This^^^
After a couple of trips you would have better idea of what your priorities are. Heck, My stock 32-YO truck has been to many places while shiny new rigs stay at the mall, dropping off kids to soccer, or in shop for upgrades after upgrades - LOL!
While I completely get what you are saying… sometimes there are things that just need to get done.
Fridge for me was a perfect example… I should have just bought the damn thing vs being frugal, opting to go slow and see what I need as I go along. I spent weeks on the road traveling only to deal with a cooler, ice, draining water, stopping at places to get ice, and poor food safety which resulted me in getting sick too. I spent hundreds posted up in a hotel recovering from stomach flu. Plus thinking “should have just bought the damn fridge” while away from home for a month.
I skipped out on a lot of things I knew I wanted like OBA, better storage, and went with a portable pump and pelican cases for simplicity and time, but you end up just thinking about those things as you travel when certain things just get in the way. I wish I had drawers and better storage but it was a jumbled mess.
There is a balance to be had, but if you know what you need or what you want, you might as well do it and enjoy it because the trip, the time, and the journey becomes harder to obtain than the gear… at least for me that is true. The ability to take the time was more of a challenge than getting the accessories for the journey by far.
I have thousands of miles of adventure camping and road trips and many of my modifications I wish I just did sooner than later. That said, every trip you learn about a better or different way it could have been setup, used, implemented or whatever which is why I completely understand your point.