Moment You Knew You Were A Road Geek

[jwolfer]

My brother is 14 months younger than me and my mom would draw maps on cut open paper grocery bags for my matchbox cars to keep me occupied. My family would travel from NJ to Jacksonville, FL to visit my moms family at least once a year... more if there were weddings of funerals.  I would stay up most of the night watching roads and getting excited about things like the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel.  I have been a roadgeek all my life but it really was pointed out to me in first grade when we went to the Planetarium at Ocean County College for a class trip and because of forest fires the road home was closed( CR 549/Hooper Ave-Brick Blvd)... One of the teachers asked me an alternate route home... I of course told her to take Route 37 across the bay and then Route 35 back home.. I think she was just making me feel good by asking...I am sure the bus driver knew the way
But I remember feeling like i saved the world

[roadman]

Much the same here.  Apparently "EXIT" was the first word I could read.  (Which made road trips fun, with me shouting "exit" every time we passed a sign.)

Apparently "STOP" was one of the first words I could read, and I would blurt out "STOP SIGN" everytime I saw one.

[Alps]

My brother is 14 months younger than me and my mom would draw maps on cut open paper grocery bags for my matchbox cars to keep me occupied. My family would travel from NJ to Jacksonville, FL to visit my moms family at least once a year... more if there were weddings of funerals.  I would stay up most of the night watching roads and getting excited about things like the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel.  I have been a roadgeek all my life but it really was pointed out to me in first grade when we went to the Planetarium at Ocean County College for a class trip and because of forest fires the road home was closed( CR 549/Hooper Ave-Brick Blvd)... One of the teachers asked me an alternate route home... I of course told her to take Route 37 across the bay and then Route 35 back home.. I think she was just making me feel good by asking...I am sure the bus driver knew the way
But I remember feeling like i saved the world

That reminds me of how I would direct the bus driver for 6th grade summer camp to try to save a minute here or there.

[Brandon]

My brother is 14 months younger than me and my mom would draw maps on cut open paper grocery bags for my matchbox cars to keep me occupied. My family would travel from NJ to Jacksonville, FL to visit my moms family at least once a year... more if there were weddings of funerals.  I would stay up most of the night watching roads and getting excited about things like the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel.  I have been a roadgeek all my life but it really was pointed out to me in first grade when we went to the Planetarium at Ocean County College for a class trip and because of forest fires the road home was closed( CR 549/Hooper Ave-Brick Blvd)... One of the teachers asked me an alternate route home... I of course told her to take Route 37 across the bay and then Route 35 back home.. I think she was just making me feel good by asking...I am sure the bus driver knew the way
But I remember feeling like i saved the world

That reminds me of how I would direct the bus driver for 6th grade summer camp to try to save a minute here or there.

LOL!  In seventh grade, I was already helping bus drivers try to figure out how to navigate the Loop.

[talfonso]

I was born and raised in New Jersey. I have seen a lot of BGS's and freestanding trailblazers a lot of my life - in the car, on the school bus (to educational center The Forum School because I have been a high-functioning autistic since age 2.), or any other vehicle. Many times the bus drivers in the past who bussed me to school cinched Route 20 to and from it. It's one of my favorites and when I move back there I'd cinch it again to relive it.

I knew pretty much each route by shield. Besides Route 20, I have taken Routes 46, 80, 21, 3, and the road nearest to my former Clifton home 19 a lot. I also rode in the car along the Garden State Parkway, also close to home. (Proof: my exits were 154 and 155P!) I knew Route 17 (aka Old Irksome due to the fact that traffic can be crazy there) through TFS field trips and the rare trip to Van Saun Park in Paramus and Route 23 through trips to Chuck E. Cheese's in Wayne. Occasionally, the family would take the Turnpike for out-of-state trips and Great Adventure.

I remember one time drawing a pretty much rough map to the airport (Newark Airport to be exact) to fly to where I currently live. I'd show my family which roads to take (Broad Street to Grove Street, then Route 3 East, then Route 21 South, and finally to Route 1-9 to the airport). I used to draw maps a lot in childhood.

