I am just wondering how do you get the best expirience from every cache.I have over 1000 finds and geocaching is how to make every cache a great cagai

[+Bmxer11]

How do you get the best expirience from every cache because I have over 1000 finds and geocaching is starting to lose its spark

[jholly]

How do you get the best expirience from every cache because I have over 1000 finds and geocaching is starting to lose its spark

 

go find caches you enjoy finding. If you like ammo cans in the woods don't go looking for urban micros. I don't known, I have a bit more than you and I still enjoy it. I change around where I cache, mix urban with more remote, look for a variety of cache types, solve mysteries, do multis. Maybe it is that I cache in nicer areas for caching.

 

Jim

[+Y2KOTA]

Try it at night! Bring some one with you. How about hiding some more. Blindfolded?

[+bittsen]

Try it at night! Bring some one with you. How about hiding some more. Blindfolded?

 

At night on a trail hike, or through a swamp.

[+Von-Horst]

How do you get the best expirience from every cache because I have over 1000 finds and geocaching is starting to lose its spark

 

You've hit 'the wall', huh? Its not unusual. 2000 seems waaaaaay away and 10,000 impossible....

 

A couple of ideas;

 

It's not about the numbers - stop doing power days of strings of 1.5/2 rated caches and try to pick out some more interesting (eg history-related) or challenging (remote, high terrain caches).

 

Try to fill in the map - there are various free wotsits on the internet that will allow you to add a map to your profile showing states completed and also Nevada counties completed. A local geocaching organisation (such as this one here) can point you in the right direction.

 

Be more social - your local geocaching organisations will run regular events. Get out and meet like-minded people, and talk tall tales and have fun.

 

It IS about the numbers - not my way of doing things but you could try to find all the caches within a set radius of your home coordinates and just keep working your way out....

 

Pick and choose - stop doing LPC caches (and the like) and only do those with an interesting description. Make planning your days out as important as the days themselves.

 

Get a caching buddy- find someone (for example through a local organisation) your own age to go caching with.

 

Given your age some of these may or may not be easy, but give them a try.

 

Take a break - perhaps you really do just need a break.

 

Best of luck,

 

Mike

[superninjaducky]

Well I got my first 2 days ago.it felt great. just think of it in a fun way like treasur hunting. like you know soemthing is in there and you can trade to get something cool!

[Luckless]

I combine caching with other activities. There are lots of activities that can be combined with caching: biking, camping, swimming, picnicing, etc.

When I first started caching I'd do one cache a day. I don't have a car so I'd walk to the cache. A park and grab would turn into a half mile hike from my house through town. Maybe I'd stop and have an icecream cone on the way home. A few times I took my sister's dog on the walk with me. I now do several caches if they are in the same area because while I was doing only one cache a day one of the local geocachers moved and archived about twenty five. I had only done about half of his caches.

I'll sometimes go caching with a friend. We met at a local event and she asked if I'd like to go caching sometime. She loves exploring and so we plan our trips around rambling about small old shops, old graveyards, old bridges, trying new restaurants.

We also hide caches. If we are having a slow and uneventful (DNFs) day of caching my friend always keeps some caches in her car which we'll try to find hiding places for. It's always great fun to get all those little email notes from other cachers saying they found the cache. Doing fun things and noting things of interest while looking for a cache helps make my log writing creative and interesting for the cache owners (and me too).

My friend also does letterboxing and we'll look for those too.

I birdwatch while caching. Each year I do the backyard bird count. I print out the listing for birds in my area and that marks the beginning of my birdwatching for the year. Then I just try to find as many birds on the list as I can.

I also love the park and grabs for long trips on the road. It breaks up the monotony of driving long distances by stopping and getting out to look for a cache every now and then.

But there is nothing I like better than just me being alone in the woods communing with nature. (I always seem to scare up a deer.)

[+Casting Crowns]

I cache with someone almost always.....Sometimes, with a group of 5 or more. Makes it much more fun.

 

Try nighttime only caches.....they're fun with a group (or if you're brave enough, go alone).

 

Are you an FTF hound? Can also get the heart to pumping if you have a lot of serious FTF hounds in the area. I do that and I have a good time meeting other/new cachers.

[GOF and Bacall]

How do you get the best expirience from every cache because I have over 1000 finds and geocaching is starting to lose its spark

 

Over 1000 in less than a year? I'd say slow down. Spend a bit of time on your other hobbies. Share in some of your friends hobbies. Go to the zoo or a movie, what every else catches your interest. When you do go caching take the time to search out the types of caches that really make you smile.

[+StarBrand]

How do you get the best expirience from every cache because I have over 1000 finds and geocaching is starting to lose its spark

 

Over 1000 in less than a year? I'd say slow down. Spend a bit of time on your other hobbies. Share in some of your friends hobbies. Go to the zoo or a movie, what every else catches your interest. When you do go caching take the time to search out the types of caches that really make you smile.

Agreed totally. Sounds like you may be spending too much time caching. Get picky about what caches you will enjoy. Don't go caching just because there is one nearby. Use Geocaching as a distraction from other things - not as total replacment.

[+Kit Fox]

I got tired of urban park & grabs, so I no longer seek them. I created a past thread that may be of assistance to your quest. Recipe for fun, Share your techniques for avoiding caches you dislike.

[+Renegade Knight]

How do you get the best expirience from every cache because I have over 1000 finds and geocaching is starting to lose its spark

 

Well now.

First don't worry about it. Second, if it's not fun, Stop, Drop, and Roll (Stop, Drop what you are doing, and Roll on out of there).

 

If at any moment any one cache stops being fun, Stop Drop, and Roll.

