When did you start liking roads?

[hotdogPi]

13-14, surprisingly.

What started your interest? I joined the forum at 13.

I'm not exactly sure. I've always been interested in numbers since I was a little kid; maybe that had something to do with it?

[Roadgeekteen]

13-14, surprisingly.

What started your interest? I joined the forum at 13.

I'm not exactly sure. I've always been interested in numbers since I was a little kid; maybe that had something to do with it?

Didn't you join the forum at age 14?

[hotdogPi]

13-14, surprisingly.

What started your interest? I joined the forum at 13.

I'm not exactly sure. I've always been interested in numbers since I was a little kid; maybe that had something to do with it?

Didn't you join the forum at age 14?

Yes.

[texaskdog]

Always.  When I was really young I'd draw fake roadmaps.  I could look at maps for hours.

[Roadgeekteen]

Always.  When I was really young I'd draw fake roadmaps.  I could look at maps for hours.

I used to draw fictional highways on Rand Mcnally atlases.

[andrepoiy]

I liked cars a lot, and I guess by extension I started liking roads, as I would draw roads and maps for my toy cars to drive on

[vdeane]

things that go

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeFoGo3N_4g

[Nacho]

I couldn't give an exact answer, but I was young. I generally think of it as being sparked by our annual summer trips from Indiana to Maine.

[zachary_amaryllis]

13-14, surprisingly.

What started your interest? I joined the forum at 13.

i'm actually impressed... i thought this forum would be all old farts like myself...

[SkyPesos]

I know Noelbotevera is one of the youngest to join the forum at 11 from looking at some of the welcomes; are there people that joined here at an earlier age than him?

[Angelo71]

I know Noelbotevera is one of the youngest to join the forum at 11 from looking at some of the welcomes; are there people that joined here at an earlier age than him?

How is that even eligible? Are they banned?

[hotdogPi]

I know Noelbotevera is one of the youngest to join the forum at 11 from looking at some of the welcomes; are there people that joined here at an earlier age than him?

How is that even eligible? Are they banned?

Early in this forum's life, there was an age minimum of 13 (by law). It's been removed, and there's no age minimum now. As noelbotevera never caused any issues, the "typical kid" problem never happened.

[Angelo71]

I know Noelbotevera is one of the youngest to join the forum at 11 from looking at some of the welcomes; are there people that joined here at an earlier age than him?

How is that even eligible? Are they banned?

Early in this forum's life, there was an age minimum of 13 (by law). It's been removed, and there's no age minimum now. As noelbotevera never caused any issues, the "typical kid" problem never happened.

Oh.

[jp the roadgeek]

I would have to say around 5 or 6.  My grandparents used to keep road maps in a compartment in a table in their living room that I always read, plus my dad was in the car business and his dealership was always giving out free road atlases.  I found myself drawing my own maps based on what I saw.  Of course, this was wayyyyy before any kind of board like this.

[jmacswimmer]

As long as I can remember.  At some point when I was young my parents bought several county atlases of MD, and one day I discovered them and began to "read" (not sure if that's the right term for an atlas, but can't think of a better one) thru them page by page.  I think they still have a giant tub somewhere around their house filled with all my road drawings from over the years

My parent's favorite story to tell of when they realized the extent of my interest: We were somewhere in Arlington for the day, and upon returning home we were on VA 7 west with the ultimate goal of crossing the Legion Bridge on I-495 and heading up I-270.  As we approached the I-66 interchange, my parents figured they'd hop on I-66 west for one exit to I-495 north.  Of course as us roadgeeks know, this movement is missing from the 66-495 interchange due to nearby VA 267.  Thus, young me began screaming from the back seat to NOT get on I-66 west and instead just continue on VA 7 directly to I-495.  My parents, as you'd reasonably expect, figured "how could a 6-year-old possibly know directions?" and took the ramp onto I-66 west despite my objections.  Sure enough, minutes later they realized I-66 west only had a ramp to I-495 south; they then continued to exit 62, u-turned, and got on I-495 north from I-66 east.  Somewhere during that detour, I slid in a smug "I told you so".

My navigational abilities were never questioned again after that

[OCGuy81]

I was probably about 6 or 7.  My grandpa gave me a road atlas, and together him and I planned the route to get to a family reunion in Ohio.  I became fascinated how the blue lines represented freeways, and I'd trace their route to see where they went, and imagine what the road would look like there. Looooooooong before Googe Streetview.

[nexus73]

Vehicles and roads of any sort interested me before I was even in kindergarten.  Transportation and communication seemed like such miracles!  Radio was the "communication" side of things which entranced me.

Rick

[formulanone]

I was 37, because I can't prove my roadgeekiness back to my second trimester.

Okay, in stages from 5-6 on up with maps and cars. Didn't really have an obsession until I was old enough to drive...so 16 it is.

[Ned Weasel]

I can't remember what age I was, but my interest certainly developed from the combination of riding around in my parents' cars and looking at their road maps and atlases.  It probably started before I was 10.

[kkt]

Definitely by age 7.  I have a Rand McNally atlas from then that I spent hours poring over, and I Fritzowled in lots of additional freeways in California.

[frankenroad]

As long as I can remember.  I still love looking at maps and atlases.  Growing up in the 60s, it was always exciting to get a new map or atlas and see what new segments of the Interstate system were added since the previous year.  I also inherited my grandfather's love of reading train schedules and planning imaginary trips.

When I was in first grade, I drew an outline map of the US (lower 48) from memory.  My teacher was very impressed.   I still have a copy of it - it's pretty crappy (Texas looks like a pair of udders) but it's probably better than 90% of people of any age could do from memory.

I have always been fascinated with numbering systems of every kind - highways, license plates, telephone numbers, clocks, calendars, etc.  At various times in my life I was pretty fluent in both the Dewey Decimal system and the Library of Congress Classification System.

[Avalanchez71]

I can remember telling a bus driver that she was going the wrong direction as early as age 4.  I was building roads and the like in the sand and used plaster to cast roads for my toy cars which I painted black with the yellow and white lines.  I even cut out highway signs and really like the Florida state route system and the county roads.

I can remember asking my parents to use the business routes so I could see more than just some boring interstate. I asked to go down the interstate roads that were not yet completed to detour off onto usually the US highways.