Does my number really matter?

1.7k · July 11, 2010

Two weeks ago I went out caching, I went the Benjamin rush state park. I didn't get to find a single cache, I just couldn't find any of them. Each and every one of them took me to a unique area I would have never known about. The first one I looked for took me to an airplane field (Not real airplanes the toy ones, but ones that cost 500-1000+ dollars) I got to watch all the planes flying around, it was a beautiful sight. I then went to the cache that was hidden there to bring people there... Twenty minutes later... nothing. Next I went to the one that was hidden on the old insane asylum, this is why it was a state park, they stopped using the insane asylum and the state had unused land... I saw the amazing community gardens there. Plenty of peppers and tomatoes for a mile or so. I went to the cache in the old insane asymlum and about .7 of a mile into the woods I found it... It was amazing. There was an old fire hydrant and everything. I couldn't find the cache. But I had fun. Apparently the cache is missing, I saw a spoiler photo on the cache description and it wasn't where I looked... Which was the right place. Last I saw the old covered bridge, It took a while to get too it with a couple of wrong turns, but it was really awesome. I've seen tons of covered ridges, but not one in the woods like this.

Today I went to playwiki park. I met a really nice elderly woman who has been going to the park for years, it was a beautiful park and I had a blast! She gave me a "Tour" and showed me the way to the old limestone quarry thing-a-ma-bobber where the geocache was hidden. (I was lost going in circles I met her on a dead end.) I couldn't find the cache, but I got to see a beutiful limestone quarry, it has been dug out so it's limestone cliffs on ALL sides in a circle except for the middle, the middle of the huge thing of lime stone is dugout, so there is a pond in the middle with tons of frogs. It was an amazing sight and the only one in the entire commonwealth of pennsylvania (It's a big state). I had an amazing amount of fun but couldn't find neither cache I looked for, not the murder in bucks county series I wanted, nor the one that was hidden at the limestone quarry.

This is my question... Does it really matter if my number doesn't go up? I had tons of fun, geocaching is taking me on an adventure, I would have never gone to this park other wise. Why? Why does it matter about my number? I thought this game was supposed to be fun. Why do I feel like I accomplished nothing when I get home (I'm too busy having fun when I'm actually there so only think like this when I get home.) So does it matter if I find nothing if I have fun? Please answer.

~coldgears

5.7k · July 11, 2010

Team Cotati standing by. :unsure: :laughing:

4.8k · July 11, 2010

Caches know when your number is low. Some caches are not very smart and will allow just anyone to find them but some caches are a little more discriminate. Those caches will only allow themselves to be found by cachers with higher count numbers.

That's why you need a higher cache count. So that you can find those caches that actually care about your find count.

1.7k · July 11, 2010

This is my question... Does it really matter if my number doesn't go up? I had tons of fun, geocaching is taking me on an adventure, I would have never gone to this park other wise. Why? Why does it matter about my number? I thought this game was supposed to be fun. Why do I feel like I accomplished nothing when I get home (I'm too busy having fun when I'm actually there so only think like this when I get home.) So does it matter if I find nothing if I have fun? Please answer.

~coldgears

No, it doesn't matter... but it sure can feel like it does, doesn't it?

When I get feelings like this - and I get them a lot, particularly on road trips - I make sure to take a lot of pictures and write a lot of notes down to jog my memory. Then when I get home, I write everything into a long article for the Online Geocacher's Magazine for the enjoyment of anyone reading. That way, even if my find count doesn't go up, I've accomplished something, and it makes it all the more worth it.

1.4k · July 11, 2010

The answer to your question is.....

Whatever you want it to be. For some, the numbers are what's important. For some, they don't even log online when they find the caches as they don't give a flying poo poo about their numbers. Some are in between at various stages.

It sounds like YOUR numbers don't matter at all. You had a good time, enjoyed your trips, and came out of it with a positive experience under your belt. Mission accomplished.

Congrats on the good days.

22k · July 11, 2010

Two weeks ago I went out caching, I went the Benjamin rush state park. I didn't get to find a single cache, I just couldn't find any of them. Each and every one of them took me to a unique area I would have never known about. The first one I looked for took me to an airplane field (Not real airplanes the toy ones, but ones that cost 500-1000+ dollars) I got to watch all the planes flying around, it was a beautiful sight. I then went to the cache that was hidden there to bring people there... Twenty minutes later... nothing. Next I went to the one that was hidden on the old insane asylum, this is why it was a state park, they stopped using the insane asylum and the state had unused land... I saw the amazing community gardens there. Plenty of peppers and tomatoes for a mile or so. I went to the cache in the old insane asymlum and about .7 of a mile into the woods I found it... It was amazing. There was an old fire hydrant and everything. I couldn't find the cache. But I had fun. Apparently the cache is missing, I saw a spoiler photo on the cache description and it wasn't where I looked... Which was the right place. Last I saw the old covered bridge, It took a while to get too it with a couple of wrong turns, but it was really awesome. I've seen tons of covered ridges, but not one in the woods like this.