I was fascinated by the signs and shields as a child and the New Jersey Turnpike's trailblazer was the most fascinating, with the Garden State Parkway's coming in a very close second. I love the former to bits - it's a green hexagonal shape, bordered in white, with that white "TP" in the middle. Each time I see it on the web through flickr, or my own photos I snapped on summer 2011, I get motivated to save money for a sojourn there or even (and preferably) move back!

Whenever someone asks me about only one thing that reminds me of my childhood, I'd tell them that it's the NJTP shield. It represents me as a Jersey girl.

[Big John]

When as a child, I was building road systens with my toys and in the sand box, even using Legos to build traffic light systems.

[dave19]

At the age of 2, I taught myself to read by reading highway signs (it was the early 60s, so there weren't any graphic signs yet). 

Same here!

[US81]

At the age of 2, I taught myself to read by reading highway signs (it was the early 60s, so there weren't any graphic signs yet). 

Same here!

Me too! (well, in the late '60's)

[oldblue910]

My parents figured out by the time I was 4 that the easiest way to shut me up on a car trip was to hand me a map!

[theline]

At the age of 2, I taught myself to read by reading highway signs (it was the early 60s, so there weren't any graphic signs yet). 

Same here!

Me too! (well, in the late '60's)

And me too, in the '50's. I amazed my parents with the skill and their praise encouraged me to read, out loud, the contents of every sign I saw. They soon gave me the map and made me responsible for navigation--just to shut me up.

[Ned Weasel]

Well, yeah, I was doing roadgeek stuff as a young child.  I made license plates for my Big Wheel.  I looked out the window on drives and doodled road signs.  Et cætera.  But when were you first aware of your roadgeekdom?

I only became aware that I was a roadgeek when I realized most other people weren't--and that my obsession with roads sometimes annoyed people.  I think this was sometime between ages 13 and 18, but I had been fascinated by road maps and intersection/interchange designs since before age 10 (signs came sometime later).  I'm pretty sure I hadn't heard the term "roadgeek" until after I turned 18.

For the record, houses came first (age 5)--mostly floorplans, but I also drew front elevations.  Hotels and shopping malls worked their way in there at some point, probably also before age 10.  Roads stuck harder than anything else, though.

[Laura]

My first exposure to maps was at age 3. I found my grandmother's ADC maps of some of the Maryland counties. I taught myself how to read with the maps. At age 4, I first made the connection that the roads in real life were the roads represented on the map. I was rising with my mom on US 1 (Belair Rd) in Overlea, Baltimore County and City. At age 5, I told my grandmother how to accurately get from her house to the airport.

I first realized that my interest in maps and roads was not common when I was in third grade. We had an assignment to draw a map. I got really excited and modeled my map after the ADC map but made the buildings bigger. Of course, this was above and beyond what she wanted! I loved to draw maps as a kid. I drew a map of my neighborhood and of the imaginary world where my stuffed animals lived. I was always watching out the window, looking at the roads, reading every sign. I remember telling my dad to take US 113 to Ocean City for different scenery

I first learned I was a roadgeek in 1998. My family got the Internet the year before, and I was curious if anyone had made websites about roads. Yes they had! The three sites I frequented most were Scott Kozel's Roads to the Future, Mike Pruett's MDRoads, and Kurumi's site. Years later, I discovered many others, plus that other roadgeeks met up and had road meets! I used to look at the meet pictures longingly, wanting to attend so badly! And now here I am...

[mjb2002]

November 30, 1997 (I was 13 at the time). When I first saw Barnwell County's new signs posted along my street. I was none to pleased with the signs, most of which are still there.

Then, came signs in Allendale County in 2001 - same feeling of displeasure.

Since then, I have been comparing signs in neighboring counties with ours.

Nice to know that 12 years and 16 days later (on 12/16/2009), the feds shared my disdain.

On a lighter note...I now have maps of Aiken and Orangeburg counties, as well as all 13 Georgia counties in the CSRA.

