMan

Well, to answer this question, I think that it'd first be useful to have a definition as to what roadgeeking or what "being a roadgeek" is. Judging by the responses so far, it differs for everyone. As such, I don't think you can really give this question a rigorous answer.

For me, I've always paid attention to roads in some form since kindergarten, if not earlier. Having a community with which to discuss such things only broadens my perspective, since there's a lot of things or details I've learned about in my time here that I might not have otherwise given heed to. I don't really see it as a thing which stops, but rather as something that waxes and wanes in intensity. That's why I don't see anything, short of physical disability, from stopping my interest. Even if I stop participating here, for whatever reason, I'm likely still prone to noticing small details which make the mundane fascinating.

Eth

Quote from: jakeroot on January 21, 2019, 05:01:35 PM
It's decently likely that I'll end up working and living in an urban area, not likely to be commuting by car. Long-term, I see my interest in roads waning in favor of metros, trains, bikes, scooters, etc. When in DC, I ride the Washington Metro like clockwork, and have already developed an interest in the carriages that are used, and specific features of each series of train. I use scooters to get around Tacoma a lot, so I'm presently studying their effects on urban areas. I've developed a preference for making cars more expensive and less enjoyable in urban areas, through tolls like congestion charges, higher gas taxes and registration fees, the elimination of free parking in commercial areas, etc. This sort of ideology might seem insane to most roadgeeks, but I don't appreciate the car like I once did.

Much of this actually sounds like me. As someone who lives in an urban area and enjoys doing so, I find myself welcoming a lot of these changes. I work from home the majority of the time, and when I do go into the office I take MARTA. As a committed runner, I know the surrounding roads just as well on foot as I do by car, and I generally default to walking anywhere within about a mile. It's not at all uncommon for my car to go unused for several days at a time without me even leaving town.

But that's urban life. I think I still have an appreciation for road-related endeavors in general. I remain fascinated by the concept of how we get from point A to point B as well as the navigational aids we use in doing so. To answer the question, I'd probably echo 1's response:

Quote from: 1 on January 21, 2019, 04:38:42 PM
1. Signs get removed everywhere because self-driving cars don't need them.
2. Instant teleportation anywhere.

In_Correct

Quote from: hbelkins on January 21, 2019, 04:34:53 PM
There are a number of aspects to this hobby. A non-comprehensive list is general roadtripping, seeing construction or other features, photography, county visiting, route clinching, collecting items such as maps/signs/traffic signals/other memorabilia, attending meets, participating in online forums or communities, and so on. I probably left a few things out.

What, if anything, might cause you to lose interest in the hobby or various parts of it, or possibly give it up altogether?

An overwhelming amount of Grade Separated Maglev Systems where no roads would need to be encountered.

Subway Systems also.

A very small island that is much easier to travel by boat.

Blimps, And / Or Hover Craft.

Personal Jet Packs.
Drive Safely. :sombrero: Ride Safely. And Build More Roads, Rails, And Bridges. :coffee: ... Boulevards Wear Faster Than Interstates.

formulanone

#10
It's kind of hard to work up enthusiasm for something you've seen and discussed several times before. There can be a lot of "been there, done that" with any hobby. It's a long game to be played; new roads aren't built overnight and there's a lot of ground to be covered. But there's also lots of facets tangential to the roads themselves, and that leads to more interests, and so on and so forth.

On one hand, there's more roads than anyone could hope to drive upon in their lifetime. If your goal is to drive on them all, then it's an unattainable apex, but with classification an ordering, one can set more reasonable expectations and goals. Some people are going to keep going, and others are going to just find it tedious and move on to something else.

I get a lot of variety thanks to travelling for work, and that's a huge motivator. If I was stuck driving the same routes almost all of the time, it would get a bit dull...which is how it felt to me after a few years of getting my driver's license. When I wasn't covering any new ground, it wasn't usually as much fun after a few years, and I personally let the hobby go for a while.

Roadgeekteen

I also doubt that not being able to drive will make me lose interest because I am a roadgeek who can't currently drive.
God-emperor of Alanland, king of all the goats and goat-like creatures

Current Interstate map I am making:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?hl=en&mid=1PEDVyNb1skhnkPkgXi8JMaaudM2zI-Y&ll=29.05778059819179%2C-82.48856825&z=5

adventurernumber1

#12
My immense love of roads is strongly boiled into my system. I think it would take death or complete, 100% mental incapacitation to fully take that away from me.

