Anyone else stop caching for years and then come back?

[+hunt4elk]

Howdy,

Sometimes we are obsessed with something and go "whole hog" for a time and then forget why we were so passionate. I forgot how fun geocaching can be for about 10 years until my wife and I decided to go biking in Park City, Utah for our 31st anniversary this week. With the smart phone technology, my wife decided maybe we should look for a few caches while we where out. I had forgotten the joy of hunting for the little treasures. Can't wait for my next find.

 

I'm back,

Hunt4elk

[jholly]

It happens.

[+Zorsicorne]

After my team mate quit on me, I lost motivation for about a year. Grabbed a few caches on a trip to West Virginia after that, but I still didn't have any real motivation to keep GeoCaching.

 

This weekend my daughter and I went to a state park and I remembered that Georgia has a 'Geo-Pass' program where you find a state park sponsored cache and get a stamp in a booklet, as you collect the stamps you can get benchmark coins(Bronze, Silver, Gold, Bonus.) So I took the old GPS out and about with us and we got a stamp. It's really kicked me back into gear and I'm ready to start back with with the vigor I originally had when I started this account.

[Mr.Yuck]

Howdy,

Sometimes we are obsessed with something and go "whole hog" for a time and then forget why we were so passionate. I forgot how fun geocaching can be for about 10 years until my wife and I decided to go biking in Park City, Utah for our 31st anniversary this week. With the smart phone technology, my wife decided maybe we should look for a few caches while we where out. I had forgotten the joy of hunting for the little treasures. Can't wait for my next find.

 

I'm back,

Hunt4elk

 

No. As a matter of fact, my longest "drought" is 15 days, and I started in 2003. Not to toot my own horn, but I think that's pretty good. And I figured out it was during the time in 2004 that a good, but "slow" mechanic had my car for 3 weeks to replace a blown head gasket. I did borrow family members cars, but obviously never ran out caching with them.

 

Enough about me though, there have been threads on this, and I think someone went 9 years without logging a cache. I never met this guy from my area, but his first and second finds were a little over 7 years apart. I just know about him because he came back and hid a few caches in 2008 or so, after hiding one in 2001.

Edited August 26, 2012 by Mr.Yuck

[+briansnat]

There was a similar post a few months ago from a guy who has been away from caching since about 2004 and just got back into it.

[+emmett]

.

 

Shut down all my caches a couple of years ago and have reduced caching to semi-retired status, about a half dozen finds per year. No chance of me placing a cache or paying money unless the Frog takes a serious interest in quality and begins showing basic consideration and respect for the cache owners who make geocaching possible. Sad to say hell is more likely to freeze over first. In my area, many of those who were known to place quality caches have long since stopped. I don't think the Frog cares very much about that.

 

.

[+DsrtMtnRox]

I found a few caches in 2007....Got divorced, he got the GPS and I totally forgot about it and how fun it was until I found out about the app for the smartphones....I was so happy...started caching right away bought a "real" GPS a few months later and I have been a caching nut since then.

[jholly]

.

 

Shut down all my caches a couple of years ago and have reduced caching to semi-retired status, about a half dozen finds per year. No chance of me placing a cache or paying money unless the Frog takes a serious interest in quality and begins showing basic consideration and respect for the cache owners who make geocaching possible. Sad to say hell is more likely to freeze over first. In my area, many of those who were known to place quality caches have long since stopped. I don't think the Frog cares very much about that.

 

.

 

Yes, I remember your geocide. As I recall it was about a 5.5 or so. Glad to see your still around.

[+SwineFlew]

We got someone here in my area that is caching again. Yep, people was talking about it at the event that i was attending yesterday.

[+Scubasonic]

Has not happened to me YET but know several that it has happened too.

Edited August 27, 2012 by Scubasonic

[+redwoodkestrel]

I started caching in 2005 - my first one I found on accident, then I came to the website and was able to find a few others in my area just by reading descriptions. But since I didn't have a GPS, I just kind of forgot about it.

 

In 2008 I had borrowed a GPS to do some of my thesis field work, re-remembered geocaching and used the borrowed GPS to find a couple in my area. Once I returned the GPS and got re-buried in thesis work, geocaching again moved to the back of my mind.

 

It wasn't until last year when I got a smart phone and realized I could cache with it that I really got into geocaching. Bought a GPS soon after and have been thoroughly immersed ever since.

 

So... between late 2005 - mid-2011, total finds = 5.

Mid-2011 - present, total finds = 602.

 

Sometimes I go a few weeks without a find - life gets busy, and that's okay. But I'm pretty sure I'm addicted now and geocaching will be a constant in my life.

[+Mike & Jess]

It's happen to us a couple times. Get busy with the family and everything else in life and don't get out.

 

This year has been like that. Only a couple finds.

Being new to the area we now live in, we have however places a number of hides in cool areas that have not seen a cache yet. Guess that would compensate for our lack of finds.