Other maps and atlases I have include:

Asheboro/Randolph County
Lumberton, N.C./Robeson County
Marion County
Spartanburg County
Lexington County
Greenville County
Anderson County
Walterboro/Colleton County
Saint George/Dorchester County
Florence County
Columbia/Richland County
Savannah/Chatham County
Beaufort County
Charleston County
Moncks Corner/Berkeley County

[NYYPhil777]

Well, yeah, I was doing roadgeek stuff as a young child.  I made license plates for my Big Wheel.  I looked out the window on drives and doodled road signs.  Et cætera.  But when were you first aware of your roadgeekdom?

I only became aware that I was a roadgeek when I realized most other people weren't--and that my obsession with roads sometimes annoyed people.  I think this was sometime between ages 13 and 18, but I had been fascinated by road maps and intersection/interchange designs since before age 10 (signs came sometime later).  I'm pretty sure I hadn't heard the term "roadgeek" until after I turned 18.

For the record, houses came first (age 5)--mostly floorplans, but I also drew front elevations.  Hotels and shopping malls worked their way in there at some point, probably also before age 10.  Roads stuck harder than anything else, though.

Same here as to drawing homes (with floorplans and elevations), but roads came before homes and buildings to my interests.

[flowmotion]

Supposedly the first words I "read" were gas station signs -- I could point out every different brand of gas. (Probably I was noticing the shapes/logos instead.)

I remember seeing "TO US 2" signs in Canada and finding the broken route on a map -- I was probably only 7 or 8 years old.

[Tom958]

My roadgeekdom started quite abruptly in 1965 when GDOT (OK, it was the Highway Department then) started using a new metal bridge guardrail design that, to my seven year old eyes, looked way cooler than the previous one. Not too long after that, Popular Science ran an article about several then-new highway safety breakthroughs, and I was able to see them being used on new projects and, little by little, retrofitted to older ones. that led to noticing how highways differed from each other, and that different states did things differently.

As for knowing that "roadgeek" was the correct word for what I am, that came when I first got online in 1996 or so and found www.cyburbia.org while looking for planning and transportation related stuff. It's gone now, but one of the subforums was called, "For Roadgeeks Only." At that moment I knew I wasn't alone.

[roadman65]

 It started for me when my family took a trip to Plymouth, MA.   I was fairly young, and I was quite fascinated by an elevated continuous structure that I saw extend out of view.  I think that did it.

Plus, later on my 1969 road trip to  California I got more into it. We drove all the way from NJ to CA.  I remember the SF Oakland Bay Bridge and the tunnel in the middle.  I remember the hills of SF and riding the cable cars and seeing them turned around on a turntable.  I think that made me.

What was more interesting was 20 years later, when driving myself through the Wheeling tunnels on I-70.  I then remembered that I was there before.  It hit me, that when I was four I was amazed at the portals of the tunnels on each end.  I remember seeing a square portal on the opposite side while an arched one that we were entering then.  Then I saw the square portal exiting our tunnel, that prompted me to look back and see if the other side had an arch entering.  It did!  Then when I saw the two portals on my July 89 trip to Ohio, it jogged that out of me!  It must of been part of the plant that led me to being what I am today.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Mine evolved more slowly. I was reading maps and drawing maps at an early age, but it took a trip to Disneyland when I was 13 to turn me into a full-blown roadgeek.

[Sykotyk]

Also, who had a "Car City Carpet" when you were a kid? I had one, too- it was a city map with buildings on carpet.

Never had the carpet. But, I did have a garage with a smooth concrete floor. My mother would pull the car out sometimes, and I'd draw chalk outlines of massive highways (mostly freeways that never went anywhere: either I was a sadist, or I just assumed people drove freeways for no other reason). And once I'd finish, I'd start doing construction on them. Turning two lanes into 4, more ramps. Contraflow, etc. Whatever. Pour water on the floor and pretend it was a disaster, let it dry, and then 'rebuild' that part of the city.

As for when I realized. I became aware that it was not normal probably when I started driving a car when I was 16. Up to that point, I had an old RM atlas that I had highlighted every road I had been on (when someone else was driving).. Or at least what roads I thought I was on when they were driving. When I turned 16, I had a new map, and I had transposed all the roads. But, then realized I wanted to only count roads I knew for a fact I was on. And, when I bought another new RM atlas, i decided it would only be roads I had personally driven on. So, i started fresh.

