Geocaching is an amazing hobby that can entertain the whole family. Just enter geocaching.com into your smart phone to see what caches are nearby. You can start quickly without investing a lot of money for extra items. It really is better if you have a GPS, though.
You should also look to see what hides have been found in the past few days. These will most likely still be there and not too hard to find. When you start out, you may want to avoid puzzles and just look for extremely easy hides that have a 1-1.5 D/T rating. This way, you won’t get frustrated and want to quit.
That could be boring, though. If you are active, extreme caches may be right up your alley. There are caches that require you to go scuba diving, rapelling, mountain climbing, zip-lining and kayaking/canoeing. Walking and biking trails can be fun too. There are caches on all seven continents, and just about any place that is public property is available for a cache.
Quality over quantity is important. Bring people to see an amazing view on a fabulous trail. Don’t just have them solve a puzzle and look for a lamp skirt. That is extremely disappointing.
I enjoy variety when I cache. Cemetery hides, a long hike with a bunch of caches on it and an amazing view, some historical markers, and maybe an exceptionally easy cache at the end of the day to round out my numbers!
People frequently ask me what I carry in my caching bag. Here’s a quick list: Extra batteries, pens, flashlight, bug spray, phone, poncho, water or juice, tweezers for those evil nanos.
Honestly, I really don’t like to carry a lot. I keep a pen in my pocket, but unless it’s really hot out, I leave just about all my other tools of the trade in the car, except, maybe the tweezers. They are very useful for quick access when there are too many people close by.
You can go caching in Antarctica; Xingtai, China; Madrid, Spain; Santiago, Chili; Victoria, Australia . . all around! Amazing locations, unknown parks, fun finds, historical facts: just a quick list of pros about caching.
Anxious to start? Vigorous workouts, zip around to quick finds or languish on long trails, many happy folks will join in, but who will last?
I post on Facebook when I want to plan another adventure. Some people excel at puzzles. Others climb trees. You can usually find someone to head over to a quick cache especially for a First to Find. Some count every find, and others don’t care about the numbers, they just want to join the fun. I contact different friends based on what I plan to do.
Sometimes cachers place hints in their write up. Sometimes you zip out the door and arrive at the exact location for a quick find, but sometimes you just have no clue where to look or what to look for.
OMG, my alert just sounded for an FTF! Run the pocket query, where’s the GPS? Pray the car has gas, buzz around the corner, go, go fast, go very fast . . . OK, not too fast! Expert geocacher on the loose. . . uh oh.
Who will solve this puzzle first? It might be TeamAJK if she notices it. My bet is on MathQTPi, who will probably bring wrestle457 with her. Please exercise caution if muggles are nearby, or if you are near a cliff. You will be looking for a small lock-n-lock. Have fun!
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.
