I read this thread with quite alot of dismay. I am a newbie to caching but am committed to the "game" and don't think I will give up after 2 weeks, have been doing it for a month now. I have not placed any caches and at the moment don't feel that i would like to, I like the idea of hiding my own cache but the thought also scares me am not sure that I would be able to hide a worth while cache that would be interesting to others. I have found nearly 30, but hidden zero does this make me a bad cacher, or that I am destined to have bad cache karma? I don't feel that it does. It saddens me to read that unless I have ratio of finds to hides that is at leadt 10:1 or that I have to have found so more than the previous person that I am not a "real" cacher, from reading up about caching before I started I feel that this going against the ethos of what the game is. I gain so much from hunting for the cache and while nothing quite beats that thrill of finding it, there is always a slight sadness that it is over. I feel that I am bringing my passion for the search and my sense of happiness and just exploring the places that where previous a mystery to me. I don't feel that am any else of a real cacher but it is clear that many other people are so quick to judge. Everybody brings something unique wheththey are hidder s or finders and we should be celebrating this.