Geocaching in Italy

[+Winstonsmom]

My son is a US Army officer leading an Infantry platoon in the 173rd Airborne http://www.173airborne.army.mil/home.htm in Vicenza Italy. His unit will be deployed to "harms way" soon, so my daughter and I are planning last minute visit over Thanksgiving to see him. I would love to grab some caches in Italy, but I have no idea about how to prepare for this. I have checked and see that there are a few caches in Vicenze. What do I need to do to make sure my Oregon works in Italy? I will go to the Oregon Wiki, but would love any suggestions from the "wise ones" here on the forum.

 

Also, any ideas about how to "maximize" my geocaching opportunities are welcome!

[AZcachemeister]

Your GPSr will work fine in Italy, just as it does in the USA, or anywhere else on this little blue marble.

You may not have maps of the area, but that is a different matter, and is up to you to remedy (if you choose to spend the $$$).

[+briansnat]

your Oregon will work just fine anywhere in the world. Your maps won't. If you want maps for Europe you'll have to buy them. But you don't really need maps for geocaching so having the maps is not critical.

[+WeightMan]

I did several caches in northern Europe this last summer with my Colorado. All I had was the base map, which wasn't very good, but it didn't matter, just follow the arrow.

[+JohnE5]

Probably not a great idea to post a military units deployment plans on the internet.

 

Loose lips sink ships.

[+Winstonsmom]

your Oregon will work just fine anywhere in the world. Your maps won't. If you want maps for Europe you'll have to buy them. But you don't really need maps for geocaching so having the maps is not critical.

 

Thanks! Help me understand what my Oregon will tell me. Will I see the distance to cache, but not the details of the street name?

[GOF and Bacall]

I don't know much about the Oregon. You should be able to just load in the coordinates and follow the arrow. You could purchase maps for Europe but think about if you really need 'em or not.

 

Give your boy our best. He is one of the true American Heroes. We'll add him and his follows to our prayers.

[+Winstonsmom]

Probably not a great idea to post a military units deployment plans on the internet.

 

Loose lips sink ships.

 

Very true. A good cautionary note.

 

I have been told that the deployment schedule is common knowledge but the dates and specifics are not. TY for reminding us to protect our soldiers. My soldier has been very careful not to tell me (his mom) anything specific, so I will not share G2 info that geocachers (or others) may use to sink his ship. But, he is an Infantry officer, not any where near a US Naval vessal nor water, so no worry of his ship sinking. My prayer is that any/all IEDs are far away from him, just like loose lips.

[+Winstonsmom]

I don't know much about the Oregon. You should be able to just load in the coordinates and follow the arrow. You could purchase maps for Europe but think about if you really need 'em or not.

 

Give your boy our best. He is one of the true American Heroes. We'll add him and his follows to our prayers.

 

I will! Thank you!

[+Winstonsmom]

I did several caches in northern Europe this last summer with my Colorado. All I had was the base map, which wasn't very good, but it didn't matter, just follow the arrow.

 

Thank you! I really appreciate your post.

[+Winstonsmom]

Your GPSr will work fine in Italy, just as it does in the USA, or anywhere else on this little blue marble.

You may not have maps of the area, but that is a different matter, and is up to you to remedy (if you choose to spend the $$$).

 

Thank you! This was the reasurrane I needed.

[+Arrow42]

Loose lips sink ships.

 

But... but... sunk ships make awesome caches!

[Mr.Yuck]

Probably not a great idea to post a military units deployment plans on the internet.

 

Loose lips sink ships.

 

Oh, I didn't think that was too bad, Sarge. No specific details were given. I know I'd be proud of one of my children if they were an airborne infantry officer. Which I'm pretty certain is never going to happen.

 

I know if I took my crappy old Garmin over there and turned it on, it would not acquire sats, and would have to be reset. Make sure you know how to reset that Oregon.

[+sbell111]

... I know if I took my crappy old Garmin over there and turned it on, it would not acquire sats, and would have to be reset. Make sure you know how to reset that Oregon.

I've cached in Europe and Asia using Garmins (3+, Geko, Venture Cx, Quest 2). I've never had to reset my units to get them to acquire. You just need to let them sit out in the open for a little while to figure out where they are. Alternatively, you can just click on the map to identify the approximate location. This speeds things up quite a bit. Edited October 20, 2009 by sbell111

[+wimseyguy]

Remember that the G in GPS is Global. Your unit will work fine anywhere you are if it can get a good view of the sky.

 

I left my 60c on the whole way to Italy a few years back so I could track where we were flying. We caught a nice tailwind, and I kept a top speed of 620 mph on my trip computer screen forever.

 

Winston's mom-you already have the correct answers. Good thing cuz otherwise a WA like me might have suggested you go out and but a metric memory chip for caching in Europe. When I was on that trip with my wife and parents I almost had my mom head into the photo shop to ask for a Black and White memory card for her new digital camera.

[+ecanderson]

Winston's mom-you already have the correct answers. Good thing cuz otherwise a WA like me might have suggested you go out and but a metric memory chip for caching in Europe.

Fortunately, the typical GPS can be set to work in either feet or meters. Good thing, too. If the GPS display is set for feet and you are caching in meters in Europe, aren't you really more than 3 times as far away from the cache as you think you are? (and I've got some smokin' hot SanDisk Ultra III black and white SD cards for your mom, too - good for making really retro looking videos).

[+geodarts]

You may be able to find a free map that would help you either here or here. I also once saw a free topo map of italy, so do a google search and see what you can find.

[+Winstonsmom]

Loose lips sink ships.

 

But... but... sunk ships make awesome caches!

 

So true, but would a sunk ship in a desert be muggled by locals??

[+Winstonsmom]

You may be able to find a free map that would help you either here or here. I also once saw a free topo map of italy, so do a google search and see what you can find.

 

Cool! Thanks for this info. The hard part about a last-minute trip to Europe with the hope of geocaching along the way is "not knowing what to ask." I really appreciate this forum to tap into the wisdom of others as I prepare for this new journey. Thank you!!

[+Moose Mob]

As an option, you can purchase topo and/or street maps for most GPS's. Whether it is worth it for you is the question.

 

Never miss an opportunity to reminice... my avatar photo was take in Italy... near Lake Como.

[+germanybert]

I was in Vicenza back in spring and had a great time GCing. There are plenty within 10 - 20 of the city and Camp Ederle where your son in.

 

Venice is also near and is simply to get to by train. GCing in Venice was fun because you get to see many parts that most tourist never see. But if you go to Venice the first thing you want to do when you get there is buy a city map. It is easy to get lost and disoriented in the city and there are many dead ends. Since you will not hav the Topo on your Oregon you will need a map.