ohmelli

MY first instinct here was to laugh my butt off... but then I realize that Waterloo Bob is just trying to make the game work "his way"... as so many others do. Everyone plays the game a bit differently. THAT is the BEAUTY of this game! Some people want ONLY easy 1.5/1.5 caches no smaller than a shoe box. And they can HAVE them! Some people LOVE the challenge of a 5/5 micro/nano custom made and hidden in a dense forest 20 feet up with Vultures protecting it! Some people don't want to walk more than 20 feet from their car. Other people want to hike 5 miles for a cache! THIS is the most USER FRIENDLY game I've ever come in contact with... but some players want EVERYONE to play it THEIR way. By THEIR rules. That is such a pitty. Just play the game the way YOU enjoy the game... and let others do the same! *jumps down off the soap box*

LOL! I'm loving these stories! Mine are too tame to tell thus far.... but I have landed on my butt twice, and ripped a shirt - thankfully not a favorite! I'm not terribly picky about what I go caching in though - so I'm sure I'll have at least one tale to tell before I learn my lesson! I am TRYING to learn from YOUR mistakes though! Thanks for sharing!

Oy! I didn't even know I had to make a "cache page"... I guess I thought the Cache Fairies did that!!! Like I said... SO MUCH to learn! Thank you!

Thank you sO much! I didn't know about "visiting"! That helps! And there is NO WAY any trackable in MY hands is going to visit EVERY cache I go to. This one though is special... it's gotten to me all the way from Germany - the owner had asked for photos of it's travels - and so far, NO PHOTOS have been posted! So I want to have a little FUN with this one!

I have my first cache put together, and I have decided on a location for it... but how do I find out it's GC# so I can label it well before I put it out there? Or do I have to put it out there first, then submit it, and then go BACK and label it? There is sooooooo much to learn about this stuff! (not that it's not a nice HIKE... but I'd really prefer to only make it ONE more time! For now!) It's a GREAT location because there is only one other cache in that area. For miles and miles! So another one would just make the trip more worth it!

Visited a cache today that I had intended to drop at least one - maybe two, travel bugs in... but when I got there, the 3 that were supposed to be in it were NOT. Obviously I did not want to leave more bugs there! Soooo... how do I go about "dipping" them? Does that mean I drop them there and then quickly retrieve them myself? And what is the POINT of that? One of them would like pictures, and so I took one somewhere in the park of it... not with the cache... but somewhere that gives the owner an idea of where it is. So I would definitely like that one dipped. Just want to make sure I'm doing it right! TIA!

I use the official Android app - I have a Razr - and I LOVE it - I've found 43 out of 50 cache attempts with only it -- but it, too, does have it's days! There are certain areas where I can just count on it misleading me! Other times it places me on the dot! I am definitely looking into a geocaching specific hand held GPSr! I

I'm only 43 caches into this game - but I highly recommend tagging along with an experienced cacher! I do really well - but there are some that I just know I am NEVER going to find without some help!

Oh my GOSH! You gotta be kidding me! I LOOOOOVE it! I am sO going to have to get this!!!

Thanks for asking these questions! I'm new too, and am still in the thinking stages of planning my first cache... well... actually, I've bought the swag! But I have not decided WHERE my first cache is going. I know it will NOT be a micro and it will NOT be on the side of the road! It WILL take a hike into the woods to find it! But I WAS thinking it would be nice, having made the hike, to find 2 or 3 caches in the vicinity! Just make it a little more worth the effort!

What a FABULOUS idea! I am going to pick up some of those tomorrow to add to my cache bag! THANK YOU!!!

Drive to wherever I happen to be going. Upon completing whatever I went there for, I tap "apps", "geo", wait for it to load, and then tap "find nearby caches"... chose one and click "navigate to cache". Done! I'm not big into prep!

Oh, that is ME! ME! ME!

