Ageleni

I had one the other day that wasn't even up in a tree. Luckily, I happened to have a plastic garbage can to stand on! (Sometimes I DNF when a cache is too high, but this one was too cute to give up on.)

Yeah. I may set aside a week for that some day!

Well, there are fewer people looking for them, correct?

I like this one. I wouldn't want to block them from being able to write, since I always enjoy hearing from fellow cachers. But yeah, maybe I could add an "I'll figure this out on my own next time" note to my DNFs.

It's a hobby for me, not a job. Sometimes I go days without even thinking about it. Other days, I feel a bit restless at home and jump in my car and head out somewhere new to get caches. And every time I need to travel for work, I make a goal to get a few in the new location. On the days you need motivation to do it, your mind and body might simply want to do something else. And that's okay.

I've never had Premium, and I still have more caches in my area than I can deal with. Maybe if they ever offer a free monthly trial or something, I will get one just to see what else is out there, but I doubt it would be worth paying for.

I can cache for five hours or so, logging finds as I go, and use about 30mb. I use the c:geo app. But others are correct--it is possible to use no data if you don't log right away.

On one hand, Premium caches obviously get found less frequently than regular caches, so it will see fewer hands. On the other hand, I have seen a LOT of newbies who go straight to Premium, and those people might not have the same respect for caches that the more serious cachers do. So I would think your best bet would be to hide it in such a way that only the very best and most experienced cachers can find it. And keep it a regular cache so that respectful-but-not-Premium cachers like myself have a chance at it. (In other words, location and difficulty are far more reliable safeguards than how much money a cacher was willing to pay.)

There are two COs in my area who, whenever I log a DNF, write to me telling me where the cache is. (One even uses photos with the cache circled.) I find this very odd. I like it when COs give help when asked (not that I have ever asked, but I think it's cool that some do), but it sort of ruins the game for me when I open up a message and get told where the cache is before I get a chance to go back and ponder it some more.

Sounds like people might be using Geocaching.com as an all-purpose virtual scavenger hunt site. Online scavenger hunts are fun, but they are not geocaching.

It's really up to you as a cache owner. But I would suggest just taking antiviral wipes with you and washing your hands after each find. (I barely even do that, but will if the cache has been signed less than three days prior.)

This is hilarious. Delete them. Geocaching is one of the SAFEST coronavirus hobbies. First off, you are touching something that very few people have touched, and it's likely that it hasn't been touched in days or longer, rendering it completely "clean" (in a viral sense). Secondly, you are out in the open, often away from places where there would be lots of people in tight spaces. Thirdly, you're outside, in the air, exercising, which makes your overall health better and helps you fight off infections better. If anyone gives the excuse that they didn't want to sign it due to the pandemic (but apparently touched everything around it up to the point where they found it), they are lying to get a smiley.

Really neat rundown of the history of geocaching. I did it for a few years without any equipment--but I had to look each one up on Google Earth, make detailed notes on where it was, and try to find them based on that. I could only do urban caches--couldn't even think about anything out in the wilderness. That was years ago, and I only logged a couple dozen then gave up because I just couldn't do much more without an actual GPS. Today, I use an app on my phone. And I feel like I have earned this. Because I did it back before it was easy, I know what the game is about, and I respect it. I appreciate the free apps, but I really do understand the frustration with it as well, because it would be nice if these newbies would take some time to figure out what they are doing before they go out and do it.

You are thinking of "terrain" as ground only. Broaden this definition to include the entire environment, and then you will see why a level surface with a cache too high (or too low) to reach from a chair would not be a 1 rating. It needs to be wheelchair accessible, not just on the ground, but all around the person in the chair.

Here's how I see it. A huge part of the fun of geocaching is the search. Some are easy, but some are REALLY worth the smilie. If it were possible to let some time go by and then go back and log them all again, where would the fun be? You'd never have that same white-hot bolt of joy upon finding it--whether that be by lifting the lamp skirt, or moving the rock after a 10-mile hike. It would just be something you've done already and are doing again because it is easier to get a +1 that way than to go out and find new caches. And if for some reason it is NOT about the extra smilie, then you CAN revisit them at any time, and write a note. But it wouldn't count as a FIND any more than a revisit would count as a FIND, because you can't FIND something you have already found. If it is about getting exercise, then find someone who is new to caching and take them out. Let THEM find and log them, and then you can write a note if you want to chime in.

