For those of you who have sectioned the trail or done a large chunk of it, how did your actual execution of it differ from your initial plan, and would you change anything about how you hiked the trail?

Reason I ask, when I started out, I wanted to do as "pure" a section hike as possible - starting in Springer and always picking up where I last left off, in order to experience the trail as closely to doing an actual thru as I could. That kind of morphed into having concurrent sections going on, one from GA-NC-TN and the other in VA because it's in my backyard and I could knock it out at times when I couldn't make the trip further South.

I now have a few gaps in my hike, and I'm hitting areas that just don't make sense for a quick trip. From paying for a shuttle for a really short section to lack of access points that would work for a quick weekend trip.

So now the temptation is to just go and do what and where I can. I know the whole experience is unique to every individual, but wondering from those who have been there and done that...any regrets in a patchwork section hike? Any tips to get the most out of the experience as possible?

Thank You