Geocaching Analogy

[+Polgara]

I was talking with another cacher yesterday, and shared my own analogy of interpreting geocaching in another perspective. To me, geocaching can be compared to books.

 

There are tons of books (like caches) out there, so many that one person will never read every book or find every cache.

 

Some caches are short walks, like some books are short reads.

 

Some caches are dissappointing, as some books are dissapointing, so you just close the cover or lid and leave it behind.

 

Some caches take forever to get to, long hike, tough terrain, but offer a beautiful view, and take you somewhere you'd never had gone before discovering caching. Some books are long and drawn out, but tell a fantastic tale you'd never forget.

 

Some caches are talked highly of, but when you go searching for them, you wonder what the heck was the big darn deal? Just as some books make the best sellers list, only to find that once you read it, its just garbage, and leave you wondering how it got on that best sellers list in the first place.

 

Some caches are multis, with several stages....some books are written in series, in each circumstance, sometimes the journey/ story gets better, sometimes it gets worse.

 

Some caches are ammo cans, some books are hard backed...some caches are tupperware, some books are soft bound.

 

Caches come in all diferent sizes...just like books.

 

You can almost cache anywhere, be any age to cache, and seek any difficulty, just like reading a book anywhere, at any age, at any difficulty.

 

This is just my own analogy.

 

Maybe you have your own analogy to share.

[+sept1c_tank]

Geocaching is like a box of chocolates...

[+CYBret]

HEY! That's pretty cool! Finally...an analogy for Geocaching that I like.

 

People have tried to compare geocaching to life...I don't buy it. I geocache to escape from life for a little bit here and there...I read for the same reason.

 

Thanks....cool perspective!

 

Bret

[+The Leprechauns]

I subscribe to the Reader's Digest. If I follow Polgara's analogy, I think that means I'm allowed to skip all the intermediate stages of multicaches.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

I subscribe to the Reader's Digest. If I follow Polgara's analogy, I think that means I'm allowed to skip all the intermediate stages of multicaches.

 

Works for me! I'll subscribe to a Cliff Notes theory - skip searching at all and just log 'em!

[+Yamahammer]

I've never thought of it being that deep for a comparison. The books I read have lots of pictures. Some aren't even colored in yet.

 

[+Thrak]

But books don't give me poison oak.

[+briansnat]

Geocaching is like a carton of eggs. Some caches are small, some are medium, some are large and some are jumbo. Every once in a while you get a rotten one.

[+The Leprechauns]

I've never thought of it being that deep for a comparison. The books I read have lots of pictures. Some aren't even colored in yet.

 

Virtuals are dead. You may want to check out Waymarking.

[Team Misguided]

Just ignore those trouble making boys.

 

I think your analogy is perfect. I may copy it for future use, if you don't mind.

[+frivlas]

That is a really cool analogy!

 

I would have to add one....

 

Armchair caches would have to be like watching the movie version of a book.

[+DocDiTTo]

Geocaches are like poo nuggets. They come in all different shapes, colors, and sizes. Some come easy, and some you have to fight for. Some of them really, really stink, but others aren't so bad. The older ones tend to disappear. They're definitely more appreciated left in the woods than in urban areas, but you find them both places. With geocaching and poo nuggets, placement is definitely important, because bad placement can make people angry. Neither should be consumed. And the term "logs" applies to both, although in different ways.

 

 

 

 

...sorry....

Edited November 16, 2005 by DocDiTTo

[+frivlas]

EWWWWWWW!

[+tozainamboku]

Geocaches are like poo nuggets.

I've found a few of these. Sometimes the camouflage is effective and you have to poke it with a stick to make sure its not the real thing and sometimes it justs looks like fake poo and its a really easy find.

[+briansnat]

Sometimes I think geocaching is like riding a train. If everything stays on the tracks you're fine. If it comes off, you're SOL.

[+Polgara]

LOL! So far we got...

 

Chocolates, mmmmm chocolates, yummy! There are books on chocolate!

 

Lep skipping multi stages, perhaps there is a chapter on this in the geocaching idiot's guide?

 

T.A.R. flipping through the cliff notes, maybe there are cliff notes to the geocaching idiot's guide??

 

Thrak NEEDS his/her poison oak...well there are BOOKS on poison oak, LOL! There are books on remedies as well!

 

BSnat is frying eggs...

 

Frivlas...the movie version of a cache, perhaps the Goonies?

