College-bound Geocachers

[+art begotti]

this is something i've been fairly concerned about lately... i am a high school senior, and i will be leaving for a college in a few months. geocaching has crossed my mind lately regarding this... (no, the amount of geocaches around the campus did not factor into my college decision... )

 

i currently have three caches active (with the chance of a fourth soon). i have already talked to another cacher, and i will essentially be entrusting them to him. that's one problem taken care of. but there's a problem still ahead of me... when i get to college, should i plant caches? i can easily find caches, yes, but would it make sense to plant caches in the area? think of it this way: i will be on campus (near the cache) for 8-9 months of the year. if a cache needs maintenance while i'm home for christmas or summer, odds are, i won't be able to get to it. and what about after college? if i do plant caches, odds are, i'll move far away from them (and my original ones too)...

 

i know a cache is supposed to be moderately permanent (not the best word, but you get the point). but to hide a cache for nine months, pull it for three, put it out for another nine... keystone would have a hissyfit on me! and to leave it out there permanently with me far away seems kinda risky... what's yourses takes on the situation?

[+hikergps]

I would. The worst that can happen is a review can tell you no. Plant an easier one to test the waters.

[+Orpheus]

You could always place it, then hook up with a local group or cacher and ask if one of them will maintain it while you are gone. Once you finish college and move on you can put it up for adoption or remove it.

[+Henki]

There are caches at LSU, planted by students who don't live here year-round. There was a question whether or not one of the caches was missing while the owner was home for Christmas holidays. He temporarily disabled it until he could get back to town, but a local cacher went to check on it for him.

 

I think it would be fine to place the hides. Should a problem arise when you're home for the summer (or whatever), you could either temporarily disable the cache or e-mail a local cacher asking for assistance. There are tons of caches on college campuses, and I'm quite sure they weren't all placed by year-round locals.

[+Deliveryguy428]

Do what I do, make really good friends with the local cachers, cache around the area for awhile before you hide your first one. Once you get your first one hidden there and you have some good contacts they can watch your cache for you for the month or three you might be gone. Trust me, I've been doing this for 2 years and I am a college cachers and have about 5 active right now. Luckly for me most of them are set up to where if the ammo can goes missing, a cacher took it cause you wont be there unless your a cacher and you know where to look.

 

Good luck at college, and you can always use graduation to try and upgrade the GPS

[+Airmapper]

I'd say go for it, your going to be there for extended periods of time, and on a regular basis, if you hide it good (i.e. low muggle area), there should be minimal need for maintenance anyway.

 

I'm going to a local college this year, I already have spots in mind for a cache on it's campus, as soon as I find out if it's okay to do so.