New Geocaching Book

[+Semper Questio]

Mama SQ gave me my Father's Day present early since she will be out of town. It is a new geocaching book (I don't know if it is in general release yet - she got it in a pre-sale) called "Local Treasures: Geocaching Across America" by Margot Anne Kelley (ISBN 1-930066-36-8, Center for American Places, Inc.)

 

I have just started it but so far it seems t me to capture the essence of why TSQ caches. On it's face it is a series of photos and thoughts of Ms. Kelley's experiences finding caches since she started in 2002. The photos are stunning and the writing is superb.

 

This is definitely one to check out!

[+SharpShin']

"Local Treasures: Geocaching Across America" by Margot Anne Kelley is listed on Amazon

 

Editorial Reviews

 

Review

Leslie K. Brown :

"A fascinating introduction to a true treasure hunt for the twenty-first century-the GPS-enabled game of geocaching. By way of her remarkable photographs and poetic descriptions, Margot Kelley takes us along for an aesthetic hike rich with cross-disciplinary associations. In words and images, Kelley touches on everything from history to politics to philosophy, allowing us to experience this cultural phenomenon while at the same time re-experiencing our own environment. An adventure from coast to coast and cover to cover, this book raises a whole host of issues revolving around the land and landscape."--Leslie K. Brown, Curator, Photographic Resource Center at Boston University

 

 

Book Description

 

In the spring of 2000, a man in Oregon hid a box of toys in the woods, posted the geographic coordinates of its location on a Web site, and issued a challenge for others to find it. People used their GPS receivers to find his treasure, and a new game was born. Today over a million people worldwide participate in geocaching, hiding stashes of trinkets in a variety of locations—from a grove of trees to a cliff ledge to the depths of a riverbed—and then inviting others to find them, leave a note, and swap a treasure of their own. In Local Treasures Margot Anne Kelley offers one of the first books on "geocaching," exploring what compels ordinary people across the world to take part in these extraordinary treasure hunts.

 

Kelley traveled throughout the U.S. to chronicle the sites and stories of geocaching adventures, from the rocky coasts of Maine to the deserts surrounding Las Vegas to the starting point of the Mason-Dixon Line. Each striking, full-color photograph exposes a vision of America quite unlike that presented in a traditional guidebook: truly off the beaten path, these are non-idealized landscapes, often places with special meaning for the players alone. Kelley's accompanying writings explore the world of geocaching communities, their rare ability to integrate new technologies with the natural world, and their complex and often ambivalent relationships to the surveillance technologies that sustain the game. In this era when people are increasingly disconnected from the land that surrounds them, geocaching offers an unusual and technologically savvy vision for the future. Kelley's text is a fascinating examination of a new and creative diversion emerging from the intersection of the virtual world with the real.

Edited May 9, 2006 by SharpShin'

[+JohnnyVegas]

This sounds like a good book. But what happens when the new cacher get exposed to a wally world cache

[+The Jester]

Reality sets in.

[+Semper Questio]

This sounds like a good book. But what happens when the new cacher get exposed to a wally world cache

 

Ya know, we've been getting pretty sick and tired of the YALC's (yet another lamppost cache), but then we started making a game out of them. When we see that the coords are gonna take us into a parking lot we start trying to guess, from as far away as possible, which lamppost it's going to be. Sometimes we even get surprised that it turns out not to be one.

 

Ok, so we're easily amused....

[+Sharnie]

(yet another lamppost cache)

 

This is my first post as I am very new to geocaching. I have 5 finds so far. And I'm sure that one day I might change my mind, but yesterday was my first find in a parking lot lamppost. It was exhilirating. I was so giddy trying not to be noticed by "muggles". I enjoyed it thouroughly. I know from reading that it might get old but for now, it was a hoot.

 

Sorry to get off topic, but wanted to respond to the "YALC".

 

Thanks,

Sharnie

[+Goldfinch593]

I saw Margot Kelley's book at a geo-meet. It is now on my "Wish List"! Beautiful photography and well written.

[+Semper Questio]

(yet another lamppost cache)

 

This is my first post as I am very new to geocaching. I have 5 finds so far. And I'm sure that one day I might change my mind, but yesterday was my first find in a parking lot lamppost. It was exhilirating. I was so giddy trying not to be noticed by "muggles". I enjoyed it thouroughly. I know from reading that it might get old but for now, it was a hoot.

 

Sorry to get off topic, but wanted to respond to the "YALC".

 

Thanks,

Sharnie

 

I was the same way when I found the first few, but you'll find some areas are - shall we say - "target rich environments" for these kinds of caches. Some are for good reason, many are not, but you either make the best of them or skip them. To each their own.

 

Welcome to the game!

 

Back on topic...I've read a few more snippets from the book (only reading a few passages at a time as geobreaks at work ) and I'm really enjoying it. The author does more than jsut tell caching anecdotes. She goes on to talk about how caching effects her life and those around her as well as how it reflects the life and times around her. An interesting perspective.

[+Semper Questio]

For those who may be interested, I am slowly putting together a Bookmark list of the caches in this book. You can get to it via my profile, of course. In the list description is the URL to the author's web site.

[Team Misguided]

I picked up the book last night and while I haven't had much of a chance to read it I was disappointed to see that the Pacific Northwest, birthplace of geocaching, was left out of the book entirely. I saw that she is based in New England and that area is well represented, but for a book called Local Treasures: Geocaching Across America she sure skipped large portions of the country.

 

That said, I only skimmed it last night hoping to see a few pictures of places nearby and haven't had a chance to look at it in depth yet. It will definatly be a great book to have around to show people when they ask why we cache.

[+RockyRaab]

Well, TM, you know what that means? It means there is room for you to write the next geocaching book. Call it Caching in the Upper Left-hand Corner.

 

If you can write, you can publish.