With that said, (as mentioned) going blind significantly negatively impacts and reduces the amount of ways in which I can manifest my interest in roads. As I had said in the mentioned thread on going blind, I would still be a roadgeek, but my ability to do such related hobbies would be severely impaired (or completely impossible, as in the case of actually visually seeing roads). If blind, I would have to heavily rely on thinking about and mentally envisioning fictional roads in my head (or remembering and picturing actual roads). My ability to interact with the roadgeek community would be severely impaired - although I may be able to communicate sporadically in obscure ways (as mentioned in my post in that thread). Losing my eyesight would undoubtly be a major hit, but I would hold tightly onto and enjoy to the most everything I had left.

I am now (and presumably forever) unable to drive (due to physical and mental health issues, and certain medications), but as such I have adapted my mindset to accommodate for that by being mindful of the fact that (while not the same), I can drive infinitely in some video games (some of which have incredibly realistic and interesting roads). That is what helps me most to have peace of mind about not being able to drive, since I can still do it virtually. Obviously I can still be driven around, but I am not the one driving, so I am in essence unable to go out into the day and go "roadgeeking" on the roads in a traditional sense - except very, very rarely when my mother might have a chance to do it. And there is also the ability to look at actual roads through media - whether it be road videos I have taken on my phone that are in my Camera Roll, or somewhere on the internet, such as road photos and videos here on this forum, on YouTube, or anywhere else. And of course there is the countless information about roads that can be found throughout the internet, and books and such. And I can still look at all the paper maps I have at home, and the online maps on the internet (such as Google Maps). And then of course there is the ability to communicate and interact with the roadgeek community online, such as on this forum. Browsing this forum can indeed, as mentioned, expand one's knowledge and interest of the many areas within all the road-related topics. In the few years that I have been on this forum, I have learned so, so much about road-related information, and I have much, much more I have yet to learn. Roadgeekery can be enjoyed and manifested in so many different ways - the possibilities are endless. Also, I have no idea how to explain this, but sometimes new interests can build on top of existing interests - sometimes different interests can converge or diverge - and as mentioned, sometimes interests can wax and wane. Sometimes life circumstances affect things, and sometimes physical or mental incapacitation may set in - but whatever happens to me in life, I will fight to the end to preserve my roadgeek heart.  :D  :-P


Now alternating between different highway shields for my avatar - my previous highway shield avatar for the last few years was US 76.

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Max Rockatansky

#13
Becoming disabled somehow and being unable to drive.  Really this hobby is a general extension of my general enjoyment of travel.  Something akin to disability would certainly kill my other hobbies like hiking and photo taking as well.  I'd find it difficult to enjoy this hobby not being able to interact with it first hand.  I had to face losing the use of one arm in the past decade after I was run over while running, so he consequences of severe injury have crossed my mind now and then.  I agree with blindness being a hobby killer as well. 

Duke87

One common cause of me losing interest in anything in life is reaching a point where I have exhausted the possibilities within it, or at least reaching a point where there are increasingly diminishing returns to continuing further, and it stops being fun.

This has already manifested itself for me in terms of roadgeeking in one key way: I've finished the entire state highway systems in MA, RI, CT, NJ, and in the downstate portion of NY. As such, I've stopped going on trips that are purely clinchathons - because I've tapped out my ability to clinch any significant new mileage without at least one overnight stay away from home, and if I have to spend money on a hotel it ceases being worthwhile to me.

I do still make a point of clinching roads whenever I have some other reason to be away from home overnight and can reasonably work it in, but it is now an opportunistic activity rather than a targeted one.
If you always take the same road, you will never see anything new.

Beltway

It has been 50 years now.  I don't see anything that would decrease the interest.
http://www.roadstothefuture.com
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DandyDan

I could turn into my dad and get really interested in trains, old rail stations and abandoned rail lines, plus other aspects of the railroad business I can't think about at the moment.
MORE FUN THAN HUMANLY THOUGHT POSSIBLE

D-Dey65

Nothing can make me lose interest in roadgeeking. I was into it long before I was old enough to drive. Unfortunately, seeing many should've been built road projects being abandoned and demolished has only made me feel disgusted about them not being built, and isolated over it.


Rick Powell

Quote from: DandyDan on January 22, 2019, 12:47:03 AM
I could turn into my dad and get really interested in trains, old rail stations and abandoned rail lines, plus other aspects of the railroad business I can't think about at the moment.