 

and DocDitto....taking a dump.

 

LOL!

[+Snoogans]

Some caches are dissappointing, as some books are dissapointing, so you just close the cover or lid and leave it behind.

First off, GREAT analogy.

 

You've given me an idea for a cache:

 

I have been meaning to hide a "lame" (other's term, not mine) parking lot, lamp post micro, because I want to try my hand at ALL types of hides.

 

Has anyone here read Sphere by Michael Crichton?

 

I'll never forget it. It was a real page turner all the way to the last 15 pages. I felt so cheated by the ending that I threw the book across the room when I finished the last page. (I got email about my Amazon.com review for years.)

 

I'll write a long involved cache page with a decently hard puzzle. Something you can't just google for the answer and might actually take a few days to solve.

 

I'll call the cache.......hmmmm......SPHERE by Michael Crichton.

 

But in my case the cache page will come with a warning/disclaimer like most of Crichton's works should have:

 

WARNING: The most fun you are going to have on this cache is reading the cache page and solving the puzzle. The actual cache location is a lamp post micro in a parking lot somewhere. This cache is strictly for those that want another cache to find and a puzzle to solve. All others need not apply.

 

Frankly all of Crichton's works (except The Andromeda Strain) should come with this disclaimer:

 

Warning: The author of this book has a doctorate in medicine, but absolutely no experience in his chosen field. He is gifted at starting novels that are compelling reads, but he lacks the talent to finish most them off in a manner that resolves his storyline logically. Movies based on his works are successful ONLY because they are loosely based in the actual text. Frankly, the world would have wasted less time collectively if he had just hung out his shingle after publishing The Andromeda Strain.

 

(Jurassic Park was a fluke and he doesn’t deserve credit for it being good, because he cheated Dr. Ian Malcolm back to life, just for the cash the NEXT book would generate.)

[bogleman]

dont forget about clif notes for the mystery puzzles - skip all the BS and get to the point (or cache)

[+Kerstin76]

I read once the novel "The Alchemist" of Paulo Coelho and there is a little story in it, which fits very well to geocaching. Just replace the oil with the GPS and the palace with the nice nature:

 

A certain shopkeeper sent his son to learn about the secret of happiness from the wisest man in the world. The lad wandered through the desert for forty days, and finally came upon a beautiful castle, high atop a mountain. It was there that the wise man lived.

 

Rather than finding a saintly man, though, our hero, on entering the main room of the castle, saw a hive of activity: tradesman came and went, people were conversing in the corners, a small orchestra was playing soft music, and there was a table covered with platters of the most delicious food in that part of the world. The wise man conversed with every one, and the boy had to wait for two hours before it was his turn to be given the man's attention.

 

The wise man listened attentively to the boy's explanation of why he had come, but told him that he didn't have time just then to explain the secret of happiness. He suggested that the boy look around the palace and return in two hours. "Meanwhile I want to ask you to do something", said the wise man, handing the boy a teaspoon that held two drops of oil. "As you wander around, carry this spoon with you without allowing the oil to spill."

 

The boy began climbing and descending the many stairways of the palace, keeping his eyes fixed on the spoon. After two hours, he returned to the room where the wise man was.

 

"Well" asked the wise man, "did you see the Persian tapestries that are hanging in my dinning hall? Did you see the garden that took the master gardener ten years to create? Did you notice the beautiful parchments in my library?"

 

"The boy was embarrassed and confessed that he had observed nothing. His only concern was not to spill the oil that the old man had entrusted to him.

 

"Then go back and observe the marvels of my world", said the wise man. "You cannot trust a man if you don't know his house."

 

Relieved, the boy picked up his spoon and returned to his exploration of the palace, this time observing all the works of art on the ceilings and the walls. He saw the gardens, the mountains all around him, the beauty of the flowers, and the taste with which everything had been selected. Upon returning to the wise man, he related in detail everything he had seen.

 

"But where are the drops of oil I entrusted to you?" asked the wise man.

 

Looking down at the spoon he held, the boy saw that the oil was gone. "Well there is only one piece of advice I can give you", said the wisest of wise men. "The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon."