Great topic! Sadly, the ones who trade down are also the ones who will never be in here reading this (or any other) thread. I, too, am a newbie though... and while I don't TAKE swag unless I have my granddaughter with me - then she takes, and I replace -- but I always try to leave a little something. Of course, you can't leave anything in the micros... but I have little tiny things even for the metal key boxes! Stickers! I like to leave things for the kids... I don't think a lot of adults do really care about the swag - but I do have some things I leave for them too. Refrigerator magnets, or unique (cute) bag clips, shoe or boot laces (hey! You never know when a hiker might break a shoelace!), someone up above mentioned the little packs of tissues - I have left them as well. I do notice a LOT of junk in most of the caches I find - and I must say it is VERY disappointing to my granddaughter when we finally find a good sized cache... and it has bunk in it! She's very generous (with my stuff) though and always wants to leave a few things in those caches -- even though there's nothing there she wants to take. And I really DO think the farther you have to hike for it, the more cachers take care and to be generous. I know I haven't released my first TB yet because I'm waiting for just the right cache. Hopefully soon! But I'll wait until I find it!

THAT is a sweeeeeet cache! I've got NO 2 cents to put in here... but I wish you the BEST with getting it worked out!

I take photos for my own pleasure and to share with friends who wonder WHAT I find so fascinating about geocaching... but I don't post them on the site. I haven't placed a cache of my own yet, but when I do I wouldn't want anything that showed my hiding spot itself OR the contents of my cache - just because I like that to be a surprise! But I DO sometimes post pics of some of my adventure in getting TO the cache! I often times (for reasons unknown) make MORE of an adventure in getting to it than is really necessary... so I've had people in stitches laughing at what I went through... when they just walked up to the silly cache and were on there way! Story of my life....

I really totally agree with this! I have run into some wonderful people - other cachers as well as muggles and had great conversations! My very first cache, I was literally lead to by another cacher - he had just found it and then found ME waaaaaaaay off course from it! He taught me about better programs and compasses! Without him I probably would have given up after my first attempt!

Fortunately for me, I have not run into too many "trashy" hides... yet. But if when I do, I will definitely be speaking up about it... and I like that idea of photographing it too! NO ONE wants to search through garbage to find a cache! And since I often take my granddaughter caching with me, I certainly don't want her exposed to that! Great topic!

Now that's a good one, I've never heard that before. This thread has become rather cute, but Ohmelli, have you ever considered ignoring such caches, and just going for the ones "in the woods" like you say in the OP? That's what I do. Of course the last time I typed something like that, some guy looked at my profile and saw my last find was a dead-end micro on some guys property with permission. I assure you that was a rarity for me. You won't see me fondling benches at a bus stop on a busy street. Just not part of the game for me. Mr. Yuck... I do PREFER to spend my caching time in the woods... but I take care of my 80 year old, late stage Alzheimer ridden mother-in-law -- and I can NOT take her on tromps through the jungle! When she's in my care, I have to amuse myself in other ways! I'm extremely THANKFUL that geocaching offers such a wide variety of ways in which to do that!!!

Fail!! He/she is casting a shadow. AAAAAACK!

THAAAAAAAANK you Knowschad! THAAAAAAANK you! I was just thinking that that is exactly what I need!

I humbly sneak into this board and bow before the elite. My flabber is utterly gasted! I can't even IMAGINE 6,000 finds! Much less 10,000!!! All I can say is ... WOW!

I once logged a DNF as "Beginner's Misfortune." Austin Well... ... isn't that what the comment section is for? You post a DNF and then you can EXPLAIN if you just got bored with looking after 45 minutes... or you really think it MIGHT have disappeared... or you're a VERY inexperienced hunter and this one was just TOO HARD! (I said that on one today... "This one was TOO HARD for ME... I'll come back when I have MORE experience!")

I ALWAYS log my DNFs ... mostly because then I have them in MY log and know that I want to go back to them and try again! Of course... with only 31 finds under my belt, I will have a LOT of going BACK to do!!! That's okay! I have a couple of them that I'm noshing on in my mind....