Anybody here into Geocaching?

sm4him

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So, I'm reading this book. The book is not all that compelling, just one of those "something to read" kind of crime/mystery sort of books--I call them "eye candy" books. Enjoyable, but gone quickly, and you won't remember much about it.

Anyway--in the book, the main character's hobby is geocaching, and the book's mystery is centered around the activity.

And that got me thinking: I wonder if I would enjoy geocaching? So I looked at one of the websites, and even signed up (so that I could see if there were any geocaches close to me that seemed fairly easy to start with). There are 4-5 different ones within walking distance of my house, and many more that might make interesting lunchtime adventures at work.

But--I'd love to hear from someone who actually does it. Because it partly seems like it might be fun looking for little boxes everywhere, and it partly sounds like a completely pointless way to fill my time when I could be...you know, trying to find a cure for cancer or something. :lol:

So, if you geocache, tell me why and give me some tips on getting started!
 
I got into it for awhile, and it was quite a lot of fun. My career before I retired had me traveling all over the country, which made it a lot of fun to find caches and move trinkets from one place in the country to another, and then to swap them out in another cache.

I haven't engaged in it for a few years now, but my daughter has picked up on it. She and her best friend went just last week and found a fairly large cache within a few miles of her house, and they had a real blast doing it.

Taking along family and / or friends makes it more fun, with everyone hoping to be the one who finds it.

Take the camera along, and watch for photo opportunities at the same time, killing two birds with one stone, as it were. Twice as much fun! :)

Just be aware of muggles, and don't tip them off! They'll destroy the cache after you leave, not knowing what the heck is going on!
 
I thought this said geocoaching and thought what's that?? some kind of tracking with geography while riding a bus?? or just another thing people are doing that I don't know about. That's OK I'll jut stay out of the loop! (I have heard of geocaching but didn't really know what it was, at least now I have some idea.) You go have fun with it!
 
I was heavily into it for a number of years (and still do it occasionally). It's a lot of fun as long as you don't take it too seriously. The main reason I got out of it was because of the constant "stats" battles and bragging. I found more than you did... nyah, nyah. I still have a couple of travel bugs travelling.. It's a GREAT way to find new photo locations!
 
My wife and I got into it - but soon backed away from it for absolutely no reason.
We will probably start it up again when our kid reaches maybe 5 yrs old. Explore her town :)

It's fun and can take you to places you didn't even know existed in your neck of the woods!
 
Ohhhhh, Sharon...it's a rathole...like recreational heroin use, or obsessive, compulsive gambling...the people I know who are into it...it rules their lives. To a verrrry weird, troubling extent. SO, I guess if you want a new compulsion/addicition, it's right there.
 
I got into it for awhile, and it was quite a lot of fun. My career before I retired had me traveling all over the country, which made it a lot of fun to find caches and move trinkets from one place in the country to another, and then to swap them out in another cache.

I haven't engaged in it for a few years now, but my daughter has picked up on it. She and her best friend went just last week and found a fairly large cache within a few miles of her house, and they had a real blast doing it.

Taking along family and / or friends makes it more fun, with everyone hoping to be the one who finds it.

Take the camera along, and watch for photo opportunities at the same time, killing two birds with one stone, as it were. Twice as much fun! :)

Just be aware of muggles, and don't tip them off! They'll destroy the cache after you leave, not knowing what the heck is going on!

Yeah, see, that's what I think is attracting me is that I could combine some photography with the geocaching.
And thanks for clearing up the muggles thing. I know the term "muggles" from Harry Potter, but I saw the term a couple of times in the few minutes I was on the site and couldn't really think what non-wizards/witches really had to do with geocaching.
 
I thought this said geocoaching and thought what's that?? some kind of tracking with geography while riding a bus?? or just another thing people are doing that I don't know about. That's OK I'll jut stay out of the loop! (I have heard of geocaching but didn't really know what it was, at least now I have some idea.) You go have fun with it!

LOL. Maybe geocoaching is when you HELP people learn how to geocache. :D
 
I was heavily into it for a number of years (and still do it occasionally). It's a lot of fun as long as you don't take it too seriously. The main reason I got out of it was because of the constant "stats" battles and bragging. I found more than you did... nyah, nyah. I still have a couple of travel bugs travelling.. It's a GREAT way to find new photo locations!

My wife and I got into it - but soon backed away from it for absolutely no reason.
We will probably start it up again when our kid reaches maybe 5 yrs old. Explore her town :)

It's fun and can take you to places you didn't even know existed in your neck of the woods!