Today I went to playwiki park. I met a really nice elderly woman who has been going to the park for years, it was a beautiful park and I had a blast! She gave me a "Tour" and showed me the way to the old limestone quarry thing-a-ma-bobber where the geocache was hidden. (I was lost going in circles I met her on a dead end.) I couldn't find the cache, but I got to see a beutiful limestone quarry, it has been dug out so it's limestone cliffs on ALL sides in a circle except for the middle, the middle of the huge thing of lime stone is dugout, so there is a pond in the middle with tons of frogs. It was an amazing sight and the only one in the entire commonwealth of pennsylvania (It's a big state). I had an amazing amount of fun but couldn't find neither cache I looked for, not the murder in bucks county series I wanted, nor the one that was hidden at the limestone quarry.

This is my question... Does it really matter if my number doesn't go up? I had tons of fun, geocaching is taking me on an adventure, I would have never gone to this park other wise. Why? Why does it matter about my number? I thought this game was supposed to be fun. Why do I feel like I accomplished nothing when I get home (I'm too busy having fun when I'm actually there so only think like this when I get home.) So does it matter if I find nothing if I have fun? Please answer.

~coldgears

So does it matter if I find nothing if I have fun?

In my opinion you understand geocaching perfectly. It is the definition of Happy Caching.

July 11, 2010

actually, yes. a little known section of the guidebook clearly states:

12b. Geocachers must show progress, they must continue to make forward progress in their numbers. If they are found to have not made progress, their account will be cancelled and all funds forfeited. They will be banned from geocaching for a period no shorter than 49 months.

2.6k · July 11, 2010

Yes. It totally matters.

July 12, 2010

So does it matter if I find nothing if I have fun? Please answer

.~coldgears

No, it doesn't matter one little bit. But I think you already know that.

8k · July 12, 2010

I have two reactions to the OPs post

1) The point of geocaching is to have fun. For many people finding a cache is more fun than looking for a cache and not finding it. Some people don't even post their DNFs because it hurts so much. Other love to share there experiences looking for a cache whether the found it or not. The find count does not matter. What matters is that you are enjoying it.

2) Geocaching is about going out to look for hidden containers using a GPS unit. It is not about being taken to cool locations that you would not have been to otherwise. If you want to visit these places and not have worry about finding a silly container and signing a scrap of paper, you should be Waymarking.

I know that #2 is going to be a bit controversial. There are those that reject Waymarking for any number of reasons. There are McDonalds and Burger King categories; a single location can be waymarked in more than one category; there are no pocket queries; there aren't consistent logging requirements for visiting waymarks; the Waymarking site has a different interface than Geocaching.com and than makes it hard to learn and difficult for some to use. But the main advantage that Waymarking has over geocaching if you just want visit interesting places you wouldn't have been to otherwise, is that you don't have to find a geocache to log a visit (and you don't have to hide a geocache in order to tell others about a place you have discovered). Now, it they were to bring back virtual caches, you could use them to take people to cool locations they wouldn't have gone to otherwise; but that isn't likely to happen.

Edited July 12, 2010 by tozainamboku

July 12, 2010

It does not matter what that silly number is.

14k · July 12, 2010

So does it matter if I find nothing if I have fun? Please answer

.~coldgears

No, it doesn't matter one little bit. But I think you already know that.

A few months ago there was a post here from someone claiming a new 24 hour record when they found over 600 caches. On that same day, I found one cache and wouldn't have traded my experience for 600 or over a thousand finds (as someone else claims to have found recently). The one cache I found was at the entrance of a wildlife park in Tanzania. Lot's of people can achieve very high find counts but how many get to find a cache at a wildlife park in Tanzania.

1.7k · July 12, 2010

2) Geocaching is about going out to look for hidden containers using a GPS unit. It is not about being taken to cool locations that you would not have been to otherwise. If you want to visit these places and not have worry about finding a silly container and signing a scrap of paper, you should be Waymarking.

