You are a cacher when...

[+Tantor]

You are hiking with your kids boy scout den, you happen to see a tree that looks familiar, and LO there is a cache there you remember from years ago so you give a calss on caching that would have gone better if you'd actually had a GPS with you.

[+nikcap]

... you've purchased rope climbing gear, a headlamp, a kayak, snowshoes and are seriously thinking about taking up SCUBA diving, in order to bag a cache.

[+rabid-chihuahua]

....When you get to work with sticks and leaves stuck in your hair because you just had to stop and find a cache on the way in.

[+JegMag]

You fall flat on your back, on a pointy rock while crossing over a log to get a cache -- sure you have broken ribs do you go to the ER??? NO -- on to the next cache!

 

(Turned out it wasn't broken ribs, but it sure hurt!)

[+ThirstyMick]

....When you get to work with sticks and leaves stuck in your hair because you just had to stop and find a cache on the way in.

 

I actually went caching at lunch one day and a couple hours after I got back found a stick in my hair

 

That with the mud around the ankles of my work pants, I wonder what my coworkers think of me?

[+briansnat]

...your heart beats a bit faster in the Tupperware aisle in the grocery store

[majormajor42]

...you get a dog or have a baby just so you can look less suspicious.

[+cheeriokid]

You've spoken into your GPS like it is a cell phone while doing an urban micro

[+stellarscapes]

...you train your dog to sniff out ammo boxes and Tupperware containers.

Edited January 29, 2008 by stellarscapes

[+CT A-Team]

...you have a series of large permanent bruises on your forehead from looking at your GPS and not where you are going.

[+MountainRacer]

...you wake up, racked with insomnia, and log on to see if anything new has been approved that you can run out and FTF.

 

...you actually see something up, and you shake off your drowsiness and hurry to put your coat on and get out to it.

 

...you make the find and open the log only to notice you were beaten to it by someone with several thousand more finds than you.

 

...you still don't consider the night wasted because hey, you've still gotten another smiley.

 

...now that you're awake, you fire up your PDA and choose a roundabout way home so you can grab half a dozen more.

[+fullhseluvr1982]

....you find yourself looking FOWARD to trips to family's houses hitting caches along the way

[+admo1972]

You've spoken into your GPS like it is a cell phone while doing an urban micro

 

You've resisted the urge to speak into your GPS like it is a cell phone while doing an urban micro because you are more concerned with a clear signal rather than blending. So you then talk on your real cellphone in one hand, holding your GPS out ahead of you with the other, and then wish you had a third arm to reach under benches, behind sign posts, etc.

[+whistler & co.]

...your 3 year old child knows what "coordinates" are.

[+Stellar Jr.]

...you don`t mind going caching with your teacher who just so happens to go caching:)

[+Team Rampant Lion]

... you are on the Homeland Security watch list because you've purchased so many ammo cans and mortar cases online.

[+Peconic Bay Sailors]

You loose your car keys...

You loose your cell phone...

You loose your glasses...

You loose your spouse...

You loose your kids...

BUT you NEVER loose your GPS...

[+Team Perrito Blanco]

... you spend 2 hours in the woods, in the same spot, in the cold, because you want to.

[The Walrus]

You know what "bushwacking" is and think it's great fun!

[+frelancr]

you get up at 5 in the morning on a weekend to drive for an hour to go meet some complete strangers in the middle of the woods & walk around for a couple MORE hours....and have a blast!

 

M

[+briansnat]

...your left shoe is longer than your right one.

[+Grunriese]

You are hiking with your kids boy scout den, you happen to see a tree that looks familiar, and LO there is a cache there you remember from years ago so you give a class on caching that would have gone better if you'd actually had a GPS with you.

 

Sorry, if you went hiking with your boy's Cub Scout den, and didn't have your GPSr with you, you're just a part-timer.

[+briansnat]

...you no longer eat hot dogs or French toast.

[+captainmath]

You can't go into a Cracker Barrel without feeling around any metal antiques for possible items that don't belong.

[+captainmath]

You can't go into a Cracker Barrel without feeling around any metal antiques for possible items that don't belong.

[+vanm]

You see the Prudential ad: "Millions are on the path to financial freedom" and think, "not me, I'm BUSHWHACKING!"

[+lakelady]

This is slighlty off topic but I once saw a sign for paddle fans outside of what I now know is a furniture store and I thought it was a advertising a kayaking event.

[+rstefano52]

You wake up the next morning after a good day of caching only to find a TICK embedded in your leg! Here come the antibiotics!

[+ODragon]

You can't stand having to get up at 7 am for work but will get up much earlier and happier to go caching!

[+nikcap]

...you no longer eat hot dogs or French toast.

 

... you actually know what Brian Snat is talking about, but you wish you didn't.

[+briansnat]

....your sump pump breaks down and Home Depot is out.

[+avroair]

You lie in bed, thinking about the cache you DNFed

You take alternate routes to work

You have visited a $1.00 store twice in the past week

You weekly shopping bill always includes 4 packets of ZIP lock bags

You tried to convince a non-geocacher that geocaching is cool

You visit in-laws just to bag a new state

You walk into restaurants with stuffed animals (attached to travel bug tags)

You buy mints and eat them by the fistful just to empty the container

You own your own rubber stamp

You have used your GPS unit like a cell phone to avoid suspicion

You name your daughter Garmin

You tried to pay for a soda at the KwikMart with a geocoin

 

Sounds like we need another Geocacher Anonymous meeting!

