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Stuck in a rut.


Ficky

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I would say focus less on the find than in the trip getting there. Think of it as a great walk in a park or an enjoyable drive to an interesting place and just have a good day getting out and about. Look at the cache as a scoop of ice cream you might get to go with your cake...but the cake is just as good without.

 

Other than that, look for caches with low ratings. If you're really stumped, write the cache owner for some tips. Once you've found a few, you'll have a better feel for "the hunt."

 

Don't give up. Go out and enjoy your day or nite caching just for the "ride." And when you make the find, its all the sweeter for the DNFs. :lol:

 

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Edit: Oops...I see you have quite a few finds. If you aren't enjoying geocaching any more...you can always stop doing it. And go back to it when you get the bug again.

Edited by PlantAKiss
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If you are not having fun looking for a cache, move on to the next one.

Give up on micro's. They can suck the fun out of anyone who actually enjoys finding caches more than not finding them.

 

If you are still not having fun, find another hobby that is fun. Non fun hobbies are rather pointless unless you secretly enjoy not having fun. Then you should keep it up and only hunt micro's that nobody can find.

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:lol: Caching is fun when you have the time. But caching honestly does not have the gleem it did 4 years ago when I started. Wonder what happened? oh yeah..

 

1. Got my priorities strait.

* God

* Family

* Work

* Home

* fishing

* hunting

* Teaching hunter ed

* caching..

 

2. Price of Gas is $3 a gallon. Thanks George W!!..

3. Not a lot of other caches in my neighborhood.

4. Got tired of placing all the caches in my neighborhood.

 

Don't get me wrong. Caching is fun, but it's does not consume my entire life, and people do get burned out on it. I'm trying to get a cache in every state and some in europe, but I have my entire life to do this, and I look forward to the caches I'm going to find.

 

Ok, now I have kicked the hornets nest I'll make a quickl retreat..

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I would say focus less on the find than in the trip getting there. Think of it as a great walk in a park or an enjoyable drive to an interesting place and just have a good day getting out and about. Look at the cache as a scoop of ice cream you might get to go with your cake...but the cake is just as good without.

 

Good advice. Some of the most fun I've had caching were times the hunt ended in a DNF.

 

Not a getting started issue so moving to the general forum.

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Well, I just dont feel motivated to go :huh: Anybody got any suggestions on what i should do. It seems like evertime i go hunting i get DNF's.

 

Sorry you are feeling down Ficky. Are you caching alone? Sometimes being another set of eyes both softens the blow and gives you some company to commiserate with. Like others have said, concentrate on the positive. You got out, you did some exercise, and you are blessed enought to be healthy enough to do it.

 

It's also your state of mind. Have fun. Bring toys.

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I kind of like it when I get a DNF. That gives me a mission. I will NOT let a DNF stand, I have to go back and find it. If I can't find a cache, I wait until at least 2 other people find it after my DNF, then I'm sure it was just me being dumb and it IS there. After that, I'm a man on a mission. And all of my DNF's to date have been avenged, I think.

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Although I'm pretty new to caching, I've had a few DNFs. On one occasion I sat down and enjoyed the view and after a while went back with a clear head and found the cache. On another occasion, I actually just enjoyed the hike and figured I'd come back at it another day. When I did come back at it, I found it. I decided that if it's not fun anymore (kind of like my commercial lending job), I just need to enjoy being outside in nature and hiking and come back another time with a different perspective. It has worked for me. Don't Give Up! :huh:

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My first hunt ended in a dnf!

I don't like getting too many dnf's in a row but if/when I do the first find afterwards is so much more rewarding.

I don't mind the dnf's if they are in places I am realy pleased I got to find out about and visit.

Especialy one we did over Easter weekend called Deaths Corner GCHJFQ.

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all this is great advice. i would listen to them if i were you. especially the one about taking a break. just took 2 weeks off myself caue we are moving. and to be honest i was feeling a little burned on dnf's also. now i can't wait to get back out. it seems that life is stacked against me,a nd won't let me cache. so i think a break is a good start. oh yeah, and leave the small ones alone!! i hate em!

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I can relate to what you are feeling. I don't feel like going out because of the weather. Here it is April and we got a new 6 inches of snow last night. The world is a wet snow covered mud pit around here these days. All the caches I enjoy take a bit of a hike and it is no fun to hike in this slop. I could look for some drive bys but they are no fun for me and leave me feeling cheap. I like to cache when it is winter, and cold and the snowshoes are taking me where ever the wind blows, but this stuff is just cruel.

 

So I guess I will stare out the window and start to plan my first hide....And wait for spring.