I enjoy both the aspects of visiting the location and finding a clever find equally(it's usually one or the other though, I have yet to see a clever find at an amazing location sadly). Sad truth is, nobody waymarks arounds here. The only person that is creating waymarks anywhere within 20 miles of here (Except for philly, but I don't want to be shot[i live in bensalem which is above north philly there is virtually no crime here. Not even robberies violence is completely non-existent]) is a single user. This user has over 10,000 finds. Why? He creates really crappy waymarks. He has hundreds of dairy queens, burger kings, and everything else (then logs them as a find even though he created it.) I would ignore this user, but there is no other person using the website, I created one waymark myself for a cool location I have found to try and get people to contribute themselves, but the way things are right now... People aren't posting the locations I want to go to, and geocaching is. You can keep saying Waymarking is great, and it would be, but unless other people join it's useless.

2.2k · July 12, 2010

Yes. Despite what anyone tells you, your numbers will affect how successful you are in every aspect of life. For instance, I am much smarter, funnier, and better looking than you are because I have found more caches. I have a little sign I wear around my neck that currently says "OVER 2000 GEOCACHES FOUND" which gets me free Broadway show tickets, all the Popeye's fried chicken I can eat, and first class upgrades on major airlines and the LIRR. Not to mention the groupies...

:laughing:

1.4k · July 12, 2010

Yes. Despite what anyone tells you, your numbers will affect how successful you are in every aspect of life. For instance, I am much smarter, funnier, and better looking than you are because I have found more caches. I have a little sign I wear around my neck that currently says "OVER 2000 GEOCACHES FOUND" which gets me free Broadway show tickets, all the Popeye's fried chicken I can eat, and first class upgrades on major airlines and the LIRR. Not to mention the groupies...

So that was you walking with Ashnikes and Geobain yesterday...

:laughing:

July 12, 2010

It sounds like you need to get a Platinum Membership.

July 12, 2010

I think you understand this sport more than most cachers I know. Congrats on what sounds like a delightful series of hunts. I know that sometimes if I get frustrated when I got 0-2 or 0-3 during a run I question why I do this. Then I read a post like yours and I'm reminded as to why...

But you are missing out on the numbers groupies. :laughing:

22k · July 12, 2010

2) Geocaching is about going out to look for hidden containers using a GPS unit. It is not about being taken to cool locations that you would not have been to otherwise. If you want to visit these places and not have worry about finding a silly container and signing a scrap of paper, you should be Waymarking.

Thank you Captain Killjoy. Maybe one day you'll get a visit from the ghosts of geocaching past, present and future.

4.1k · July 12, 2010

I2) Geocaching is about going out to look for hidden containers using a GPS unit. It is not about being taken to cool locations that you would not have been to otherwise. If you want to visit these places and not have worry about finding a silly container and signing a scrap of paper, you should be Waymarking.

Everybody caches for his or her own reasons, but the find is probably the least important to me. Superficially, caching might be about going out to look for something hidden (physical or virtual), but I confess that after 7000 some finds I really dont like the hunt as much as enjoying the places that it takes me. Every once in a while I still find some place that takes me by surprise, that I have never visited, where there is also the chance to log what I have found. Looking for something might provide a focus, but it is not necessarily the object. And if I wanted to waymark (or gowalla), I would probably miss out on 99% of the great locations in my area.

. Not to mention the groupies...

I don't think the groupies take notice around where I live until at least 10,000 finds.

Edited July 12, 2010 by mulvaney

July 12, 2010

Yes. Despite what anyone tells you, your numbers will affect how successful you are in every aspect of life. For instance, I am much smarter, funnier, and better looking than you are because I have found more caches. I have a little sign I wear around my neck that currently says "OVER 2000 GEOCACHES FOUND" which gets me free Broadway show tickets, all the Popeye's fried chicken I can eat, and first class upgrades on major airlines and the LIRR. Not to mention the groupies...

I am quite happy not keeping score. Perhaps that is because I hate musicals, I can take or leave fried chicken even if it is cooked by sailors, I avoid air travel due to that little irrational fear that is so real to me, and my wife won't let me talk to groupies.

July 12, 2010

actually, yes. a little known section of the guidebook clearly states:

12b. Geocachers must show progress, they must continue to make forward progress in their numbers. If they are found to have not made progress, their account will be cancelled and all funds forfeited. They will be banned from geocaching for a period no shorter than 49 months.

This is actually true! I received a email early on in my short geocaching career stating I was behind on a 1000 find average for a 12 month period and that I better get busy.

This summer I'm starting to fall behind again and I'm afraid that I'll receive my punishment for not fulfilling my contractual agreement with Jeremy and The Lackeys. :laughing:

July 12, 2010

Personally I would rather have a fun adventurous day with no finds, that the finds I had today that were full of MOSQUITOES! lol Caching for me is getting out of the house doing quality things while spending time with my family. I will even grab a cache by myself if I have time between jobs (I work as a installer so I move around a lot during the day). So I say you set out and did what you wanted to do.

