Jump to content

What is the point of Geocaching?


dirt_empire

Recommended Posts

There are so many reasons. For me:

1) Great way to have a fun day with spouse.

2) It appeals to the engineer nerd in me.

3) The wonderful aha! of finding a well hidden cache, or a super clever one.

4) Great way to get much needed exercise. Try geo-biking!

5) It takes me to interesting places. So many surprise gems even in my neighborhood.

6) Its fun to go on this website, read the logs, check the stats.

Link to comment

So back when I started geocaching (October/November of 2010) I remember reading somewhere that the point of geocaching was to bring people to interesting places they would normally not visit/see.

 

A little over a year on I question whether everyone believes in that; I see many caches that were just dropped somewhere of no importance, often just to have been placed there. My intent when placing caches is to specifically place them somewhere interesting you may not normally find, or to provide some odd form of entertainment. I also view it as a way to showcase your creatvity in hides and containers, thereby justifying hiding spots that are of no particular importance.

 

This being the case I'm trying to figure out why YOU geocache. Specifically why you place things where you do, but also to see why you got into the activity.

 

And... go!

 

I believe in it. I do, I do, I do believe in spooo.. special geocaches!

 

That doesn't mean I expect to find the most special everywhere, sometimes it's fun being out with a group (like when a bunch of us got into my Rabbit o' Doom and cached our way up to the Caveman Cache!) or the Death March I was on this past Sunday. Sometimes spectacular places are made more spectacular when a geocacher draws you to a totally awesomes place. (Example log entry) Sometimes on the way there I find totally awesomes places, like Milo McIver State Park, near GC12 & GC17 in Oregon. Sometimes it's an utterly hilarious cache in an otherwise unremarkable place (and you have even more fun with it.

 

Sometimes when I'm hiding caches I try very much to take people to places I find beauty in, such as my first placement.

 

Sometimes it isn't about the numbers, but as Dr. Seuss wrote, "Oh, The Places You'll Go"

 

Let Geocaching take you there.

Link to comment

Let Geocaching take you there.

 

I will be the first to agree that caching has brought me to some wonderful places that I never would have discovered on my own. I never would have walked through the Tunnel of Light if the APE cache had not been there. I would not have stood at the Toroweap overlook, 60 miles from anywhere, 3000 feet above the Grand Canyon, if the One Giant Step virtual had not intrigued me. Even urban caching has brought me to places that I had a great time exploring -- abandoned buildings, street art, and a rusty giant crane that my daughter and I climbed to enjoy the view from the operator's room. Geocaching is not an "end all, be all" to me, but it can provide a useful focus for a lengthy hike or a walk during lunch at work. And it is possible to find any number of adventures while caching that have little to do with a hidden container.

 

The find has always been the least important aspect of caching. So in that respect I am getting less and less inclined to cache just to cache. We are planning a trip that will take us to ET land. I am going to have a couple of days there to do whatever I want, and even a year ago I would have done a significant amount of caching. But caching is not going to take me to at least seven major petroglyph sites in the area or ghost towns along the way. It will take me to a boot hill, the "lunar crater" and some other interesting locations. So my priorities are clear. Sometimes caching will take you there. At other times, life is too short for it.

Link to comment

As a separate aside, questions about points make methink of Niilson's "The Point."

 

Oblio said, "Well, it's just that we did go to the Pointless Forest and it's not pointless at all. In fact, the trees pointed." "No." from the crowd. "And all the leaves on all the branches pointed." "No." from the crowd. "In fact, even the branches pointed. And not only that, but everyone we met, in the entire Pointless Forest had a point. And it's just that, well, it's just like here. And we figure that since everything has a point, then I must have one too. " Just then someone in the crowd yelled out, "He's got a point there!"

Link to comment

 

Another open question.

 

As well, does every interesting cache need to have swag? I have a lovely cache that will hold no swag but is extremely crafty and entertaining. Just because it doesn't have the ability to contain swag does that make it any less valid?