After amassing a huge array of yellow highlighted roads throughout the country, I stumbled upon the Extra Milers Club, and started thinking how many counties I had been in. And, started another atlas with those marked (my method, was to outline the counties I was in, either individually or in blocks, and at their intersection with non-visited or driven counties, I would mark a partial arc at that junction. When I visited the county(ies) opposite it, I could complete the arc into a circle. If I had been in the county but hadn't driven through it, I marked it with an X as well. When I had driven through/to it, I then circled the X. Previously, I had numbered each county in each state by order of achievement. But, had stopped doing that when I REALLY started hitting counties. I take about 2-3 trips a year now just to hit counties and see new parts of the country. Sans Alaska and Hawaii, I'll be done with the contiguous 48 in about 5 years. Alaska and Hawaii are going to be special 'extended' trips with the wife.


One thing I don't understand, though, is road signs. I understand a lot of road geeks enjoy them and discuss them. And I appreciate their usefulness and question their decisions (and like pointing out mislabeled ones, like the PA shield in Michigan), but it's not that important to me. And I detest button-copy due to their lack of reflectivity at night with headlights. I don't really care for clearview one way or another, but a road sign has to serve its purpose. And that's to be seen and convey data to the driver. Old faded signs do not.

[drummer_evans_aki]

My parents figured out by the time I was 4 that the easiest way to shut me up on a car trip was to hand me a map!

That's exactly what my parents did. And that's exactly when I became a road geek.

[KEK Inc.]

2 or 3.  I imagined cities with hot wheel cars when I was a kid.  Had imaginary roads in my head.  I even had stupid little Lego pieces I fumbled around with and pretended they were signs and streetlights. 

[A.J. Bertin]

I've been enjoying reading all the responses here. How fun!

Like some others have shared, my roadgeekiness started with maps when I was a kid. I would stare at maps for a long time... just reading them and learning where the roads went. Whenever my dad would travel someplace out of town for work, he would often bring back a map of where he'd been and give it to me. I started collecting maps and got to a point where I would write letters to travel bureaus at different U.S. states to request state maps. At one point, I had probably collected maps for almost every U.S. state. (This was by the late '80s or so.)

With maps, I established a strong sense of direction. I also could navigate many routes and remember one time in particular when my parents asked me to give my grandma turn-by-turn directions over the phone of how she could get to my school for an evening program that I was in. It was funny; I spoke really fast, saying something like "South on Ryan, turn right on Frazho, right on Thomas," and so on. My grandma had to ask me to slow down because she wasn't writing as fast as I was talking. LOL

When I got to high school, I remember going out and visiting college campuses around Michigan and asking my dad the question, "What's the difference between interstate highways and U.S. highways when they're both freeways?" given the fact that we had taken the former U.S. 27 freeway along with a few interstates. He didn't know the answer. Throughout high school, I yearned for the day when I could venture out in my own car and drive anywhere I wanted - just to explore. I was so excited when I was able to take my first relatively long-distance road trip by myself (going off to a university as a high school senior to take tests for scholarships).

Sometime in the fall of 2003 (at the age of 24), I was playing around online looking up information about Michigan's state highway system. I stumbled upon Chris Bessert's MichiganHighways.org website and was captivated. I e-mailed him telling him how impressed I was with his website, and he directed me to the Yahoo group Great Lakes Roads. The time I started connecting with others on that site and attending my first meet in '04 was when I realized I was indeed a road geek. I started by highlighting on a Michigan map all the sections of state highways I'd driven on, but then I later discovered the Clinched Highway Mapping website to start tracking all my mileage. Then the county collecting started as well.

It's been a fun journey, and I haven't looked back!

[empirestate]

I had a good way to combine roads and maps as an interest. Back in the golden years when NYSDOT had its own mapping section, they published a series of county highway maps, but also issued a list of each county office where one could obtain their official highway map. I made it a project to visit each office in person to pick up a copy. I maybe made it to 40% or so of the counties before life in general got in the way of finishing the quest.