How did you get started and how great is your passion now?

[+Laugh Your Cache Off]

Here is our story in short, Care to Share yours???

 

WOW!!! My girlfriend and I moved from Tennessee to Florida. We were avid backpackers and campers. Florida does have it's limitations on mountainous activities. I cannot for the life of me remember who mentioned geocaching to me. I was out of town on business and asked her to look it up on the internet. Holy cow, we love it!!! We feel like we have found a hobby that will stick with us forever!!! It is amazing how small and exclusive one can make this world!!!

 

We are very proud to be part of an organization that can hide an ammo can filled with treasure in a park that hundreds of people may walk by many times a day. Amazing!!! We have hidden something like a dozen and have found over one hundered (still have some to log). We are getting more excited every time someone leaves us a log entry stating how much they enjoyed our hides!!! It's wonderful how much joy an old 35mm film canister can bring. There is a local cacher that we have yet to meet that apparently always took his aunt, who was apparently wheelchair bound, caching with him. He has wonderful pictures of her and himself on his gallery. I don't think I should give his name on our forum post, but it wouldn't be hard to find him on our cache logs.

 

We are pleased, to say the least, to take great pleasure in finding a match holder in any tree. We will never tire of fighting bushes. And "as soon as we learn to speak wasp or fire ant, look out, 'cause our numbers are goin' up!!!"

Edited November 26, 2007 by Laugh Your Cache Off

[+LDove]

Great enthusiasm! So good to hear someone who is very excited and having so much fun! My enthusiasm has not dampened a bit since I started, although I do get bummed that I can't go as much as I would like. The only time I get a bit bored, is if I get to one micro after another (even though I usually don't mind a few of them). I have to admit I like to see what the goodies are inside bigger caches.

[+StarBrand]

I was updating the firmware in my GPS when I saw a link for Geocaching back in Dec 2001. A cache appeared later that month only a mile from where I work. About 1 hour of stumbling around later, I found a metal coffee can full of school supplies. I was hooked.

 

I am more passionate about it now than I ever have been. My numbers are low but I live to discover those new hidden places so close to my own backyard.

[Oil Can]

I got started caching when i was looking to buy a GPS unit for my vacation trip and keep coming across the word: Geocache. You could read all the stuff (options) the unit could do in GPScity.com site. So i did a search on Google and it took me to this site. I didnt want to buy a GPS just for my vacation and didnt need one for around town stuff. With caching i could still get some use out of it. No one in my family wants to go with me so i dont get out to much. Didnt make it out at all over the summer due to kids playing sports. I have got to go a few times this fall with my dog tho.

[+Scare Force One]

Great enthusiasm! So good to hear someone who is very excited and having so much fun! My enthusiasm has not dampened a bit since I started, although I do get bummed that I can't go as much as I would like. The only time I get a bit bored, is if I get to one micro after another (even though I usually don't mind a few of them). I have to admit I like to see what the goodies are inside bigger caches.

More than 2 or 3 micro's and I start to get testie and when I get testie... well i will leave that image for you to imagine

 

~.~Scare Force One

[+akaivyleaf]

Ooh a thread I can answer. Thanks for that.

 

Here is my story. I belong to a bunch of online groups and in one of them someone mentioned Geocaching and described it and I thought it sounded interesting, I would be sure to check out the website but never did. A few weeks later, I was in a staff meeting and a coworker mentioned that she had been geocaching the previous weekend. Now was my chance to ask questions one on one, so I took the opportunity after the meeting. She mentioned that there were several caches around our office and that we should go out at lunchtime, she would bring her GPS and I could tag along. I kid you not, I've been hooked ever since July 30th, 2007. Hopelessly so. Since that time, she received a new GPS for her birthday, I bought her old one so that I could have a device. My birthday came around 3 months later and I was ready to upgrade my device. I have 68 finds now, just experienced my first FTF this weekend, got my first shipment of pathtags so I'll be enthusiastic for a long time to come. I love geocaching and I go at every available opportunity.

[+WATreasureHunters]

What a fun topic!

 

I heard about geocaching back in 2004, thought it sounded really fun, but couldn't talk my husband into seeing the joy in it.

