Why do you geocache?

[+Chokecherry]

I started geocaching because I always wanted to experience poison ivy and swarming biting ants (but not at the same time). Now that I have done both I continue to geocache because I like the rush I get playing roulette with lyme's disease....

 

Really I geocache to get out in the wilderness and/or to visit cool places.

[+gururyan]

I geo because it gets me out of the house, gives me something to do with my oldest child, gives me a sense of accomplishment, feeds me ego.

[+OldLog]

Simple for me I am retired and it gets me off the couch and away from the house.

[+n0k1a]

Excellent question, and I would have to say that most of the reasons given apply to me as well.

 

As I say in my profile, I am a technology freak and a fan of the outdoors. I have been both since long before geocaching even existed. As someone said in another forum once, it's a great way to 'trick' children into thinking that they're playing with high tech gear, when they're actually getting fresh air and exercise. I've been using this technique on myself, to 'force' myself to go out and hike in the woods, getting much-needed exercise. It's a whole lot easier to convince myself do so if there's an actual destination or goal, rather than just randomly going out hiking. This is the most 'practical' aspect of caching for me.

 

I have really gotten into solving puzzle caches as well. I love the feeling of accomplishment when I solve a new puzzle, as much as the accomplishment of making the physical find.

 

Also totally into the aspect of discovering and exploring new places which I never would have seen otherwise. Took this to another level by renting a 4x4 Jeep and finding desert caches in the southwest US recently!

 

As just about everyone else has said, numbers are not my focus. For proof, I am probably the only person who found and logged #1 and #2 in the E.T. Highway series, and happily ignored the rest of it, just because I could.

 

On a similar note, surprised nobody mentioned the concept of FTF. That's also not a specific goal of mine, but I do have a few, and must admit that I enjoyed getting them.

 

It's also a great activity to share with friends. The best had to be the combination which occurred at one point: working on an amazing puzzle series with a good friend (whom I had met while we were both trying for an FTF), which involved lots of puzzle solving, hiking, discovering cool new places, conquering fears and stretching the limits of physical abilities due to some of the terrain involved, and getting a joint FTF in the middle of working on it!