Thanks, guys! I'm thinking I might just give it a try--I could at least do a couple of the ones right by my house. I can't imagine I'll care all that much about the stats part--no, that's not quite true. I can't imagine that I'll care about comparing MY stats to anyone else, I'm not terribly competitive. For me, it would just be more about a little distraction from the world sometimes, something fun to do when you can't think of much else to do. And if I enjoy the first couple of forays, then maybe I'll see about taking my sister with me. I suspect she'd enjoy it.

@tirediron: John, what's a travel bug? My knowledge of this is limited to what has been mentioned in this book, and what I read on the website in the five minutes I was there.

Ohhhhh, Sharon...it's a rathole...like recreational heroin use, or obsessive, compulsive gambling...the people I know who are into it...it rules their lives. To a verrrry weird, troubling extent. SO, I guess if you want a new compulsion/addicition, it's right there.

Okay, gotta admit--this is a legit fear of mine!! I do tend to have a bit of an addictive personality. Fortunately, my addictive tendencies don't play out with drugs or alcohol or even gambling--but new hobbies, games, that sort of thing can be VERY addictive to me. I remember one time I'd bought my oldest son this computer game for his birthday, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego. He was younger than what the ages the game was "recommended" for, but he was extremely intelligent for his age--still, I wanted to go ahead and install it and play a little bit of it before I gave it to him, so I'd know if I thought he could manage it, AND so I'd know how it worked to be able to assist him a little. I installed the game right after he'd gone to bed, about 8:30 p.m.
At 4 a.m. I was STILL playing. And every night after that, for weeks, I'd find myself at the computer, playing this KID's software game like a maniac on coke. :lol:

I *really* only want to try this as a side hobby, a distraction from the stress of work and issues with my mom right now. I really DON'T want it to become an obsession!! But the problem with things you become obsessed about--you never KNOW that's gonna happen until you TRY them.

So, now I'm thinking maybe I'll just stay away from this. Because I certainly don't have time to add a 12-step meeting for Geocachers Anonymous to my schedule right now. :lol:

Nah. It's too late for me. I already downloaded the app. :D
I'm almost certain I'll have to go on a hunt for those caches in the park right down the road from me sometime this weekend. We'll see where it goes from there.
 
Geocaching has evolved into much more than simply looking for Tupperware in the woods. There are traditional 'caches ("Tupperware in the woods"), there are virtual 'caches, which are usually a point of interest, and in order to log one of those, you usually have to answer some skill-testing question (eg, "What is the date on the plaque at the lookout?"), and there are multi-caches, which require you to find several points, each with a clue to a subsequent point before you get to the actual 'cache.

Then there are travellers, these basically fall into two categories: Coins and Travel Bugs. Coins ar just that, custom minted Geocaching coins, which are HUGE in the GC community, and some people spend [literally] thousands of dollars having their own souvigner coin designed and minted. Travel bugs are objects; they range from a simpl of piece of paper to a concrete block (many serious 'cachers also have their personal vehicles designated as travel bugs), and the idea with these is that you find them, log them (by recording a unique serial number), and then put them into another 'cache, closer to their goal (many have specific goals such as getting from 'A' to 'B', others just travel around).
 
Geocaching has evolved into much more than simply looking for Tupperware in the woods. There are traditional 'caches ("Tupperware in the woods"), there are virtual 'caches, which are usually a point of interest, and in order to log one of those, you usually have to answer some skill-testing question (eg, "What is the date on the plaque at the lookout?"), and there are multi-caches, which require you to find several points, each with a clue to a subsequent point before you get to the actual 'cache.

Then there are travellers, these basically fall into two categories: Coins and Travel Bugs. Coins ar just that, custom minted Geocaching coins, which are HUGE in the GC community, and some people spend [literally] thousands of dollars having their own souvigner coin designed and minted. Travel bugs are objects; they range from a simpl of piece of paper to a concrete block (many serious 'cachers also have their personal vehicles designated as travel bugs), and the idea with these is that you find them, log them (by recording a unique serial number), and then put them into another 'cache, closer to their goal (many have specific goals such as getting from 'A' to 'B', others just travel around).

AH, okay, thanks! Sounds like I have a lot of learning to do--not nearly as simple as just finding a box!
But it does sound like it might be kinda fun. In fact, I've already basically located one that is right across the street from where I park for work; pretty sure I know almost exactly where it is. But, it's in front of a public event venue, so whether I check it tonight or not depends on how many people are milling about over there when I leave work today. Might have to wait until next Monday for that one.
 
One of the ones in the park down the road from the house is a multi-cache one. Those (and maybe the virtual ones) intrigue me more, I think, than the simple "Tupperware in the woods" type. Although the travel bug concept is pretty intriguing to. I guess I just need to go start reading some more about it.
 

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