What's Your Best Reason to Geocache?

[+tielyn]

Hiya folks.

 

Having been bitten by the cache bug earlier this year, I'm busy trying to introduce it to anyone who thinks my -other- habit (NaNoWriMo) is crazy. I'm a member of a Toastmasters club to learn better public speaking, and project #8 involves Visual Aids. Naturally, I figured showcasing www.geocaching.com, bringing in a GPS, a geocoin, and a TB I just found today would be some good talking points. But the other aspect of the project is to convince people to take action, and this is where I could use some thoughts.

 

What's your reason for geocaching, month after month, year after year? What keeps it interesting to you?

 

By default, I'm going with:

- It's great incentive to exercise. I get out more often in a month than I did all of last year. Rain or shine (mostly shine, since clouds mess up my signal), hot or cold, light or dark, I'm on a mission to make 200 finds by the end of the year without resorting to a power trail. I make a point of parking in a central location and then walking to all the caches instead of parking next to them when I can.

- It's fun to explore -- and sometimes educational. I've found so many cool places, places I'd otherwise just drive by and never know about, because other geocachers have left a cache there which made me come there. Today's was a little bird estuary observation point with picnic tables and informative placards about the wetlands.

- It's a mental challenge as much as a physical challenge. Besides the puzzle cache types, the GPS only gets you to the area. You have to sometimes think like the person doing the hide -- where would you put a cache in this area?

- Learning the place you live in. -- I've lived in the area for 17 years now, and yet it's only recently I've seen more back roads, side roads, and cross-town expressways than I can recall because I actually haven't been just driving point A to point B and back home. I'm starting to get a really good feel of where the major roads cross each other. I used to get lost pretty easily, but if I've been to a cache nearby, I know where I am because I've been there before.

- It's encouragement to go out and do something -- even for folks who hate travel. -- There have been times where I've really not wanted to go somewhere (a dentist, classes for work, that sort of thing) but then I check to see if there are nearby caches and suddenly I'm motivated to go. ("Oh, a distant cousin's wedding? Hey, I haven't been to that state yet, and I can hit two other nearby states and get web badges?")

 

If there are other reasons not listed above that you'd like to share, let me know. I'll give you credit in Powerpoint by your caching name during the speech if I use your reason.

 

Kind regards,

-Tielyn

Edited November 22, 2011 by tielyn

[+StarBrand]

Number 1 - its a great way to spend time with family exploring the great outdoors.

[+Lieblweb]

To Add:

 

It's inexpensive!!!! What I mean is....compared to some of the other hobbies I've been in, this is by far the easiest on the wallet. GPS, a vehicle, and some gas....no special equipment needed.

 

It's meets everyone's schedule!! What I mean is.... you can pack up the family and go geocaching anywhere & anytime when its convenient for you!!

 

It makes your upcoming vacations even more exciting!

[+Coldgears]

To prove i've been to a location. Why should I go to a place if I can't prove I was there? I won't visit any-place, even if it is fun, if I can't prove it.

[+dfx]

Gives you a reason to get out of the house.

[+Team Pixos]

Exercise

Family time

Surprise

Brain exercise

[+CanadaKate]

It's almost a cliche in our house ... one or the other says "I'd never have know this [park/monument/trail/view] was here if there hadn't been a cache."

[+gnjeepn]

We started mainly for the exercise. But we have found that it has given us much more. We have found some awesome parks and scenic locations that we never knew existed. Many very close to home. We have come to enjoy some of the challenges that many CO's put out there. We also enjoy the uniqueness of many caches that we find. But probably the best is the new friends we have met through Geocaching. Geocachers tend to be the nicest most helpful people we know.

[+niraD]

Sometimes, it's an excuse for a trip, whether that trip is a short detour on my bike commute, a long hike through the woods, a drive somewhere off the beaten path, or a chance to try something new (e.g., kayaking).

 

Sometimes, it's about interesting places, whether those places are historic, scenic, or artistic. (I especially enjoy caches that draw attention to public art.)

 

Sometimes, it's about the challenge, whether the challenge is solving a puzzle, finding a well-camouflaged cache, or retrieving a cleverly placed container. (I especially enjoy on-site puzzles and caches with 4-star camouflage.)

 

And sometimes it's about companionship, although I don't make it to events, unevents, and group hikes very often...

[+BMndFul]

My insatiable fetish for lamp posts and 35mm film containers.

[+briansnat]

The cool places it brings me and the wonderful people I meet.

[+Snoogans]

I do it to suppliment my diet. I find a lot of yummy food in caches and sometimes on the

Edited November 23, 2011 by Snoogans

[Night_Hiker]

constructive fun with friends but still kinda feels like ur going under the radar to give people that adrenaline rush

[+power69]

I have a strange tupperware fetish.

[+Manville Possum]

I enjoy showing others places that I find interesting. I'm also a Waymarker for this same reason, and have developed a few challanges in interesting locations. I love the outdoors, and geocaching takes me there to many places that I would not know about if someone had not taken the time to create a listing at a site.

[AZcachemeister]

It gets me out of the house to (hopefully) visit an interesting location I wouldn't have known about otherwise.

Doubly so when on vacation or visiting an area outside my normal range.

Do I want a tour of strip-mall parking lots in Houston?

NO!

Please show me the COOL places!

[+Patturgeon10.4]

It's a great way to explore towns you've never been to. I've learned more about the history of areas I've been through caching than I think I would've from the local tourism boards.

[+jellis]

Besides getting me off the couch and to explore the outside. I do it when I feel down or depressed because I get focused on the cache and not my problems.

[+BAMBOOZLE]

It's almost a cliche in our house ... one or the other says "I'd never have know this [park/monument/trail/view] was here if there hadn't been a cache."

This.

We've always liked traveling ,taking pictures, and seeing new things and caching was a perfect fit. It dosen't hurt to like gadgets.

[+tielyn]

Hiya again --

 

I gave the speech today, and everyone loved it. Turns out two of our members were sometimes-cachers, and one member who had heard of it but never tried it was enthusiastic enough that she intends to go play when she visits her nieces and nephews this weekend. I brought a pseudo-cache container with me, and passed around a travel bug and a geocoin, and gave a demo of the geocaching site afterwards at lunch.

 

Thank you all for your comments and input -- the one lady said, "Wow, there are -that- many people doing this?" and one of the other members said that he found out about geocaching because he caught someone wandering down a creek bed and sticking something in a lamppost.

 

edited to add: One of the more complimentary things my speech reviewer said was that they were more likely to give it a try because it seemed like a great team event and a great community out there, since the way I set up my slides was I alternated various people's reasons with snapshots from the site or that I'd taken on the hunt to correspond with what all of you were saying. Y'all rock.

 

-Tielyn

 

PS. I followed the link and now I finally get the Euwell Gibbons joke.

Edited November 29, 2011 by tielyn

[+wimseyguy]

Sorry I'm late to the thread-my very smart and pretty wife says that the main attraction is to be able to act like little boys and girls and go play in the woods all over again.

[+Lieblweb]

Sorry I'm late to the thread-my very smart and pretty wife says that the main attraction is to be able to act like little boys and girls and go play in the woods all over again.

 

Amen!!

 

There's a song that comes to mind that fits this scenario for us older cachers....by Toby Keith. "I ain't as good as I once was"