Building base structures—what if you had to start over?

Your experience lines up pretty closely with mine. I've seen gravel and sand setups hold steady even in less-than-ideal soils, as long as drainage is handled right. But I do wonder sometimes if climate plays a bigger role than we realize—like, would the same setup hold up in a wetter region or somewhere prone to frost heave? Curious if anyone's tried something similar in tougher climates and how it turned out...