 

Christmas of 2004, though, he got me a GPS, and after making three visits to a micro about .3 mile from my house finally found my first hide. I was, and am, hooked. My daughter, and nieces and nephews go caching with me on a regular basis, and often ask when we can go again.

 

With that being said, 2007 has been a down year for me. Different job duties, a volunteer project and my daughter is old enough now for weekend activities (ballet and soccer, depending on the time of year) has REALLY cut into my caching. I think I have about 15 finds for the WHOLE year!! Even with that, I know I am still looked because I keep up to date on the NW forums, I look longingly at my dusty GPS in the mud room, and hope that 2008 will be more fruitful.

 

WATreasureHunters

Edited November 26, 2007 by WATreasureHunters

[+hukilaulau]

My wife bought me an eXplorist 200 so i would stop calling on my cell phone telling her I was lost in the woods. As an afterthought she added "Geocaching for Dummies" without having any idea what it was about.

A few days later we all went out and found a cache. 3 years and nearly 1400 caches in 28 states later, she is completely indifferent to caching and I plan vacations, jobs, professional conferences around it.

[GeoPirates2007]

I stumbled on it by accident. I bought a new GPS for Hunting. I was playing around with it one night, just getting used to it. i saw an icon in the menu for Geocache. I looked it up online and as they say, the rest is history.

[+BlueDeuce]

I am more passionate about it now than I ever have been. My numbers are low but I live to discover those new hidden places so close to my own backyard.

 

Hey, thanks for typing up my response, I appreciate it.

[+frex3wv]

A co-worker of mine had just gotten done taking a "break" and had just read an article in an outdoor magazine about geocaching. He showed it to me - I read it - than went to geocaching.com

 

Why I don't know - but I was like "hey - this sounds like something I would like to do!"

 

Did the research about a GPS - heard the old Mag vs. Garmin thing (and went with a Mag 210 and it worked great!)

 

Told my wife about it - she agreed to try it with me - and the rest is history.

 

PS - not long after begining to find caches - I started benchmark hunting - and I have to say - truth be told - I do believe I enjoy IT more than I do caching. So if you haven't tried it - do so!

[NightShift79]

robin was flipping thru a canadian tire (which is a chain of hardware stores for those of you who arent canucks) magazine one night in september, '06 and he saw the term "geocaching" in the glossary. he looked up the site on the net and told me about it. the next weekend we tried our first search and we've been hooked ever since. our numbers arent as high as i'd like them to be, but we go when we can and we have a blast doing it, so thats all that matters.

[+The finch farmers]

This is how I came across Geocaching.

I was looking to buy a set of FRS radios. I saw that Garmin sold some that had GPS capabilities. I wondered why a person would need that. Now I know.

In answer to how great is the passion now. I have been told I need the 12 step program This may come from the times we go out to eat and I have to try a cache while others sit all dressed up in the car while I bail out into the dark Or head out on Xmas morning or Thanksgiving PM Etc, Etc, Etc.

TFF

[+Team Brewster]

What a fun topic to read, thanks for starting this thread!

 

Here's my part of the story (Alice from Team Brewster - can't speak for my partner!) Years ago my spouse took me geocaching a few times, and it was fun. Nothing too exciting for me at that time, but a pleasant enough diversion since I enjoy the outdoors. I must admit I was far more interested in Bookcrossing, which I found out about through geocaching.com.

 

Earlier this year we went again for some reason. Then, all of a sudden, I was hooked. I don't know what made it different for me this time around, but I can't seem to get enough now. I think about all the places I went in between where I could have been caching and didn't! Argh! But I love it now, and I enjoy every chance I get to cache with my partner and my son, or with my friends akaivyleaf and Red Fish.

 

Weezer's simple response to this question: "I'm a geek." So there you go. My geek got me hooked on this fun, kinda nerdy hobby, and I shared the love whenever I can so that I can cache no matter where I'm at or who I'm with!!!

[+W7WT]

Someone mentioned on a Sony Mavica site about geocaching. I became a charter member in August 2001. Been more active and fun since my wife, Arlene has joined me. We now have 2083 finds, cached in 49 states, and all of Washington State's Counties. Really enjoyed our trip to Kauai celebrating our 60th wedding anv. by geocaching and getting our 2000th find. We will drive our Roadtrek to Alaska to visit our son Tom in Fairbanks, We will geocache on the trip and get our 50th state. We are in our 80s enjoying life. Dick & Arlene

[+briansnat]

I read an article in the local newspaper about geocaching and thought it sounded like a blast. Ordered a GPS within days and found my first cache the day my unit was delivered.