July 12, 2010

actually, yes. a little known section of the guidebook clearly states:

12b. Geocachers must show progress, they must continue to make forward progress in their numbers. If they are found to have not made progress, their account will be cancelled and all funds forfeited. They will be banned from geocaching for a period no shorter than 49 months.

This is actually true! I received a email early on in my short geocaching career stating I was behind on a 1000 find average for a 12 month period and that I better get busy.

This summer I'm starting to fall behind again and I'm afraid that I'll receive my punishment for not fulfilling my contractual agreement with Jeremy and The Lackeys.

Watch ebay. There are a few users who sell their excess finds on ebay. What do you think those power trails are really for?

July 12, 2010

In over two years I've only logged less than 200 caches.

Prolly got that many "Did Not Finds".

I'm guessing I have over 300 "Did Not Bother To Signs". ( Lampost, roadside micros, same-lame power trail things., etc.)

A few "Signed The Log, But Not Online".

A few "I think I found that one, but can't remember" ones too. :laughing:

Caching does take you to some neat places on occasion. That I enjoy. Do what you enjoy.

July 12, 2010

Yes. Despite what anyone tells you, your numbers will affect how successful you are in every aspect of life. For instance, I am much smarter, funnier, and better looking than you are because I have found more caches. I have a little sign I wear around my neck that currently says "OVER 2000 GEOCACHES FOUND" which gets me free Broadway show tickets, all the Popeye's fried chicken I can eat, and first class upgrades on major airlines and the LIRR. Not to mention the groupies...

So that was you walking with Ashnikes and Geobain yesterday...

hey how do you know i can walk?

I am offended.

8.9k · July 12, 2010

Does it really matter if my number doesn't go up? I had tons of fun, geocaching is taking me on an adventure, I would have never gone to this park other wise.

It truly does not. I consider each trip out with the GPS and adventure. I doesn't matter if you succeed or not. The exhilaration comes in the "trying". If you could find them all every time, there would be no challenge. Where's the fun in that?

2) Geocaching is about going out to look for hidden containers using a GPS unit. It is not about being taken to cool locations that you would not have been to otherwise. If you want to visit these places and not have worry about finding a silly container and signing a scrap of paper, you should be Waymarking.

Normally, I agree with your posts. But I do disagree with this. The virtual cache vs. Waymarking argument doesn't really belong in this thread, and I think it was a little off topic to bring it here. But I am proud of my sentiments in this post regarding virtuals and Waymarking. Feel free to post a response to it over there.

1.8k · July 12, 2010

snip........I couldn't find the cache. But I had fun. ......... snip..........I had an amazing amount of fun but couldn't find neither cache I looked for,.......snip............

This is my question... Does it really matter if my number doesn't go up? I had tons of fun, geocaching is taking me on an adventure, I would have never gone to this park other wise. Why? Why does it matter about my number? I thought this game was supposed to be fun. Why do I feel like I accomplished nothing when I get home (I'm too busy having fun when I'm actually there so only think like this when I get home.) So does it matter if I find nothing if I have fun? Please answer.

~coldgears

It seems you have answered your own question. And got some great outdoor time to boot. Very nice!

1.7k · July 12, 2010

Thanks for all the support guys! I was kind of doubting myself, everyone is so number oriented that I guess I felt if I wasn't too I wasn't playing this game right. I guess anyone can play it as they feel as long as they have fun. So, I'll just keep doing what I'm doing, I'll go to nice parks and have a ball! I do try my best with geocaching, with only 88 finds I don't have much experience. Some things are better experienced then taught. For example, my most recent find was in the woods. I couldn't find it. Guess what? It was attached to a piece of trash, now I know trash can be a geocache too! It's ultimately about the experience of seeing the sights for me, so I will continue to do that. Although LPC's can be good if I'm stopping at the store to buy something and I am looking for a quick fix. I'd never actively look for one.

7.9k · July 12, 2010

For many cachers, whether or not they found the cache is directly relevant to how much fun they had.

This need not necessarily be the case.

If the cache is well placed, the experience of visiting the site will certainly outweigh any thrill of signing another logbook.

If you can't DNF and still have a good time, there is going to be trouble.

6.5k · July 12, 2010

Yes, your numbers do matter. But only to you and no one else.

And I don't care what you nor anyone else think about my numbers.

So we're even in that respect.

2.3k · July 12, 2010

I had someone come to town to find some of my caches.

They made it to 2 of them. On the way to the third cache they stumbled upon an impromptu concert by the local brass band at the down town park.

They detoured and spent the rest of the afternoon listening to the band.

Numbers mean different things to different people. Some people just take life as it comes and know how to enjoy life's little surprises.

Does my number really matter?

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