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Geocaching, pastime, hobby or obsession?

stevieb17

By stevieb17
in United Kingdom and Ireland

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stevieb17

+stevieb17

Posted
Posted (edited)

Having read 2 logs a few days ago, I was asking myself the above question.

Let me explain,

A log of earlier this month read:- Went out in 100mm of snow at -11 degrees along country roads that was icy.

Does this person want to kill himself or even worse someone else just to find a little box?

 

Log 2 read along the lines, Got the nod on my mobile phone so went out with my torch at just gone midnight.

 

Now I enjoy Geocaching, been to Scotland and found one or two, also the south-west whilst on holiday out with my

caravan. My wife enjoys it as well, but when its when we want to look, not the 30 or 40 a day I've seen some do.

It could become an obsession, but it could become a very dangerous obsession.

Enjoy Geocaching for what it is, A PASTIME OR A HOBBY

Edited by stevieb17
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zarbi&zarbibird

+zarbi&zarbibird

Posted
Posted

Hmmmmmm..........since all the white stuff descended, I've been trying to convince myself that it is just a hobby but I must confess to getting very twitchy! :unsure: Zarbi tends to be the one keeping me in check, he stops me from running off to get FTFs in the evening at bedtime etc. :laughing: It's not about the numbers for us and I can't quite work out what it is that I find so satisfying about finding a geocache. So perhaps those people that are obsessed need to live with a moderating person who can curb their desperation to get their hand's on yet another piece of plastic! ;)

Chrissy

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Deceangi

Deceangi

Posted
Posted

It's a obsession :yikes: I've got a 131 day No Finds Streak, yet in the same period I dealt with more caches. Than the UK's busiest cachers find in a year :yikes:. All those hours put in means I'm either mental or obsessed :yikes:. Though my wife says I'm both :laughing:

 

Deci

 

ps: Geocaching is a R.A.S.H :yikes:

 

Recreational Activity Sporting Hobby :laughing:

 

pps: I was known to rush out at all times of the day and night for a FTF, whatever the weather :laughing:

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Amberel

+Amberel

Posted
Posted (edited)

Having read 2 logs a few days ago, I was asking myself the above question.

Let me explain,

A log of earlier this month read:- Went out in 100mm of snow at -11 degrees along country roads that was icy.

Does this person want to kill himself or even worse someone else just to find a little box?

 

Lots of people went out in the snow for myriad different reasons, not just geocaching. Describing it as "wanting to kill himself or even worse someone else" for doing so is hyperbole.

 

Now I enjoy Geocaching, been to Scotland and found one or two, also the south-west whilst on holiday out with my caravan. My wife enjoys it as well, but when its when we want to look, not the 30 or 40 a day I've seen some do. It could become an obsession, but it could become a very dangerous obsession.

Enjoy Geocaching for what it is, A PASTIME OR A HOBBY

People do all sorts of things for enjoyment that are a lot more dangerous than geocaching. Maybe it's best we all enjoy it in our own way, whether it be obsession, pastime or hobby?

 

Rgds, Andy

Edited by Amberel
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MartyBartfast

+MartyBartfast

Posted
Posted (edited)

 

A log of earlier this month read:- Went out in 100mm of snow at -11 degrees along country roads that was icy.

Does this person want to kill himself or even worse someone else just to find a little box?

 

Log 2 read along the lines, Got the nod on my mobile phone so went out with my torch at just gone midnight.

 

 

I too went out in deep snow with icy roads last weekend however I decided to leave the car at home and did ~13 miles on foot - very nice it was too. I don't agree that going out in a vehicle in snow and ice is necessarily dangerous if you're in a properly equipped vehicle.

 

I've also popped out in the middle of the night to go caching, both as an immediate response to a notification, but also as a planned outing - again night caching can be fun as it adds an extra dimension.

 

To me it's simply a pastime, but some people are a little too enthusiastic if you ask me.

Edited by MartyBartfast
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drsolly

+drsolly

Posted
Posted

 

Enjoy Geocaching for what it is, A PASTIME OR A HOBBY

 

It's a game.

 

I went out in the snow, two weeks ago and again last week.

 

Two weeks ago - I drove round the M25, after checking that it was clear, then along snow-free major roads to the start of the trail. I didn't feel I was driving in dangerous conditions.