 

Absolutely not, i've just had a micro published which i consider to be very amusing and unusual, which a lot of planning and effort went into. It's a shame though that some may miss it by mass-avoiding micros via PQ, but i don't blame them for that, it's an unfortunate consequence of all the trash micros out there.

Link to comment

 

As well, does every interesting cache need to have swag? I have a lovely cache that will hold no swag but is extremely crafty and entertaining. Just because it doesn't have the ability to contain swag does that make it any less valid?

 

I like many others don't care about swag at all. I don't think I've ever once done any swaps. I'm only interested in signing the log book and that's it. All the other stuff just gets in the way and stops me closing the lid again.

Link to comment

I've only be caching for ... ummm... a little over a week ... maybe... but I'm already tired of micro's on parking signs and small's in lamp posts! BUT! (always a but...) But, I have to say that as caretaker for a person in a wheelchair, that I have to take with me on 97% of my outtings, I am grateful for SOMETHING to hunt that I can do that with! Hiding things for handicap accessibility really must be hard! So they DO have their place! And of course, it's nice for little kids to find something "easy" from time to time! There's that too! (and those "challenged" individuals Jack Black speaks of...)

 

But MOSTLY I have to say that I have already developed a fine appreciation for either a well hidden cache... or a very creative cache! Either one will tickle me silly! And of course, those are the ones I will "favorite"! I LOVE to get out and tromp through the woods and go for the gusto caches... yet I still appreciate the not so creative caches too. Sometimes. :P

Link to comment

Initially, I started Geocaching because I'm an adventurous person, and this seemed like the perfect way to adventure and have fun, keep up on my exercise, and get out of the house! However, I was giving it some thought while I was hiking through the woods to a cache that I was looking for, and if you think about it on a deeper level, you're not just adventuring; you're not just expressing your inner child and going on a treasure hunt of sorts. No, it's much more than that to me... To me, you're leaving your mark on the world; a footprint, if you will. Even if it's only a cache that's hidden somewhere in your hometown, you're still leaving a footprint of sorts, saying that you were there. Think about it; say you become a CEO for a multi-national company, and you travel across the U.S. on a business trip. While you're there, you have some spare time, and you find and log a few Geocaches; people will be able to look you up on this website and see that you came from across the country and left your log there! Image in you did that across the world, and not just the country; say you traveled to Japan and left a log! That's a footprint of yours on the other side of the world! It's amazing!

 

That's why I Geocache; it's fun, it's an adventure, and it's a way for me to leave my footprints on the world. Not to mention, it's a fun way to bond and have fun with family and friends, as well as stay in shape! The scenery isn't bad either, especially when hiking through some lush, green forests or woodlands! :D

Link to comment

Another open question.

 

As well, does every interesting cache need to have swag? I have a lovely cache that will hold no swag but is extremely crafty and entertaining. Just because it doesn't have the ability to contain swag does that make it any less valid?

 

Absolutely not, i've just had a micro published which i consider to be very amusing and unusual, which a lot of planning and effort went into. It's a shame though that some may miss it by mass-avoiding micros via PQ, but i don't blame them for that, it's an unfortunate consequence of all the trash micros out there.

 

Around year 7 of geocaching I too started to tire of the micros because 95% of them were placed with no planning, effort, investment or creativity. So I filtered them out. Then along came the Favorite Vote and now I will hunt for micros that get favorite votes and have great comments in the logs. :) Your recent fairy micro is definitely the type of micro I'd be interested in.

Link to comment

My wife and I started geocaching as another way to get some exercise/get out of the house (working odd hours, 24/7 caches are a godsend). Plus we thought it would be cool to get my little brother and sister into it since they're active kids with tons of energy to burn. They didn't really take to it though.

 

We continue to do it because it's fun and challenging. It gives us something to do when running errands (yay P&G's), on road trips (sometimes it's the excuse for said trip) and even helped us find areas of the city we live in that we never knew about or explored. We've even met some cool people.

Edited by Team Empty Planet
Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...