 

A excerpt from "The Alchemist", Paulo Coelho

 

So don't forget not only to look on your GPS and the cache but also the sourrounding you are send to

[+tozainamboku]

I read once the novel "The Alchemist" of Paulo Coelho and there is a little story in it, which fits very well to geocaching. Just replace the oil with the GPS and the palace with the nice nature:

I think you're right that the spoonful of oil is the GPS but I think the treasures of the palace are the geocaches and the moral is: if you keep looking only at the arrow on your GPS you will never find the cache

Edited November 17, 2005 by tozainamboku

[+QDman]

If I'm talking to a hiker, I say, "Geocaching is hiking for people without enough frustration in their lives."

 

If I'm talking to a non-hiker, I say, "Geocaching is hiking for smart people."

[+briansnat]

Geocaching is like BBQpork ribs. It is mighty tasty and the more time you spend doing it, the more meat you can suck out. And when you're done you toss the bones in the garbage.

Edited November 17, 2005 by briansnat

[+sept1c_tank]

Time for dinner, Brian?

[+shuccrum]

I think I am the only person who likes to dig potatoes because I never knew what I would find. Now I can geocache instead of digging potatoes. Haha!

[+Mr Lost]

Geocaching is a lot like a pot of stew.

 

A pot of stew tastes good and is filling,

A pot of stew can be made at home,

A pot of stew can be bought at a store,

A pot of stew had better have food in it,

A pot of stew will not last more than a few days,

A pot of stew requires very little technology to use

A pot of stew can be remarkably cheap,

A pot of stew , once spilled, can't be put back like it was,

 

On second thought, geocaching is nothing like a pot of stew.

In fact, all of the relationships seem to be inverse.

Take the exact opposite of a pot of stew, and that is geocaching.

 

[nobby.nobbs]

geocaching is like sweets.

you can get through life without ever eating one but then life would be that but less rich for the ommision.

 

some sweets come in multi packs.

some multi packs you'll like every sweet, some you won't but you still buy the pack for those you do.

 

some sweets sound really nice but when you bite into them they taste odd or unpleasant.

 

some sweets are big some small, what matters is how they taste.

 

some sweets take longer to eat than others.

 

and some sweets take some effort to find but if they taste that nice then it's worth the effort.

 

most importantly, life is just that little bit better for having them around. no one forces you to eat them all. choose your favourites and let others enjoy theirs.

 

[+Jennifer&Dean]

I like the book analogy a lot. But I have to add that in Geocaching, sometimes the author of the "book" shows up while you are "reading" it.

I have found that the fun in geocaching comes not only from the caches but meeting their creators and getting a better understanding of the caches through them.

Since my heart has belonged to books far longer than geocaching, I like how you have tied the two together. (I prefer Fantasy/Sci-Fi/natural history....) (And I think Polgara must be a David Eddings Fan in some way.... much like tharagleb)

-J

[+sept1c_tank]

...I have found that the fun in geocaching comes not only from the caches but meeting their creators and getting a better understanding of the caches through them...

And vice versa; finding a cache can tell you a lot about the hider (author).

 

(I like the book analogy, too.)

[+Renegade Knight]

Geocaching Is I don't have my own anology to share. The book one works best for people already in the know. Edited November 17, 2005 by Renegade Knight

[+sept1c_tank]

The OP’s book analogy reminds me of an essay submitted to Today’s Cacher about a year ago by krazykaten in response to the question “What makes a cache cool?” In part, it reads:

 

…My most memorable caches are those that have some depth and thought poured into them. So just as with a story, a cool cache benefits from a rich plot, a spectacular setting, and some character. A flashy title never hurts, either!

[+Polgara]

(And I think Polgara must be a David Eddings Fan in some way.... much like tharagleb)

-J

 

Now where would you get that idea?

 

LOL!

[+briansnat]

Geocaching is like a wet dog.

[+Quiggle]

I accept your analogy.

 

[rynd]

Geocaching is like sex- I can't get my wife to do ether.

[+Team Red Oak]

Geocaching is like dating a man...

 

Some men are interesting, some are not.

 

Some men are large, some are small.

 

Some men have beautiful scenery, others not so much to look at.

 

Even the ones who are not so much to look at can be interesting.

 

After you've been out with some men you wonder why you even bothered.

 

Some men can be rather complex and puzzling, but most are pretty easy to figure out in the end.

 

I'm sure there are more but I'm at work.

 

In order not to offend feel free to insert woman instead of man.

 

Dawn

[+Arrow One]

I use billion dollar sattellites to find tupperware in the woods...

What's YOUR hobby?