hudsonfam

Our family team has now found 25 caches and we are just now feeling like we might be qualified to hide a cache, but we're still giving it some time. The kids are very excited and have been asking us since day 1 when we get to hide something. But to me it's about gaining experience and also paying your dues - proving that you're dedicated because hiding a cache requires a certain level of commitment and responsibility. The CO has to maintain the cache and if they decide after 10, 25, or even 100 finds that they don't really want to do this anymore, do they abandon the cache at the detriment of the environment? Because once a cache has been abandoned, it becomes just another piece of litter. Not to mention the fact that an abandoned cache will also become a source of frustration to fellow geocachers if it disappears or is damaged. A newbie determined to hide a cache with little experience under his/her belt seems to be motivated by reasons of entitlement (no one can tell me what I can and can't do), competition (my cache/hiding spot is better than everyone else's) or a need for instant gratification. Personally, I don't see any reason why some kind of experience requirement shouldn't be mandated in order to place a cache. Too many people think they should start at the top of everything and not have to work their way up to it. Sorry, I guess that was a bit of a soapbox rant but I have issues with entitlement.

Why can I not find this? I see Stat Bar, My GPS, Search Options (which only offers NEAREST caches, not newest), User Routes, Field Notes, Geocaching with Twitter, Premium Features, Account Options, Geocache Google Earth Viewer, and My Inventory down the right side. Am I in the wrong place?

Oooh, this is the first time I've heard of firetacks so I had to look it up. Those are SO freakin' cool! I love nighttime caching - this gives me soooooooo many ideas!

This happens more often then you might think. I've ran into other cachers several times. Although I usually cache alone, (just me and my dogs.) I am a social person. I enjoy meeting others who share the same interest I do. Every time I have run into fellow cachers it has added a great deal of enjoyment to the day. Even if we are going in opposite directions, one to the cache and one away. A pause on the trail to say hi is great. Sharing the hunt with someone you meet at the site even better. Ok, I'm getting us all geocaching.com logo hats to wear while geocaching so it's very clear to fellow GCers what we're doing and I think everyone else should, too! I agree with you about being social and I've wanted so bad to ask some of the people we've seen, but there was nothing to "prove" that they were actually GCers. Maybe we need a universal secret hand signal/wave.

Just found this great video on YouTube: Where NOT to hide a geocache.

Well, it's good to know I'm not crazy - either that, or I'm just in good company.

Ever since my family started geocaching, I swear every time we're approaching GZ and see people nearby, I swear they must be geocaching too. If I see someone lurking around a payphone or light pole, I wonder if they're searching for a cache. While I realize there are a lot of us around and some of my local caches have been found hundreds of times, I'm sure there's a very slim chance we'd actually be at a cache at the same time as someone else, but sometimes the actions of people are just so suspicious now! lol Do you see geocachers everywhere, too, or is it just a newbie fascination thing?

Very sweet story!

Thank you much We're already having tons of fun - we just want to make sure we're doin' it rite. hahaha

My ultimate goal would be to find at least one cache in every state - and then branch out to other countries. But I've got a long ways to go for that - in the meantime, my only goal is to get out, be active and shed a few pounds!

Lots of wisdom there! To clarify my earlier rant: Assume a cacher decides to place a micro in the shrubbery of a Burger King. The hider has a choice on what kind of container they use. If they choose a black & grey film can, they are intentionally selecting a crappy container. They could hide a quality micro container in the same spot, with the same write up, and not subject the finders to soggy logs. Black & grey film cans are not the crappiest micro containers in the world, but they are close. Why anyone would deliberately place a container like that is beyond me. It can't be because it's all about the numbers. A quality micro container earns the same number of smileys per find as a crappy one. It can't be cost. A quality container runs anywhere from free to $0.88. In my eyes, it comes down to either ignorance or apathy. And that's the part I was agreeing with because I hate finding soggy logs and you're absolutely right that there's little to no difference in cost or time spent between a reliable container and an unreliable one. I, however, wouldn't have known about the b&g vs. clear container difference, so I appreciate the heads up on that. I consider myself educated.

Thank you, Doug. I'm actually currently in a discussion on another forum trying to grasp the significance of "dipping."

Thanks for all the great links! I will take a lot at those!

lol - I knew your post about dunking it in a bucket was facetious, but the part that sounded weird was that they would walk up to a cache, put their TB in the container and then pull it right back out? Is there really any significance to physically placing the TB in the cache container only to remove it a few seconds later? Is it just a physical manifestation of a symbolic gesture?

I'm new to this, too, so I don't know if it's already been done but it sure is a cool idea. The only thing I'd suggest keeping in the back of your mind is that while many TBs travel like they're supposed to, many also get *cough* ahem.....lost. So, you would be taking the chance that someone picking up the TB might um...lose it. By accident of course. :-S

Wow, good luck with that! That would be so cool! Keep us informed if you get a reply!

I saw in the Groundspeak shop that you can purchase window stickers or clings for your car that are travel bugs. But it seemed to imply that they're not just logos but actual TBs with a code and everything. How the heck does that work?

Ok, the newbie has to ask a stupid question. I don't get the whole dipping thing. Can someone explain? The way it sounds to me right now is kinda weird, so I must be understanding it wrong.

Thanks very much for the replies.

Thank you! I guess I'll just go back into my old logs and edit them.

Ugh! That is like my absolute #1 worst fear of geoacaching - coming across a dead body. I'm afraid that would just end it for me.

I wanted to upload some photos to the photo gallery on my profile but I can't see how. I thought maybe it was a premium members-only thing but when I read the page about PM advantages, that wasn't one of them. TIA for any help on this. I am usually pretty good at figuring these things out but I've been all over my profile settings back and forward and can't find anything about uploading photos to your gallery.

My family and I would like to take a few travel bugs with us when we go to Phoenix next month, but since we're new I'd like some advice on how to handle this properly. I know TBOs don't want their TBs sitting stagnant for a long time, so if I found one today, it would be inactive for about a month before we could place it. However, we have already noticed that many of our local caches that are marked with a TB icon in the description do not, in fact, contain a TB anymore. So, I'm afraid that if we start searching for TBs a week or two before we leave, we may come up empty handed b/c there isn't enough time to find one that actually exists. Advice please?

I agree and disagree at the same time. As a new geocacher, I like the micros (no matter where they are, even the payphone ones) and consider them "practice" for the harder finds once we're more experienced. And, while I'm not one of those that is focused on the numbers, there are many who are. Since there are so many geocachers now with different levels of physical ability and a wide range of personal objectives as to why they are geocaching in the first place, all caches serve a purpose to someone. Since most of them are clearly marked that they are micros and/or that they are in an urban area, then those not wishing to find that kind of cache can simply ignore them. I have noticed a few teams in my area have set personal challenges for themselves such as finding 100 caches in 24 hours. I would imagine that would be very exciting just to reach the number goal and still quite a feat even if a number of those caches were relatively simple micros. JMHO, of course. I realize I'm just a tadpole in a big lake

Seeing all these amazing photos (I followed the links to the other threads, too) is giving me location envy! lol We haven't attempted any rough terrain since we're still very new at this, but we'll be in Phoenix in one month and we're so excited about hunting for caches and seeing the beautiful sights we're chomping at the bit! We're trying to get in lots of practice here at home before we go but so far it's been more urban cache finds. I think it's time to start expanding our search options.