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Sport, Hobbie, Lifestyle?


gum-nuts

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Good Morning,

 

Is geocaching a sport? Or a hobbie? Maybe even a lifestyle?

 

I was recently trying to explain geocaching to some colleagues at work (as I was telling them how I sustained a laceration to my forehead while caching!), I went through all the treaure hunting using GPSr and sattelites etc. but then couldnt think is it a sport or a hobbie?

 

I know lots of cachers get competetive about numbers of finds, FTFs etc - therefore is it a sport?

We love the hunt, going to places we wouldn't normally go, the challenge of a cunning hide - so is it a hobbie?

But I also can get obsessed - when can I find my next cache? We are going there for the day, are there any caches? Where can I hide my next cache? I check in on geocaching.com at least once a day (maybe more?) is it a lifestyle or an ADDICTION?

 

What do you think?

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I'm really surprised no one has jumped in here. I suspect that what you call it depends on who you are. The "official" designation is game but it fits into all the terms you have listed and probably several more besides.

 

For the record, to me it is an excuse. An excuse to get off my tail. An excuse to get outside. An excuse to go someplace new. An excuse for lots of things.

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I'm really surprised no one has jumped in here.

 

There have been endless discussions on this on the main forum pages. That may be why lots aren't jumping in.

 

There are a few who shout up and down that it is a sport, and refer to all kinds of definitions of "sports" as proof of this.

 

I think for many it is an obsession. I think it can be many different things to many people. Some, just a hobby or past time.

 

I think it's exploration.

But to me, no matter what else it is, it's got to be fun.

After that, people can call it whatever they want.

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I began Geocaching October 2010. I found 200 in 2010. I believe it is all of the above. I believe it can be competitive if racing with friends to be FTF or competing with friends on who can find the most. I believe it is a lifestyle because it is time consuming and addictive. I too log on once sometimes twice a day. I believe it brings people together and is a very social activity. It's nice meeting other cachers and sharing stories. You start out automatically with one thing in common. I tell everyone it is my hobbie because I do feel like I need to cache everyday to fulfill my need of caching. It is something I do often and enjoy caching, but I am not over the edge yet. This is a great network/organization and I glad I joined. Personally geocaching is my hobbie, but I believe it is different to every individual.

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Discussions about definitions are endless. People are still debating whether professional darts is a sport, even after Phil Taylor came in second for the BBC Sporting Personality of the Year. Why should geocaching be any different?

 

But without any universal rules besides going out and finding a container, geocaching is what you make of it. It is what you define it to be. After hearing a commercial for Kaiser Health Care describing the importance of games in helping us to thrive, I pointed out to my wife that caching was a game so it was important that I take care of myself so that we could thrive together for a long time (rather than do house painting). If you are trying to break a record on a repetitive trail, then it can be a sport -- but in that case should we have mandatory drug testing? If you enjoy putting small containers in a haystack in order to drive other cachers nuts, then it might be a perverse kind of hobby. Measuring the decibel levels of the squeak in a lamp post could be considered a recreational activity. Getting up from a family dinner because you were texted that a new cache appeared only 17 miles away might be a compulsion. In the end, it is what it is.

 

But if a friend asks what I did over the weekend, I usually go with "game" or the "usual compulsion about finding tupperware in the woods."

Edited by mulvaney
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I wouldn't say lifestyle. The term sport and game are largely interchangeable so it's both.

 

Sport

a : a source of diversion : recreation : physical activity engaged in for pleasure

 

Sounds like geocaching to me.

 

Game

a (1) : activity engaged in for diversion or amusement.

 

Sounds like geocaching to me.

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For the record, to me it is an excuse. An excuse to get off my tail. An excuse to get outside. An excuse to go someplace new. An excuse for lots of things.

 

Yep, I agree with this. It's also a sneaky way :ph34r: to get the GeoKids (and sometimes, with some motherly 'persuasion' (a/k/a threats of grounding, but let's not be nit-picky here, hehe) one or more of the GeoTeens) unglued from the TV (gasp!) :P and go spend time doing something definitely different and interesting.

 

There are a number of caches within no more than six miles of us - I mean, OODLES of them - so we don't even have to wander very far (with gas prices and all, that's a GOOD thing! :blink: ) - or, in the alternative, we can go way far if we want to. ;-)

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If it's not an Olympic event it's not a sport.

 

At least that's what my non-geocaching wife tells me. :)

 

Using that criterion baseball and rugby are not sports, yet synchronized swimming and curling are. :blink:

 

I thought there was an olympic baseball competition though? Or was that softball? I totally don't do sports, LOL> :unsure:

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It is a reason to get out from behind my desk and stop working once in awhile! It is also a structured way for me to enjoy nature--and workaholics like me need structure! But it is also a challenge to me, caching has shown me little gems and treasures and it's always that thought that the next cache I find could be the one to teach me something new or show me something brilliant!

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