avaughan Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Hi UK cachers, I'm a freelance journalist (http://adamvaughan.name) writing an article on geocaching for the magazine of the Ramblers Association, Walk (http://www.walkmag.co.uk/). I'd love to feature some of this forum's users in the article, so if you have a minute, please reply on this thread or via email (adam@vaughanweb.com) to the questions below. By way of thanks, I'll credit any quotes I use in the article, using your real-name (if you supply it) and your geocaching handle/name. * What's the appeal of geocaching for you? * How did you originally discover it and take it up as a hobby? * What trends have you seen over the last two years? e.g. use of iPhones, caches becoming harder to find, more caches appearing, the social scene * What are your favourite caches in the UK, in both rural and urban locations? * Do you think the democratisation and mainstreaming of geocaching is a good or bad thing? What's the effect of more people taking part? The feature is published in the new year, but any replies this week (17-21 Dec) are the most likely to be included. Many thanks in advance. Adam Quote Link to comment
+rutson Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Email sent but a thought occurs... Where are you in the country? I'm sure someone local to you would be delighted to accompany you to experience geocaching first hand. Quote Link to comment
avaughan Posted December 17, 2008 Author Share Posted December 17, 2008 Email sent but a thought occurs... Where are you in the country? I'm sure someone local to you would be delighted to accompany you to experience geocaching first hand. Many thanks for the speedy reply Ian! Got your email. I'm based in Herne Hill, London. I've got a really tight deadline on this, so will probably be trying geocaching first-hand in the wilds of south London using my wife's iPhone 3G. Quote Link to comment
+The Hornet Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 In case anyone is interested, I've already been in touch with Adam. Please help him with your views. Quote Link to comment
avaughan Posted December 17, 2008 Author Share Posted December 17, 2008 In case anyone is interested, I've already been in touch with Adam. Please help him with your views. Cheers Peter, all help appreciated. I'd like the views in this piece to be as diverse as the sport Quote Link to comment
+kewfriend Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 * What's the appeal of geocaching for you? All the family can (and does) do it. There are no generational barriers. By and large geocaches are placed with care to take you to places that you might not visit or know about. The grading system helps one assess the likelihood of being capable enough to complete the cache. But best of all it gets everyone out of the house! * How did you originally discover it and take it up as a hobby? A true geek showed us. * What trends have you seen over the last two years? e.g. use of iPhones, caches becoming harder to find, more caches appearing, the social scene My missus how has the best GPS in the family, followed by my daughter and lastly me. We're still 'old style' but the most useful recent function has been the ability to upload data directly from the webpage into the Garmin. That has eliminated a lot of keying errors. Seldom do we now visit the wrong county. * What are your favourite caches in the UK, in both rural and urban locations? GCZ5Y9 and GCZ5Z0 - both are part of a brilliant walk on the North Downs. Because of the 'puzzles' involved (no hints) this short amble often takes less than three hours despite being only 3 miles and the views are a cracker as well. In town: well providing we're not dealing with city micros. well then GCQTP6 Multi-cache Heart of Paris is excellent. * Do you think the democratisation and mainstreaming of geocaching is a good or bad thing? What's the effect of more people taking part? What democracy?? Quote Link to comment
avaughan Posted December 17, 2008 Author Share Posted December 17, 2008 * What's the appeal of geocaching for you? All the family can (and does) do it. There are no generational barriers. By and large geocaches are placed with care to take you to places that you might not visit or know about. The grading system helps one assess the likelihood of being capable enough to complete the cache. But best of all it gets everyone out of the house! * How did you originally discover it and take it up as a hobby? A true geek showed us. * What trends have you seen over the last two years? e.g. use of iPhones, caches becoming harder to find, more caches appearing, the social scene My missus how has the best GPS in the family, followed by my daughter and lastly me. We're still 'old style' but the most useful recent function has been the ability to upload data directly from the webpage into the Garmin. That has eliminated a lot of keying errors. Seldom do we now visit the wrong county. * What are your favourite caches in the UK, in both rural and urban locations? GCZ5Y9 and GCZ5Z0 - both are part of a brilliant walk on the North Downs. Because of the 'puzzles' involved (no hints) this short amble often takes less than three hours despite being only 3 miles and the views are a cracker as well. In town: well providing we're not dealing with city micros. well then GCQTP6 Multi-cache Heart of Paris is excellent. * Do you think the democratisation and mainstreaming of geocaching is a good or bad thing? What's the effect of more people taking part? What democracy?? Thanks Kewfriend, much appreciated Quote Link to comment
