Is it really all about the numbers

[+drdick&vick]

There was I thinking that this new 'hobby' of mine was a really good way to see different parts of the countryside and a cracking reason for some good walks and then I read posts where it all seems to be about the numbers. So is it like the lottery where you can win big prizes or like the FA or World Cup where you can win a really big super trophy or am I missing something as I thought it was just a game to do for pleasure and leisure. If I go out and find only one cache but enjoyed a really good walk and saw places or things I had not seen before then I am happy or if I go out and manage to find 3 or more caches then I am just as happy as long as I enjoy the walk.

Edited September 29, 2008 by DrDick&Vick

[+Renegade Knight]

...I thought it was ... for pleasure and leisure. If I go out and find only one cache but enjoyed a really good walk and saw places or things I had not seen before then I am happy or if I go out and manage to find 3 or more caches then I am just as happy as long as I enjoy the walk.

 

I emboldened the part of your post that answers your own question. What we do for pleasure and leasure varies. There are a lot of hobbies in the world. Caching is a good one because it can be different things to different people. You know what you like about it. Keep enjoying that part and you are good to go. Let the folks who like the numbers enjoy the numbers. That's what they like. It's not any more right or wrong than what you like because it gets back to this is a leisure activity.

[+CBT69]

I'm sure many people have different answers about what is enjoyable in watching a sunset, yet most of us do it when given the opportunity.

 

In my case, yes, I'd like to rack up big numbers, but a lot of it has to do with setting myself goals, rather than being "top of the heap" in numbers.

 

I'll spend a few hours researching areas, caches, etc, and then set a goal: "10 micros by the end of the day" or "15 multis by the end of the week" or whatever. Sometimes I only get three.. but at least I tried!

 

So the high number days are secondary to the goal, but I like to push myself.

 

I know folks who have done 100 caches in a day.. which just blows my mind!

[andynelaine]

There was I thinking that this new 'hobby' of mine was a really good way to see different parts of the countryside and a cracking reason for some good walks and then I read posts where it all seems to be about the numbers. So is it like the lottery where you can win big prizes or like the FA or World Cup where you can win a really big super trophy or am I missing something as I thought it was just a game to do for pleasure and leisure. If I go out and find only one cache but enjoyed a really good walk and saw places or things I had not seen before then I am happy or if I go out and manage to find 3 or more caches then I am just as happy as long as I enjoy the walk.

I think its different each time I go out!! I can enjoy along multi where you walk for 3 hours just for one smiley or I can go to some woods and find several caches (eight with Snow white)and have enjoyed both trips equally. But the answer to your question is YES !! Yes it is about numbers . Close thread now!!

[+CBT69]

(Edit.. double.)

Edited September 29, 2008 by CBT69

[+L8HNB]

May I suggest that you try keep caching and the forum seperate. Use the forum for help, news and advise and let those who like to discuss the ins and outs of what ever subject is currently flavour of the moment get on with it!

 

It used to get under my skin a little, then we got stuck in to what WE liked and haven't looked back.

 

Don't forget that what goes on here is only a tiny aspect of geocaching. IMHO, because topics, whatever, are written down here they are often be taken for granted that is the way it is, but that can be a long way from the truth.

 

Go your own way, set your own (high?) standards and enjoy it - DLTBGYD - LOL

 

H

[+fat bloke]

May I suggest that you try keep caching and the forum seperate. Use the forum for help, news and advise and let those who like to discuss the ins and outs of what ever subject is currently flavour of the moment get on with it!

 

It used to get under my skin a little, then we got stuck in to what WE liked and haven't looked back.

 

Don't forget that what goes on here is only a tiny aspect of geocaching. IMHO, because topics, whatever, are written down here they are often be taken for granted that is the way it is, but that can be a long way from the truth.

 

Go your own way, set your own (high?) standards and enjoy it - DLTBGYD - LOL

 

H

Thats just Silly

If there was NO CACHING this forum would NOT EXIST

Its A GAME

Life's out there (and so is caching)

[+L8HNB]

That's what I was saying, in a nice sort of way

[+The Cache Hoppers]

Ok someone had to ask - so I will be dumb enough to be the someone ...

 

what does DLTBGYD mean?

 

is it anything like DILLIGAFF?

 

Probably not .. but in answer to the OP - "Is it really all about the numbers" ...

 

Well .. for some ... yes it is?

[+Jacobite]

I think its different each time I go out!! I can enjoy along multi where you walk for 3 hours just for one smiley or I can go to some woods and find several caches (eight with Snow white)and have enjoyed both trips equally.

 

Same here, just depends how I feel. Some days I'm happy with one cache, and there are other days were I go for the numbers (although in either case, I always try to take in the experience the setter has given me).

[+the_dog]

Is this another "I hate micro's thread?". Please let me know....

[+Delta68]

Ok someone had to ask - so I will be dumb enough to be the someone ...

 

what does DLTBGYD mean?