 

I'd say my passion for hunting caches has lessened considerably with the advent of micro spew. When I started

most geocaches were in interesting spots and I loved loading my unit with waypoints and seeing the cool places

my Garmin would take me. Now when I do that in many areas I find myself taking on a tour of strip malls, loading dock areas, big box store parking lots and litter strewn lots.

 

I still enjoy hiding caches as much as ever though.

[+Metaphor]

I had dividend credits at REI in 2002, so I bought an Etrex Venture, figuring I would use it mostly for sailing. I got on online and found geocaching. It was pretty cool at first, and I still very much appreciate the places I have gone to in search of a cache. It has taken me away from the ordinary tourist places to walk in less traveled areas, and through it I've also discovered some very cool areas within my immediate locale that I would never have investigated before.

 

Like Briansnat, the micro invasion has lessened my enthusiasm considerably. I'm not into numbers, nor am I into looking for needles in haystacks, but that's pretty much what is available within a day's travel anymore. Now it's more of a diversion, where I pick and choose more selectively. If I even load what looks like a slightly more than lame micro in, I might simply drive by and then choose whether or not to bother. For me, it's about the cool place the game takes me, not the find itself. No cool place, little or no enjoyment.

[+DocDiTTo]

A guy at work told me about geocaching, so it's his fault I got hooked. My wife will probably never forgive him.

 

Like the last couple posters, I agree that micro spew has put the damper on my game. I find that I'm much more passionate about finding cool places now that I've been geocaching, but fewer and fewer caches take me to those places. Very ironic, now that I think about it. I have investigated Waymarking and found a couple categories that piqued my interest, but, as with caches, there's so much junk to wade through to actually find the stuff I'm looking for that it makes it a chore rather than fun. I've taken to doing research on my own to locate cool spots, and maybe, if circumstances permit, hide caches there. I've also made it a point to only hide caches that I'd like to find. Hopefully I can lead by example and show others the types of locations *I'd* like to find caches in. Looking at my stats, 2007 was my slowest caching year since I started in 2004. I guess I'm on the decline... kinda like quality caches.

[bogleman]

To make a long story short - a local cache was "disrupted" by some EOD friends. Curious, I decided to look further. I had a GPS and my son was off school for a week so we decided to see what all the hype was over.

 

I've always looked at geocaching as something to do while out wandering around, not a passion or anything like that. Personally I'd take a single cache (4-5 mile round trip) over anything else out there. I don't even need a wonderful view - just a hike in the woods.

 

I guess my passion is that I like the woods (big trees), BIG rocks, creeks, steep hills, wildlife entertainment and blondes.

 

My passion is the same, my determination has changed - it better be really good for me to come back for another visit, otherwise I just keep on going.

[+9Key]

I saw a short piece on the news with web-ling (then a Dallas resident) and I thought it looked really cool and went to the site and created an account. I ordered a yellow eTrex off ebay and read the manual from cover to cover before event turning it on (I'm like that). A few days later I had some spare time and found my first cache in Fort Worth. I got scratches and a case of poison ivy after that first search but I've been hooked ever since then - almost 6 years now.

 

I love hiding caches almost as much as finding them, but the social aspect of the game has really went downhill for me. There's so much politics and cliques in my area that I've about given up on attending events or corresponding with other cachers. I just do my own thing and ignore everyone else pretty much, sad as it sounds.

[+Team Cotati]

I had dividend credits at REI in 2002, so I bought an Etrex Venture, figuring I would use it mostly for sailing. I got on online and found geocaching. It was pretty cool at first, and I still very much appreciate the places I have gone to in search of a cache. It has taken me away from the ordinary tourist places to walk in less traveled areas, and through it I've also discovered some very cool areas within my immediate locale that I would never have investigated before.

 

Like Briansnat, the micro invasion has lessened my enthusiasm considerably. I'm not into numbers, nor am I into looking for needles in haystacks, but that's pretty much what is available within a day's travel anymore. Now it's more of a diversion, where I pick and choose more selectively. If I even load what looks like a slightly more than lame micro in, I might simply drive by and then choose whether or not to bother. For me, it's about the cool place the game takes me, not the find itself. No cool place, little or no enjoyment.