+Von-Horst Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 email sent.... Quote Link to comment
+drdick&vick Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Message sent Quote Link to comment
+purple_pineapple Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 * What's the appeal of geocaching for you? The thrill of the hunt. the excitement of the race to First to Find. Meeting new people. But most importantly, being taken to intereting and unusual places that the cache owner knows about. This could be a stunning view, a great walk, or a fascinating hidden corner of a big city! * How did you originally discover it and take it up as a hobby? Sister-in-Law was introduced to it, and suggested we might like to give it a try. That was 3.5 years ago! * What trends have you seen over the last two years? e.g. use of iPhones, caches becoming harder to find, more caches appearing, the social scene More techology, be it iPhones, PDAs, better GPSs. Certain types of caches have been restricted (namely virtuals) but there has been more innovation in cache hides, with unusal containers and odd puzzles! A HUGE growth in the sheer numbers. About 12,000 when I started, about 36,000 in UK now. * What are your favourite caches in the UK, in both rural and urban locations? many favourites - I'll have to look, especially for rurals. However, a cache called Alpha Quest U near Oxford is memorable, and also St Alphages in central London. both are unfortunately now archived. * Do you think the democratisation and mainstreaming of geocaching is a good or bad thing? What's the effect of more people taking part? generally a good thing. the big landowners should be more amenable, and with more people taking part, there are more caches to find in more places (especially overseas). On the minus side, and possibly the two are linked, there is more 'control' over caching by listing site, possibly due to 'issues' now that it is more mainstream. there seems to be more regulation, and that isn't always a good thing. The feature is published in the new year, but any replies this week (17-21 Dec) are the most likely to be included. Many thanks in advance. Adam finally, I'm based in Reigate, and work in Westminster, so if you do want to go caching with an experienced cacher (can I call myself that yet?!) then drop me a line through my profile. I don't know what your deadline is though, and we have got Xmas to organise soon... Quote Link to comment
+purple_pineapple Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 (edited) bah, double post... Edited December 17, 2008 by purple_pineapple Quote Link to comment
avaughan Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 Thank you for everyone who emailed or posted overnight -- and sorry if I haven't contacted you personally yet. I'm just catching up on messages. Quote Link to comment
+The Slaughter Family Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Message Sent. Quote Link to comment
avaughan Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 THANK YOU THANK YOU to everyone who has sent me a message, I've been overwhelmed and very touched by the enthusiasm of the response. I now have enough responses for the article, which I'll be filing shortly with the Ramblers. I'm afraid I won't have room or time to mention any further messages. The feature is due to be published in the new year in Walk Magazine. I'll let you know the exact date when I do! Thanks again, Adam Quote Link to comment
+4 Badgers Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 (edited) Email sent .......Oh poo 3 minutes too late!!!!! Edited December 18, 2008 by 4 Badgers Quote Link to comment
+drsolly Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 THANK YOU THANK YOU to everyone who has sent me a message, I've been overwhelmed and very touched by the enthusiasm of the response. I now have enough responses for the article, which I'll be filing shortly with the Ramblers. I'm afraid I won't have room or time to mention any further messages. The feature is due to be published in the new year in Walk Magazine. I'll let you know the exact date when I do! Thanks again, Adam Oh, so I'm too late to dish the real dirt. Quote Link to comment
avaughan Posted December 19, 2008 Author Share Posted December 19, 2008 For everyone who's asked -- this is due to be published in Walk Magazine on 1st March 09. Cheers, Adam Quote Link to comment
+rutson Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 Thanks Adam, I shall keep an eye on my doormat Quote Link to comment
+G4UYG Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 Too late to be of use to Adam or to make myself famous in the mag but I just wanted to say that I actually started geocaching through the Ramblers. I go out on regular walks with them every week and I noticed that one of the members often disappeared from the group. I just assumed he had a weak bladder but then he explained that he was geocaching. I already had a GPSr (had one for years) so it took very little effort to get me hooked... Quote Link to comment
+studlyone Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 Well there's something to look forward to next eyar already. Hopefully it will be a good read. Quote Link to comment
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