[+patw4pbj]

I first started caching in July 2001, under the username W4PBJ. Found 4 caches, which was most of what was around here, then life happened and didn't start up again until February of 2012 (under name patw4pbj). Been having fun all over again.

[GPS-Hermit]

I started caching Big time then tapered off due to so many road side caches and other easy ones. I enjoy a great hike and location that I can return to and master. Location to me is everything. For me now, I still love it but it is a short notice, what can I do today activity. I do my research ahead of time and then ready to find when time is availble. So my numbers are slowing down but love those great caches that are out there with something great to see. Show me a new trail network, a view, some exercise and stuff worthy of a picture or some point of real interest! I guess you can say I am off and back on as time permits. I love to hike with my GPS and even if not caching I am looking for another great spot to place one.

Edited August 27, 2012 by GPS-Hermit

[+emmett]

.

 

Shut down all my caches a couple of years ago and have reduced caching to semi-retired status, about a half dozen finds per year. No chance of me placing a cache or paying money unless the Frog takes a serious interest in quality and begins showing basic consideration and respect for the cache owners who make geocaching possible. Sad to say hell is more likely to freeze over first. In my area, many of those who were known to place quality caches have long since stopped. I don't think the Frog cares very much about that.

 

.

 

Yes, I remember your geocide. As I recall it was about a 5.5 or so. Glad to see your still around.

 

 

Yes, I remember you also.

 

.

[+OZ2CPU]

welcome back.. we did it too..

look in our stats.. a big slumber reveal a big brake

but now we are back. this time for real :-)

[+hzoi]

My longest break was 17 days, when I was in the field for an exercise. My goal is to make that the longest break, but we'll see how it goes.

[+theosus]

I took a couple of breaks. had a kid, which slowed it down, then picked back up again. Then slowed down to pretty much just parking lot P&Gs, but started backpacking in the spring, and learned about all the good "classic" caches along hiking trails. There's more to life than film cans and lamp skirts.

[+timbee&suebee]

We bought our first GPSr in 2002 primarily to use for hiking so we could find our way back to the car. We had heard about geocaching so we gave it a try. I don't think there were many caches in our area at the time so it wasn't a hobby we persued much. We found 3 caches in 2002, 1 in 2003, 4 in 2004, 0 in 2005 and 4 in 2006. We had 2 finds in 2008 but only because we were visiting my dad, who is a cacher, and he wanted to go. Then we forgot about it all together. It wasn't until last summer when I was cleaning out a closet and came across our GPSr. I told timbee that we should try that again. We checked geocaching.com and found that there were now lots and lots of caches in our area. We did a couple in June of last year then in October we started going whole hog and making this a regular activity. We had a total of 14 finds in the first 9 years. In the last year we have added 800+ more finds to our statistics and I can't imagine a time that we will stop doing this because its a great way for us to spend time together.

[+cache_test_dummies]

our 31st anniversary this week.

Congratulations!

[+Roman!]

Last year I broke my arm which ended a 138 day streak, I went a whole 4 days without finding a cache, my longest slump to date.

[+SwineFlew]

For me...

 

Longest Slump

32 consecutive days without a find from 07/08/2012 to 08/09/2012

 

[+Glenn]

[clubstew]

I actually joined the site back in 2005 when I got a GPS but the darn thing never worked right for me. I always wondered if it was related to the fact that digital watches don't work on me either (now if only I could harness that "power"!). I lent it to a friend and it worked great for his family, so I sold it at a small loss (it had some use).

 

Earlier this spring I saw the Geocaching Live app for my Windows Phone and decided to get back into it. I also got a Garmin GPSMAP 62s and it works just fine (perhaps I've lost my "power"). Also found a friend that geocaches, though I've tried to convert a couple of others that are more interested in the destination than the journey. Perhaps it's time to join a caching association, which I imagine will help keep me interested.

[+Ma & Pa]

I was going to respond until I realized it said YEARS, not HOURS

[Starship1]

Well I got out in 2005 and just got back in. Now retired, several grandchildren and extra $$$ for the toys and travel, Happy to be back.

Edited September 9, 2012 by Starship1

[+kwitsman]

I started in 2004 with some buggy GPS attachment that plugged into one of the first Windows smartphones that they made. Found a cache or two, but the equipment wasn't up to the job. Two years later, when finances were better, I got a real GPS and got right back in. Three GPSrs later, I am still having fun, but going slowly to stretch out the fun.

Karl

[+Evil Tom]

I quit years back because the technology just was not where it needed to be. It was a lot more frustrating than fun.

[+Glenn]

I quit years back because the technology just was not where it needed to be. It was a lot more frustrating than fun.

I can see a significant difference in my caching stats when I bought a GPS that did paperless geocaching. Before then I loaded caches descriptions on to a PDA and manually entered the coords in to my GPS. And before I had a PDA I would sometimes print off the cache page, sometimes not and manually enter the coords in my GPS. My GPS with paperless caching has allowed me to be a bit more spontaneous when it comes to when I cache.