 

But think about the thousands of those really wonderful, cool and exciting micros out there that you two are missing out on.

[+PlantAKiss]

I was fascinated the first time a friend of mine mentioned geocaching. He explained it and I said "I WANNA PLAY!!!" Took me a while to get a GPSr and then its broken twice.

 

My numbers do not reflect my passion...only my limited free time. When I get to go caching, its my fun time for both me and my dog. I have one cache placed and hope to get a few more non-spew caches down. My favorites are the park ones but I also enjoy any good hunt and clever hide. And I've seen some good 'uns!

 

I do understand Briansnat's sentiments. Thankfully, there are still many more caches for me to find before micro-spew becomes an issue for me.

[+Snoogans]

I love hiding caches almost as much as finding them, but the social aspect of the game has really went downhill for me. There's so much politics and cliques in my area that I've about given up on attending events or corresponding with other cachers. I just do my own thing and ignore everyone else pretty much, sad as it sounds.

 

I hear ya... A lot of us early adopters are starting to fade. I still like events the most, but I can't remember everyone's name like I used to. The faces change really fast now, so I don't try as hard to meet everyone like I used to. Ya never know when someone, like you, that I liked to hang out with will just go *poof* into thin air, so I've just started to hang with the folks I know unless I'm hosting. I can see how that can be seen as cliquish, but still, all anyone needs to do is walk up and say "Hi" to be included. Well, when I'm around anyway.

 

Also, some groups are just MORE FUN than others. Sad but true.

 

Texas as a whole, is still a pretty close community and you, usmorrows, and Moosiegirl were the foundation that community was built on. A few of us are still around that remember.

[+bigryry]

I started in october. My friend and I were going to a teacher conference in Oswego and after the conference he said want to go geocaching? I have heard of it before but to be honest it sounded Dumb (don't yell it was before i started) he said we will try one and see so he told me how to put the cords. in and had me navigate while he drove. We got to a park and he had me lead to the cache. Found the bush where it was and he and I were looking, he thought maybe it was gone untill i got on my back and stuck my head under the tree and found it hidden very well. Since that cache I was hooked we did three more while we were there and I started on my own. I did not log those cache's for me because I never had an account.

 

Now I go when I can, I have a three month old baby and a new house so it is hard to get out all the time. I have my wife interested in caching as well. It is hard to take the baby in the cold weather, when it is warmer I will do more cache's. I try to do one every couple of days on my way home from work!

 

I love doing it just wish I had more time, I plan on pacing my first cache in a few weeks!

[+Thrak]

I live on a cul-de-sac and we have a block breakfast every year. One of the retired neighbors came down to grab some food and when folks asked what he'd been up to lately he got a big grin and said, "Treasure Hunting!". The neighbors laughed and he told us a little bit about geocaching. The other neighbors laughed some more and poked a bit of fun but I thought it sounded interesting so I made sure to get the web address. I went home and made a geocaching.com account and started reading the forums. I read a LOT of useful stuff and then over the next week or so I started checking out GPS receivers online. I looked at a lot of different models and, the more I looked, the more I wanted it all. Finally one day I saw a GPSMAP 76CS on eBay that was brand new in the box. The price was low so I sent myself email to check it out the next day. When I got to work the next day I got the email and looked it up and it was STILL low with 11 minutes left on the auction. I made a bid, certain it would jump to some really high price at the last minute. Boy was I surprised when I won! Then I had to go home and tell my wife I had just spent $400. At that time the thing would have cost me $632 locally though (with tax) so it was a good buy.

 

By the time the unit arrived in the mail I had already read a zillion forum posts, tons of other online information, and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Geocaching and had gotten GSAK and downloaded a Pocket Query. I opened the box, checked out the unit for maybe 20 minutes, loaded my Pocket Query, and went out and found my first cache - an ammo can in a stump that had been hidden by the very neighbor who first told me about caching. I first heard the word Geocaching on July 30, 2005 and my first find was August 8, 2005. I've slowed down these days (gas is just crazy!) but I'm at 1178 finds with 140 FTF and still enjoying myself.