 

Peace

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2. Price of Gas is $3 a gallon. Thanks George W!!..

You buy your gas from George Washington? :D

For some reason the people that consider Bush a complete moron also think he's smart enough to somehow control gasoline prices. :wub:

Funny how that works.... :wub:

For those who forgot, this is a geocaching forum, not a political forum. This is one of my hot buttons. When the hot button gets pushed, admin bricks start flying.

 

How about trying to help the original poster instead.

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How about trying to help the original poster instead.

Sorry.

 

Um.... how about just take a few months off from caching? When I met my wife I was caching very heavily, not yet in a burned out state but I'm sure I would have been there soon. But I ended up not caching for 6 months while I woo'd her, and started back again with a new appreciation (and a newly stocked pond to fish from).

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We've been caching since early 2002 and have enjoyed the heck out of it since. But i will say that it isn't as much fun for me when i go by myself. Except for maybe a FTF opportunity, i very rarely go alone these days.. Guess what i'm saying is that i would probably put geocaching on the back burner too if i was going by myself all the time. Caching with family and/or friends definitely makes it more interesting! :D

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You've got a lot of good suggestions here ... I particularly like the one about just enjoying the journey. I've missed logging a lot of my finds, just because that isn't why I geocache; but I can remember all the wonderful walks.

 

Also -- maybe your body and mind and soul are telling you something. There's nothing wrong with taking a break from it for a month or two. Sometimes we just need a time out.

 

Jeannette

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I wish I had a bigger rut to get stuck in. Caches are a little on the light side in this neck of the woods. I can't wait to see a new cache is placed just so I'll have a chance to go caching.

 

I just started a new caching group for this area, so maybe that will help me find a rut to get in to. That and hiding new ones.

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How about setting a goal for yourself?

 

Try to get your average terrain rating to X, or your average difficulty to Y.

 

Find all caches within X miles of a certain spot.

 

I have a lot of high-find cachers in my area and some people have set up some interesting caches such as my cache to keep people active and interested. **

 

** Make sure to work with your local approver before attemping to put together ANY type of challenge caches!

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:huh: Caching is fun when you have the time. But caching honestly does not have the gleem it did 4 years ago when I started. Wonder what happened? oh yeah..

 

1. Got my priorities strait.

* God

* Family

* Work

* Home

* fishing

* hunting

* Teaching hunter ed

* caching..

 

2. Price of Gas is $3 a gallon. (political remark omitted)

3. Not a lot of other caches in my neighborhood.

4. Got tired of placing all the caches in my neighborhood.

 

Don't get me wrong. Caching is fun, but it's does not consume my entire life, and people do get burned out on it. I'm trying to get a cache in every state and some in europe, but I have my entire life to do this, and I look forward to the caches I'm going to find.

 

Ok, now I have kicked the hornets nest I'll make a quickl retreat..

Geocaching is way too low on your list. Now I know what's wrong. It should be more like this:

  • God
  • Geocaching
  • Family
  • Work
  • Staring at a wall
  • Fishing
  • Hunting
  • et cetera

Okay, so I don't see any point in sitting around waiting for the opportunity to torture a fish, but maybe that's just me. Just kidding about putting The Game ahead of family and work, though. As for the price of gas, I'm just thankful that we have been able to blast through the billions of gallons of crude oil without running out. After all of these decades of non-stop commuting it's really amazing that there's any left. I think the vast majority of humanity will die if it ever does.

 

There really is much to be thankful for. Don't sweat the DNFs. Take joy in every find.

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I wish I had a bigger rut to get stuck in. Caches are a little on the light side in this neck of the woods. I can't wait to see a new cache is placed just so I'll have a chance to go caching.

 

I just started a new caching group for this area, so maybe that will help me find a rut to get in to. That and hiding new ones.

We were visited my wife's family in Northern Wisconsin a couple of summers ago and I found myself driving ten miles to get from one cache to the next. However, the caches were all decent caches in cool locations. The irony is that I'd rather do that then drive to 10 parking lots and lift up a bunch of lamp post covers. What's the point?
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I'm still a newbie, but two things really keep me excited about geocaching:

 

After I got my first few finds, I made a deal with myself (and my wife) that I'd upgrade to a really nice GPSr when I got to 100. I've been working toward that goal.

 

Secondly, (and I just did this today): On a nice day, take the afternoon off and dedicate it to geocaching. I got 12 in the bag today, and had a blast on an absolutely beautiful spring day. Actually got a bit of sunburn here, with temps in the upper 40s. Great hiking, and encountered some nice people (and their dogs) out on the trails.

 

Good hunting.