 

The route, however ... that was in deepish snow, about 10-20 inches. That made it really exhausting. Plus, I could have slipped and fallen; I rate that as an acceptable risk (I've done a full risk analysis, including several trial falls, and I've determined that it's mostly my dignity that suffers, and with no-one watching, not even that). I wasn't expecting my boots to let in water, so I had very cold feet, and I wasn't expecting it to take twice as long as I'd estimated, because of the slowness of progress in virgin snow. But I didn't fall over even once! I wasn't expecting to have to clamber over trees that had fallen because of the weight of snow, and I was completely whacked out for three days afterwards. But I did find 52/52 in the route, and felt very chuffed about that.

 

One week ago - I went out with Simply Paul; we did 71 caches in a 13 mile route. It was snow-free, but it started snowing for the last few hours, and we did suffer from cold extremeties; several of Paul's fingers might have fallen off, he wasn't sure, and my toes were telling me they were most unhappy. Paul's going to demand a refund on the non-waterproof gloves, and I'm going to downgrade those boots to "dry days only". But we got 71 out of 71 caches, I didn't fall over, and the only casualty was that I broke one of my front teeth after we got back to the car, biting into a piece of flapjack. Although that tooth must have been so weak, that it would have broken on something else - the flapjack wasn't especially hard.

 

And the great thing was, my early Christmas present, the dentist drilled in a peg and built me a new front tooth to replace it!

 

"All I want for Christmas is ..."

 

Where was I? Oh yes. It's a game, in which you can have great adventures, see places you wouldn't have otherwise seen, and do things you wouldn't otherwise have done.

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Cheese Monkey

Cheese Monkey

Posted
Posted

Er, do you not think people might want to go out at night or in the snow to make it more challenging or enjoyable?

 

I drove down snow covered roads, got stuck in a car park, dug the wheels out, walked through 12-18" of snow to try and find 3 caches a few days ago. Fell over loads of times, got stuck in a drift once, and generally had an great time, even though I only found one of them. Planned to get back to the van at 4, got back at half 5 in the dark, virgin snow is heavy going! It makes it more challenging and enjoyable for me.

 

Caching at night is great aswell, particularly on the moors. Its only dangerous if you dont know the risks, I go prepared for being stuck out somewhere with no communications with injurys every time if I'm off road.

 

Please dont tell me how to enjoy what I do, I do things ALOT more dangerous than walking/driving through snow at night, solo free climbing for example. Obsession/pasttime/hobby who really cares, its something I do in my spare time that I enjoy. If you want to stick to completely dry paths, wrapped up in cotton wool doing 2 caches a day, only when the sun is high in the sky, thats great and I hope you enjoy it!

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keehotee

+keehotee

Posted
Posted

Now I enjoy Geocaching, been to Scotland and found one or two, also the south-west whilst on holiday out with my

caravan. My wife enjoys it as well, but when its when we want to look, not the 30 or 40 a day I've seen some do.

It could become an obsession, but it could become a very dangerous obsession.

Enjoy Geocaching for what it is, A PASTIME OR A HOBBY

 

If you feel strongly enough to start a forum thread about it, then yes, I would say it is an obsession, you are obsessed, and my thoughts are with you ;):) LOL

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theplanedr

theplanedr

Posted
Posted

Er, do you not think people might want to go out at night or in the snow to make it more challenging or enjoyable?

 

I drove down snow covered roads, got stuck in a car park, dug the wheels out, walked through 12-18" of snow to try and find 3 caches a few days ago. Fell over loads of times, got stuck in a drift once, and generally had an great time, even though I only found one of them. Planned to get back to the van at 4, got back at half 5 in the dark, virgin snow is heavy going! It makes it more challenging and enjoyable for me.

 

Caching at night is great aswell, particularly on the moors. Its only dangerous if you dont know the risks, I go prepared for being stuck out somewhere with no communications with injurys every time if I'm off road.

 

Please dont tell me how to enjoy what I do, I do things ALOT more dangerous than walking/driving through snow at night, solo free climbing for example. Obsession/pasttime/hobby who really cares, its something I do in my spare time that I enjoy. If you want to stick to completely dry paths, wrapped up in cotton wool doing 2 caches a day, only when the sun is high in the sky, thats great and I hope you enjoy it!

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