The way I see it, geocaching is a solo activity (or with family who you already are with every day), and it's usually in places where people don't go or people don't touch, so it's okay. I mean, I'm not going to find any viruses on lamp post skirts, you know? Maybe if I find one on a LFL or something someone may have touched recently, I could wear a glove, but the majority of them are not going to have had much human contact. My geocaching has gone down a lot simply because I haven't gone out many places (I always try to pick up a couple when I go somewhere new), but I plan to go out specially today to get some.

My ex-boyfriend and I (we're still friends) had to break up due to my having to move cross-country, but I sometimes think we might end up back together when I am no longer obligated to live here. He and I are VERY different, and I used to call us Yin and Yang. I recently bought a necklace in two pieces, yin and yang, and will make two trackables to represent us. The "Tony + Suzanne" duo will be placed in my driveway's cache, with instructions that Tony (Yin) should move EASTWARD toward Suzanne, while Suzanne (Yang) should move WESTWARD toward Tony. Perhaps they would go all around the world and eventually meet up again...

Just heard back from the last holder. Apparently her friend had been traveling with it and dipping the whole time, and the FRIEND asked her to take it back to Florida because the FRIEND thought it should go back since it had logged so many miles. The TB owner apparently had no say in it. This sort of causes me to lean toward, "You both have had it for months; time to move it on like the TB owner wished."

I ended up writing to both of them--asking the owner if they intended it to go back to Florida now, and asking the last holder if the owner had told her to bring it to Florida. I noticed that the previous holder didn't actually find it herself; it was given to her by someone else, and then she's been dipping it for a while. She got it from someone who also has been dipping it for months. I get the impression that the two people are related somehow (their paths keep intertwining and they both have "Bear" in their names.) Looks like the two "Bears" prefer to hold onto it while they travel instead of dropping it and letting other people move it. So my inclination now is to keep it and move it along the way a trackable is supposed to be moved. (Maybe it's just me, but I get irritated when people hold onto TBs for months and just log "visits" instead of putting them physically back into the game for others to find.) But I will wait to hear back from the owner and the last holder to get more info.

Interesting question. My kids and I plan to take a road trip from Illinois to Oregon over the summer, and we plan to get as many TBs as we can, so we can move them farther than a single state. So I can see the intent there. And I have certainly held on to some TBs when they "want to go west" or whatever, and I know I will be going west soon, rather than just deposit them in another local cache. But in these cases, it is a matter of honestly finding the TB and moving it, whereas this is the case of someone who dropped it off and now wants to change the dropoff location after someone else found it, and thus is wanting to interfere with the natural travel process.

Someone put a bunch of these in the "Dead End Fred" series in central Illinois. They appeared at the ends of dead-end roads. I thought they were great!

I started it with my own kids back in 2010, under one account. We had a hiatus until two years ago, when we took it up again, and they had their own accounts. My youngest son enjoys going out with me. I got my little nephew into it too.

I hear you about the frustration of the NM being ignored due to some potentially (probably) fake finds. However, I think any seasoned cacher who sees a string of DNFs (especially from other seasoned cachers) and then a "Easy find" or "Thanks" from a newbie knows that the newbie is either lying, or doesn't understand the game and thinks that merely being in the general location counts as a find!

Not to mention that some people don't even bring devices when they go caching with others. I was out with my son recently--we used my device to get to GZ, and then he found the cache. I logged it immediately, but he had to wait until he was home to log his. With a QR code, he would not have been able to log his find.

My opinion is that the Hidden Date should be the date you listed the container as a cache. The cache needs to go through the review process before it can be listed, and you didn't do this back then. So I think the hide date needs to be when you submit it to the review team. That being said, I think the description of the cache should go over this entire story--what date you originally hid it (so that people will know), who you hid it with, for what purpose, what it originally contained, etc. I think that would make it really cool.