[+Peconic Bay Sailors]

Hey Mark...

How about when your wife/husband says...

Geocaching or World of Warcraft...

BUT NOT BOTH!!!

[+Harry Dolphin]

....you find yourself looking FOWARD to trips to family's houses hitting caches along the way

 

Okay. So I planned the trip to visit my sister in Maine, picking up caches and benchmarks in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Something wrong with that? Vermont on this year's trip!

[+briansnat]

...you suddenly develop a taste for haggis.

[+frelancr]

...you suddenly develop a taste for haggis.

 

that do NOT make you a cacher...that makes you really, really, REEEEELY hungry...

 

(and if you develop a taste for blood pudding whilst yer at it, it then makes you Scots)

 

M

[+Harry Dolphin]

...you suddenly develop a taste for haggis.

 

Hmm... What does haggis have to do with geocaching? Other than that I have a cache hidden in Kearny?

Actually, I went to the Argyle Fish and Chips in Kearny, once, on Bobby Burns' birthday, for the Piping of the Haggis. I enjoyed the haggis. Being part Scot does help with this. But, that was long before I'd ever heard of geocaching.

[+Team Rampant Lion]

...you suddenly develop a taste for haggis.

 

I'm a Scot, played in the top Pipe and Drum Band in the US (Midlothian Scottish) for years and even have parents that made me eat haggis. Trust me, geocaching has not helped me improve my taste for haggis.

[+whistler & co.]

Haggis Hunter has a list of armchair caches.

Haggis Hunter's list

 

On our NEPAG forum, someone mentioned the musical group Enter the Haggis.

Enter the Haggis

 

The letters in "haggis" can be rearranged to spell "hi gas" with an extra "g" left over for the "geocache". After fillling the tank to go caching, you'll be happy if you have anything left over, even if it's just the letter "g"!

[+Mountain_Man_Mike]

You can't stand having to get up at 7 am for work but will get up much earlier and happier to go caching!

 

Wow, nailed one for me - I get up early for caching and hunting, nothing else seems to work!

[+Mountain_Man_Mike]

You lie in bed, thinking about the cache you DNFed

You take alternate routes to work

You have visited a $1.00 store twice in the past week

You weekly shopping bill always includes 4 packets of ZIP lock bags

You tried to convince a non-geocacher that geocaching is cool

You visit in-laws just to bag a new state

You walk into restaurants with stuffed animals (attached to travel bug tags)

You buy mints and eat them by the fistful just to empty the container

You own your own rubber stamp

You have used your GPS unit like a cell phone to avoid suspicion

You name your daughter Garmin

You tried to pay for a soda at the KwikMart with a geocoin

 

Sounds like we need another Geocacher Anonymous meeting!

 

Lol - ...you consider getting a clip board and hard hat for certain urban micros

...before you cache in muggle territory you have a cover story planned..and with other cachers you actually discuss the cover story

....you actually pretended to be looking for a lost pet when muggles came near

.....your co-cacher fakes a mental illness to explain why he has been looking at a metal pole far too long and you actually go along with it as his care-taker. Except your friend actually carries a burger king crown for just such occasions.

....even if you are not caching you start to see potential cache containers or hiding spots everywhere

......you now like going to the doctor or dentist for a chance to cache along the way

....your spouse says "you spent HOW MUCH on geocaching goodies???"

[+Mountain_Man_Mike]

You have been stopped by security and have been mistaken for a homeless person and were told "you cannot sleep or stay here"

[+Team Catahoula]

You buy stock in Duracell Company.

[+Trucker Lee]

You sink the vehicle to it's axle in mud trying for an FTF while on your way to get the wife out of the hospital. (She saw the mud and laughed)

[+ThirstyMick]

In cleaning out your jacket to throw it into the wash you find four different pens in four different pockets.

 

(i did last night, and countless pens in the pockets of jeans)

[+nikcap]

You have been stopped by security and have been mistaken for a homeless person and were told "you cannot sleep or stay here"

 

Dude, I don't know where you've been caching but that's not right!

[+Harry Dolphin]

I discovered that I cannot use my GPS to turn the tv on or off. It won't even change the channel!

[+avroair]

I discovered that I cannot use my GPS to turn the tv on or off. It won't even change the channel!

 

LMAO!

 

You're pick 3 lottery numbers are 528

You're cell phone directory is a 'phone-a-friend' network for finding caches

You know know every state you have cached in, but can't remember what you did yesterday

[+Trucker Lee]

I just want to say that some of these are really hitting too close to home!

[+Okiebryan]

-You are familiar with words like, 'gerr' 'ybt' 'fghzc' 'ebpx' 'gur' or 'oruvaq'

-You know the zip codes of all your out-of-town relatives off the top of your head.

-You actually look forward to visiting the in-laws.

-you no longer talk to your friends about geocaching- none of them will allow it.

-You find yourself having to explain to your significant other why there is a sudden shortage of tupperware containers in the kitchen.

-Your driveway is covered with spraypainted cache container silhouettes.

-You begin making grocery purchases based on the items' usefullness as cache containers.