I am equally interested in roads and rail, for different reasons. I come from a railroad family with roots in the 1800's rail systems of the south. And I grew up watching the interstate highway system being built. Both my dad and I were/are civil engineers who have worked for both railroads and state highway agencies, and I now work in the private sector where I work on projects for both modes. I am probably one of the few people who worked on construction of a legacy interstate highway (I-55) and a commuter rail extension (what is now Metra Electric to University Park) before the age of 21.

DandyDan

Quote from: Rick Powell on January 22, 2019, 01:49:46 AM
Quote from: DandyDan on January 22, 2019, 12:47:03 AM
I could turn into my dad and get really interested in trains, old rail stations and abandoned rail lines, plus other aspects of the railroad business I can't think about at the moment.

I am equally interested in roads and rail, for different reasons. I come from a railroad family with roots in the 1800's rail systems of the south. And I grew up watching the interstate highway system being built. Both my dad and I were/are civil engineers who have worked for both railroads and state highway agencies, and I now work in the private sector where I work on projects for both modes. I am probably one of the few people who worked on construction of a legacy interstate highway (I-55) and a commuter rail extension (what is now Metra Electric to University Park) before the age of 21.
I don't mind tracking down abandoned rail lines, some of which obviously are rail trails, but the books he had which relate to the technical aspects of him doing his job does not appeal to me.
MORE FUN THAN HUMANLY THOUGHT POSSIBLE

qguy

Quote from: D-Dey65 on January 22, 2019, 12:53:14 AM
Nothing can make me lose interest in roadgeeking. I was into it long before I was old enough to drive.

Quote from: Beltway on January 22, 2019, 12:42:46 AM
It has been 50[-ish] years now.  I don't see anything that would decrease the interest. [Edit by qguy.]

This is me.

Roadgeekteen

Quote from: Rick Powell on January 22, 2019, 01:49:46 AM
Quote from: DandyDan on January 22, 2019, 12:47:03 AM
I could turn into my dad and get really interested in trains, old rail stations and abandoned rail lines, plus other aspects of the railroad business I can't think about at the moment.

I am equally interested in roads and rail, for different reasons. I come from a railroad family with roots in the 1800's rail systems of the south. And I grew up watching the interstate highway system being built. Both my dad and I were/are civil engineers who have worked for both railroads and state highway agencies, and I now work in the private sector where I work on projects for both modes. I am probably one of the few people who worked on construction of a legacy interstate highway (I-55) and a commuter rail extension (what is now Metra Electric to University Park) before the age of 21.
I have a secondary interest in rail, my interests tend to switch sometimes, I like rail more in the spring.
God-emperor of Alanland, king of all the goats and goat-like creatures

Current Interstate map I am making:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?hl=en&mid=1PEDVyNb1skhnkPkgXi8JMaaudM2zI-Y&ll=29.05778059819179%2C-82.48856825&z=5

abefroman329

Quote from: 1 on January 21, 2019, 04:38:42 PM
1. Signs get removed everywhere because self-driving cars don't need them.
It's highly doubtful that the technology will ever become so perfect, or so widespread, that there will be 0 manually-operated vehicles on the road at any given time.

SP Cook

I can only think of two things.  One would be if all of this self-driving car nonsense actually came to be.  Now, I do not believe this will ever really happen, but if it did, what would be the point. 

The more likely thing is those with anti-transportation agendas return to power.  A combination of converting every road into tolls, high fuel prices and taxes, further performance declines due to enviro rules, reduction in SLs to NMSL or lower, and allowing the system to fall into disrepair will take driving an individual car to a distant place away from the regular person.


AsphaltPlanet

My interest in the hobby kind of ebbs and flows like I'm sure it does for most people.

I live near a major city, and there are generally a number of projects ongoing at any given time, so that helps to keep my interest level high.  If I lived somewhere where major construction projects were less frequent, I'd probably become less interested in the hobby.

One of the things that does keep me interested is the photography aspect of the hobby.  When I drive to work I will often take photos of the same road signs every morning so that I can ensure when I go somewhere far away that I can get consistently sharp photos in varying lighting conditions.

If someone's interest in the hobby was waning (and they wanted to reinvigorate their interest), I'd say get a new camera, and learn how to use it on their drive to work.  That way the next time they do a road trip, they'll get continually better results.
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