 

If you go caching and get distracted by fishing, enjoy fishing, don't worry about the cache anymore.

 

Geocaching fits well with everthing else you used to do, so get back to doing those other things. Every now and then you will decide to find a cache when you are doing something else instead of vice versa.

 

Don't expect your 1000th cache to be as fun as the first. Almost nothing is life is as good after the second bite.

 

If you wake up and don't feel like caching. Don't.

 

If muse is now demanding that you place 5 Star Quality Caches, then do that instead.

[+Avernar]

If at any moment any one cache stops being fun, Stop Drop, and Roll.

And if you find the cache in a patch of poison ivy, Stop Drop and Roll. Um. On second thought...

[+Lakebum]

I did a cache a couple of weeks ago while on a white water rafting trip.

Since I could not bring my GPS I had to look at the maps, google earth and pre read the logs in order to try and figure out where it was on the river.

We found the cache luckily enough and got the smiley.

Even though we only found one cache that day, it was the best day of caching I have had in a while.

[+Snoogans]

I got tired of urban park & grabs, so I no longer seek them. I created a past thread that may be of assistance to your quest. Recipe for fun, Share your techniques for avoiding caches you dislike.

 

I think that thread answers the OPs question nicely.

 

There are multitudes of threads pertaining to the "changing of the game," and how the proliferation of uninspired hides is ruining the game. This thread is not intended for the bashing of caches you dislike (there are already hundreds of lame cache threads.)

 

 

I use the following tools to weed out caches I dislike:

 

I run a current pocket query through GSAK and then look more closely at caches with ratings of "1/1."

 

I check the locations of "lower rated caches" using "Geocaching Google maps."

 

If the cache is located in a spot where I would not want to look for the cache, I place the cache on my ignore list.

 

I frequently read previous logs for caches that don't appear to be placed in areas I deem bad. If the previous logs are all "one liners," or nothing but "cut and paste jobs," I assume the cache is "uninspired" based on my criteria for fun.

 

I tried weeding out all 1/1s but I found that many of the older caches (4 years and older) are often improperly rated.

 

Pocket queries that search for caches based on attributes are great for newer caches, but are often unreliable for older caches that have not been updated.

 

I spend time checking for caches with bookmarks. I find that caches that have bookmarks denoting "Geocacher A's favorite cache finds," or Geocacher B's Top 5% of finds list usually indicates a good cache in my book.

 

Please share your recipe for fun. What steps do you take to weed out caches that you dislike?

 

I tryyyyyy to make no assumptions about a cache before I head out to look for one I have no word of mouth on.....

 

My approach to FUN in finding:

 

Using the geocaching.com google map and walking it down my route, I usually download waypoints for what looks convenient along the way I'm traveling, or for caches that have EXCELLENT word of mouth. Bookmarks aren't always what I look for but they can be of help.... but not always from my experience....

 

I got 72 caches on my 6,028 mile trip to GW6 and back: 20 were found on the awesome GWVI4WD run. Another 15 or so were found just because I wanted to hunt a cache. 1 was found walking home from breakfast in Folsom, because some other cachers were there trying to look like they had a good reason to be in the bushes. Fully HALF of my finds were because The Snooglet needed a diaper change, The Snoogstress needed a potty break, or because Cujo needed walkies and there was a convenient cache to stop for too... thanx to all the rest stop, guardrail, skirt lifters, and genuine ammo cans that other geocachers placed and maintained for me to find. I passed hundreds of caches bye.... Aren't geocachers AWESOME!?

 

My new approach to GREAT FUN hiding:

 

For my latest hide, I used google earth to find a neat looking bit of terrain near one of my most celebrated caches. Darned if I didn't just hit the nail on the head. It was EXACTLY as I imagined it would be from the satellite photo and the year and a half of anticipation was great too.

 

What I've found is this: I enjoy the traditional caches because of the hikes and views, I enjoy the quick urban micros because of the company I'm with. If I head to the city on my own I'll hit one or two caches and that's all I need, but if I'm with other people we drive around and have a blast together.

 

I guess the recipe for me isn't so much what I weed out as who I include.

 

Uh huh! I wouldn't even think about going over to Houston to cache by myself. Not saying the caches over there are lame or anything, but alot of them are the routine urban types that i've found many times and my enjoyment for finding those types seems to diminish quickly after just a few finds. On the otherhand, i look forward to going and have a great time finding those same exact caches when i go with the Gang!

 

Mudfrog, if you came to Houston to cache by yourself, you'd probably get ripped on in the HGCS.org forums for being anti-social. I'd rip in ya for not taking time to get our little critters (Tadpole & Snooglet) together to play.

 

Bret, you hit the nail on the head.

 

Where ever I go there I am as well you saw at GW6. I didn't hunt one other cache in Wheatland. Those caches didn't look fun to me, BUT if I had hunted them, they would have been fun. I get it. Sadly, others can't or won't.

 

I can love a skirt lifter or a poorly concieved virt if it helps me color another state red on my map of states cached. I can have a blast with a group of other cachers looking for an urban micro that I surely would have skipped on my own. I've never been motived to do more than a few caches in a day unless I borrowed the motivation from other cachers.

 

It's not about cache size, contents, hide, or location for me..... It's about how I CHOOSE to spend my quality time or a random opportunity to cache. I can't ever lose or feel cheated, because I'm ALWAYS in control.

[+Tavisman]

How do you get the best expirience from every cache because I have over 1000 finds and geocaching is starting to lose its spark

Spend a few weeks cooped up in your house doing nothing but watching TV and eating Cheetos. You'll soon appreciate those moments of outdoor adventure you had with Geocaching.

Edited July 27, 2009 by Tavisman