 

 

At a guess I'd say it means:

 

Don't Let The B*****s Get You Down

 

 

The 'B' word could be a mild expletive or a slightly stronger (and one letter longer)one

 

[The Royles]

I hope it is all about the numbers. Each cache I do brings me one nearer to earning the prize of ... err ... wait ..... so I dont win anything then ? For that reason I am out

[+elephantman]

It can't be about the numbers (in my opinion) I think that the ethos of caching is to take you to places and to objects that you wouldn't have normally gone to see AND to enjoy the experience (in my opinion)

[+Team Sieni]

wait ..... so I dont win anything then ?

Sure you do! A broken Kinder egg toy.

[+CBT69]

Is this another "I hate micro's thread?". Please let me know....

 

Not yet. I just wish, (re, specifically, micros) there was a way to make the ratings system less subjective. A 2/2 for someone who has 1500 caches under their belt is _NOT_ necessarily a 2/2 for someone who has four, yaknow?

[NickPick]

Is it all about the numbers?

 

Well, Yes and No. Really, it's about whatever you want it to be. If you like to find caches in interesting places, then that's what it's about for you. Some people like to find as many as possible.

 

Personally, I like the thought of finding something which lots of people pass by without realising it's there. Since it's just taken me 4 years, 2 months and 8 days to reach 100 finds I'd say it's certainly not about the numbers for me.

[The Royles]

wait ..... so I dont win anything then ?

Sure you do! A broken Kinder egg toy.

 

I am saving my points up for a McD toy (broken or incomplete)

[+kewfriend]

Of course its about the numbers.

 

TYPING in the digits of the cache wrongly and going for a walk in the wrong county

That FIRST ever cache, which was only a one star diff but was so horribly impossible to find

Discovering someone else signed up at the same time is on 99 FINDS when you are still in single figures

Finally admitting to your FIRST DNF, only to discover that you'd gone chasing a temp disabled cache

SETTING your first cache and getting the coordinates wrong, the clue wrong and even the size of the container wrong

Tackling a puzzle cache and coming up with the perfect solution - except its WRONG!

You PAF and get granny by mistake!

You get the FTF but someone gets the electronic log in before you do

You leave your new GPS on the wrong datum and cant understand why you are 300 feet out

You work in metres - everyone else works in feet and inches

You dont understand what a BEARING is

You start worrying that your 'cache per day' rate is getting low

You start to understand ELIPSOIDs

You realise that IGN maps have the geo-coords as well as northings and westings

You realise you can MAKE MONEY by selling geo solutions on Ebay

Your friends celebrate your 500th as way of shutting you up

 

and I've only just started ....

[+Bear and Ragged]

Only about the numbers?

 

Yes.

 

Otherwise people would only log a find with a note.

(Some do! )

[+alma]

for me its never been about the numbers just the enjoyment of getting out and seeing new places is good enough for me

[+careygang]

Just over 3 years ago, I got a Yellow Etrex for my Birthday (after dropping lots of hints). Somehow I then discovered geocaching (don't remember how, probably from a link whilst researching GPS units). Within a couple of months we were due to go to Las Vegas for our Wedding Anniversary. We used Caching to find interesting bits of Vegas we would never have gone to and have never looked back.

 

Having now lived out here for 11 months (job move), we have done more caching in the US than we managed in the UK and have used it to discover some great sights and features that we would never have discovered by doing the standard tourist thing.

 

So numbers are good, but a great cache is better!

 

That's not to say we're not looking forward to hills, lanes and canal towpaths when we eventually return to Blighty.

[+Delta68]

Only about the numbers?

 

Yes.

 

Otherwise people would only log a find with a note.

(Some do! )

 

Here's a "note only" cacher Hose502

 

 

 

M

[+stonefielders]

Of course its about the numbers for more than care to admit it

Just like in walking - bagging Wainwrights or Munros

 

If it wasn't about the numbers

 

...Why would mongoose39uk have a website with records on?

 

...Would there be so many congratulation posts relating to who's reached which milestone? Congratulating them on reaching a certain number

 

...Do you think anyone would notice when drsolly knocks M1EYO off top spot... soon.

 

But there's no problem in chasing numbers - why get hung up about it?

So long as trying to accommodate it doesn't diminish the quality of the caches being placed

[+Foinavon]

 

So long as trying to accommodate it doesn't diminish the quality of the caches being placed

 

You've hit the nail on the head squarely with that that last sentence. Quite frequently it does!

[+drsolly]

Of course its about the numbers for more than care to admit it

Just like in walking - bagging Wainwrights or Munros

 

If it wasn't about the numbers

 

...Why would mongoose39uk have a website with records on?

 

...Would there be so many congratulation posts relating to who's reached which milestone? Congratulating them on reaching a certain number

 

...Do you think anyone would notice when drsolly knocks M1EYO off top spot... soon.

 

But there's no problem in chasing numbers - why get hung up about it?

So long as trying to accommodate it doesn't diminish the quality of the caches being placed

 

Would as many people have done a 109-stage, 25 mile multi, as have done the 109 trads + bonus?

 

I think that series deomonstates that it is, at least to some extent, about the numbers for at least some people. But everyone plays the game their own way, everyone sets their own challenges, and some people are lucky to have a lot more free time than others :-)