[+KazumiSun]

I never quit just don't have as much free time on the weekends to go geocaching. Thankfully, I can stay connect to geo by the website

[+Team Woodward]

Mostly due to health issues (bad ticker) and the poor quality of most caches these days I had a nearly 3 year break that just ended. With limited energy it just wasn't worth chasing all these crappy little film canisters hidden at a road sign. I did have a few during this time but didn't get around to logging them (not a numbers guy).

I got a new Spark-O-Matic installed a few fews ago seemingly giving me more energy so Geocaching starts again crappy little film cans and all!

[DarthJustice]

Well, for what it's worth...

 

I found my first cache back in 2008, after a friend--crazy enough one I'm no longer friends with--officially introduced me to geocaching. I say "officially" because I think I had heard about it in passing before, but it was him telling me about it and how he and a few people he knew had recently started. He no longer caches (he was one of the "short lived" cachers, it seems).

 

I realized about a week or two ago that, admittedly while I haven't found all that many since 2008, I haven't found any caches whatsoever this year. My problem is I don't live in a terribly heavy cache area, most of the ones here I've found all the ones I want to go look for (so far), and unfortunately for various reasons I can't just pick up and go to the places where there are more that I haven't found but would like to look for, which is a story I'd rather not get into.

 

Though I wouldn't say I haven't been part of the game at all though since I did hide one earlier this year. But the last one I did find was over a year ago, back in June of last year.

[Cache Quest]

Yes.. 10 years..and time flew by..

 

Cache Quest

(Lots of changes)

[+TerraViators]

For me, I need the occasional break from it, just like anything.

[+gruffpuppy]

We had a 910 day slump. Deaths in the family, career changes, and moving house a couple of times can really play havoc with your streak! But we are back now, and thats what is cool about caching, it will still be there tomorrow.

Greg

[+DragonsWest]

I found 20 caches in 2003 then started again in 2007.

[team tisri]

It comes and goes. In 2008 I found 25 caches in the entire year. In 2009 I was finding 50-60 caches many months. So far in 2013 I've found about 70.

 

For a time I just didn't have time for it, then I had lots of time and explored a lot on the bike using caches as benchmarks, then I found I was more interested in cycling than in geocaching so my find rate dropped a bit, then I lost interest in stopping every half a mile to claim a film pot behind a sign so now my caching is primarily incidental to other things. I tried caching as a primary activity for a few days and enjoyed it more than I thought but still found the proliferation of film pots and keysafes behind road signs got tedious very quickly.

[+Shmitty]

Yup, I think I went 1115 days without a find at one point. My mom got me a GPSr in 2004 (one of the Garmin eTrex models), and I loved it immediately. It was a pain in the butt though. We had to manually enter the coordinates in a not user friendly way. My wife got into it, but broke some rules (logging finds when she admitted in the log she didn't actually find the cache) and got her butt chewed by a local. She quit, and it got harder for me at that point. As my son has gotten older (he's 17 now) it started to get a lot better. I got a new Magellan GPSr for my birthday this March, and we've got over a thousand finds for the year with it. My wife is OK with it now, she'll go along, but won't hunt. Hopefully this spell lasts quite a bit longer (pocket queries make this a lot easier).

[+nthacker66]

yup...for almost 2 years. I felt shunned away so I just gave up. glad I was convinced to come back by an orginal caching friend and then met some new great friends who didn't listen and buy into tales of what a god awful person I am because I push buttons online LOL :laughing:

[+MarkKer]

Yes. I started Geocaching when it was really new, but stopped due to several reasons about 10 years ago.

Restarted last year. I travel a lot on business, so I try to do some caching on those boring weekends which you would otherwise spend in hotels, watching TV. :-)

[+LYHTSPD]

Well, mine is a strange story. I actually joined the website on 03/28/2002 when I was in college. I quickly realized how expensive GPS units were, and bought the cheapest one I found. That thing never worked well enough to do anything with, so I never found my first cache and forgot about the hobby. This past Christmas, I was at a party when I overheard a friend talking about Geocaching. I jumped into the conversation, and it turned out he had just started about 3 months prior. We went to find a cache that night, but I did not log it since I was not even sure my profile was still good. Why would it be after nearly 11 years? The next day I came here and would you believe that I still remembered my login? And it was still there! I officially logged my first cache on 03/24/2013, and have been having fun with it since.

Edited August 15, 2013 by LYHTSPD

[+northerndm]

I originally joined in 2006 but the GPS I had at that time (and still do ) was painful to use. I had to manually enter the coordinates using the wonderful joystick. Well after a few attempts to find caches and manually entering coordinates, I left. Then I visited a friend this summer who showed me geocaching with the new GPS units. Wow, was I impressed. No more manually entering as all you had to do was hook it up to the computer and you could download everything you needed.

 

Well I'm back and enjoying life with the new GPS.

 

And like LYHTSPD, I too was pleasantly surprised to find that my user name and password were still good