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I've been down on caching for a while too, but my reasons have been because 99% of the new caches around here are parking lot micros.

 

I pretty much just gave up caching for a long while.

 

Now I think with spring coming, I may be ready to pick it up again, traveling to far areas with good caches (do they still exist?) and maybe even trying to find the bright side of sitting in a parking lot holding a film canister surrounded by traffic and shopping carts.

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I've been down on caching for a while too, but my reasons have been because 99% of the new caches around here are parking lot micros.

 

I pretty much just gave up caching for a long while.

 

Now I think with spring coming, I may be ready to pick it up again, traveling to far areas with good caches (do they still exist?) and maybe even trying to find the bright side of sitting in a parking lot holding a film canister surrounded by traffic and shopping carts.

 

I feel the same way. I gave up urban caching and it has gotten better. :huh:
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I'm having just as much fun placing caches as I am finding them. I focus on a theme for a cache and go with it. Fill it with things that fit that theme and find a location that fits the theme. Then just wait and watch what others write about the cache. Some fall flat and some are exalted.

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We were visited my wife's family in Northern Wisconsin a couple of summers ago and I found myself driving ten miles to get from one cache to the next. However, the caches were all decent caches in cool locations. The irony is that I'd rather do that then drive to 10 parking lots and lift up a bunch of lamp post covers. What's the point?

I agree with you that the cache quality tends to be much higher when the cache density is lower. That is the one thing about caching here I love. I just wish I had more caches and caching related activities around here. I can't just go out after work and do some quick caching. I have to wait and plan a weekend caching trip to get anything. The nearest unfound cache from me is an hours drive away.

Hopefully that is changing though. The new caching group we started should help caching grow in the area.

 

I guess it just bothers me a little sometimes when cachers in cache rich areas complain about not having anything worth doing.

 

Oh well whatever. No biggie either way. :laughing:

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We were visited my wife's family in Northern Wisconsin a couple of summers ago and I found myself driving ten miles to get from one cache to the next. However, the caches were all decent caches in cool locations. The irony is that I'd rather do that then drive to 10 parking lots and lift up a bunch of lamp post covers. What's the point?

I agree with you that the cache quality tends to be much higher when the cache density is lower. That is the one thing about caching here I love. I just wish I had more caches and caching related activities around here. I can't just go out after work and do some quick caching. I have to wait and plan a weekend caching trip to get anything. The nearest unfound cache from me is an hours drive away.

Hopefully that is changing though. The new caching group we started should help caching grow in the area.

 

I guess it just bothers me a little sometimes when cachers in cache rich areas complain about not having anything worth doing.

 

Oh well whatever. No biggie either way. :laughing:

That must be frustrating not to have more cachers in your area. Every area in the country goes through that stage. I was lucky to start after just after that stage occurred out here.
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Quick suggestion. Get your gps and MOB/MARK a location. Now start way back from that point and navigated yoursef to the point. Yes you know where it is, but pretend you have never been to that point before. This will show you a couple of things. First and fore most it will show you how to fine tune your Nav skils with the gps, but also how your gps is getting you to a point. Do this a few times. Also, have a friend hide a small cache in a field, backyard, whatever and you go and find it. Do this several times having him hide it in harder locations as you go, will give you an idea of how and where to find those stubborn caches.....Good luck......

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You guys only pay $3 a gallon for gas, that's such a good deal. I have just done the calculation, and here in the UK I am paying $9.63 a gallon.

 

You can knock 20% off that for the relative sizes of the US and UK gallons, and perhaps another 20% for the current ridiculous dollar exchange rate to compare purchasing power parity. Still, gas is well over double here in Europe than it is in the US.

 

If you then compare what the average Europeans' car gets in mileage compared to some Americans with their 2.3 ton 4.2 litres SUVs, I suspect the gas costs per 100 miles driven are probably pretty similar.

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Geocaching is way too low on your list. Now I know what's wrong. It should be more like this:

[*]God

[*]Geocaching

[*]Family

[*]Work

[*]Staring at a wall

[*]Fishing

[*]Hunting

[*]et cetera

 

That list is an excellent starting point for atheists. :(

 

Some people save time by combining the first two, putting God in a box. I don't recommend it, though.

 

And, for some of us "work" and "staring at a wall" represents a bit of a redundancy as well.

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Find P&Gs if you are driving past, or you are in the area. Never plan a trip around them. Plan cache runs that involve long hikes or complicated multi caches. Try to cache with friends. Hide quality caches that meet multiple skill levels. Share the language of location with others. In other words, show them something of value through caching. Lets get out of trashy areas, get away from the parking lots and return to the views.

 

Nuwati

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