collecting countries

[+ecanderson 597]

On 1/18/2020 at 5:50 AM, funkymunkyzone said:

 

While Japan is a long way behind western countries in acceptance of tattoos, those attitudes are changing.  Largely the younger generation are more accepting (and in fact more and more are getting tattoos themselves).  In my trravels I've met a bunch of japanese people that are heavily tattooed (guys mostly).  Or maybe they were all yakuza...

What we thought was a hoot, and is a combination of the off-topics here, was when we saw a couple of well-tattoo'd bikers riding down the road with jackets emblazoned with silver studs on the back the saying "We Are Joyful Tourists".

 

Certainly wish I had known about geocaching back when I was still traveling in Asia for business.  Sometimes I look at the gc.com map for the places I worked and stayed.  Heck, there was one just outside in the little plaza where I always stayed in Tokyo -- never had any idea anything was there, or that I could be looking for it.  All added up, spent a year of my life there, and never scored a single cache!

[+terratin 345]

New country souvenir this month: Vatican City State.

 

I was just looking at European microstates for a long weekend trip this year, but could not get any half affordable flights.

[+funkymunkyzone 533]

1 hour ago, terratin said:

New country souvenir this month: Vatican City State.

 

I was just looking at European microstates for a long weekend trip this year, but could not get any half affordable flights.

 

You're already in Europe aren't you? (*cough* Brexit jokes aside)  How about driving there? For a slightly longer long weekend of course...

[+terratin 345]

2 minutes ago, funkymunkyzone said:

 

You're already in Europe aren't you? (*cough* Brexit jokes aside)  How about driving there? For a slightly longer long weekend of course...

 

Hmm.. that would blow the costs even more and take rather long. Not a good idea. For me that would be a trip to Monaco, Gibraltar or Andorra (French toll roads and a huge trip), most Channel Islands or Isle of Man (long-ish trip with car ferry). I'm still missing Iceland as well, but I'll keep that for a proper long vacation with a 4x4 one day. Two Baltic states are still missing as well. Not sure one's allowed to take a rental car to them as they're not EU (I have two bikes, but no car).

 

Not sure if I forgot something. I have Faroe, Malta, Liechtenstein, Aland, Vatican, Luxemburg, and one Channel Island (Alderney).

[+funkymunkyzone 533]

2 hours ago, terratin said:

 

Hmm.. that would blow the costs even more and take rather long.

I know, it was rather tongue-in-cheek.... although personally I love road-trips like that

 

2 hours ago, terratin said:

Two Baltic states are still missing as well. Not sure one's allowed to take a rental car to them as they're not EU (I have two bikes, but no car).

I don't think the Baltic states are a problem, unless you're talking Russia.  I've taken a Peugeot Eurolease car (yes I know that's not actually a rental) through the Baltics and down through the Balkans as well.  Never had to show documentation through Scandinavia or the Baltics, just drive across the border or on and off ferries.

[+HHL 657]

2 hours ago, terratin said:

Two Baltic states are still missing as well. Not sure one's allowed to take a rental car to them as they're not EU

That's wrong.

 

Hans

Edited February 19, 2020 by HHL

[+Viajero Perdido 874]

On 1/21/2020 at 1:44 AM, funkymunkyzone said:

For me, the perfect trip is one where I've got the flights booked, I've got my transport booked (rental vehicle for maximum flexibility) and *maybe* the first night of accommodation booked. 

 

I'm in the spontaneity camp.  Book flights and the first night or three of hotel, then see what happens.  I love the flexibility.

 

I had some great flights figured out for Japan (new country!), would've been there right now, and almost clicked Buy, but spontaneously dropped the idea completely.  That virus.

 

I'm going into bunker mode for a while until I figure out what's really going on...

 

(Argh, I keep doing this: replying to a stale post, sorry.)

 

Edited February 20, 2020 by Viajero Perdido

[+Gill & Tony 338]

We were in China last year, so avoided that trouble.  Our next trip is round Australia with a day in Alotau.  Unlikely to get a new country, but should complete the set of Australian states. 

[+funkymunkyzone 533]

4 hours ago, terratin said:

I have Faroe, Malta, Liechtenstein, Aland, Vatican, Luxemburg, and one Channel Island (Alderney).

 

For me to complete Europe, aside from the eastern countries (from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Modova, Turkey and further east) I think I just need Malta, Sark and Faroe Islands to complete western Europe.

[+colleda 874]

30 minutes ago, Gill & Tony said:

We were in China last year, so avoided that trouble.  Our next trip is round Australia with a day in Alotau.  Unlikely to get a new country, but should complete the set of Australian states. 

My wife and I were in China during SARS. We only knew there was a problem due to one of our group phoning home for news updates otherwise it was business as usual.

[+colleda 874]

34 minutes ago, Gill & Tony said:

We were in China last year, so avoided that trouble.  Our next trip is round Australia with a day in Alotau.  Unlikely to get a new country, but should complete the set of Australian states. 

I've been to Alotau and the only way cachers get a smiley there is by setting up an event beforehand. Unless there's another cacher on the ship it's a no show. I could have done the same but it wouldn't have felt right.

[+Gill & Tony 338]

22 minutes ago, colleda said:

I've been to Alotau and the only way cachers get a smiley there is by setting up an event beforehand. Unless there's another cacher on the ship it's a no show. I could have done the same but it wouldn't have felt right.

There's an earthcache there, so I may try for that if there's time.  Not that worried, though.

[+colleda 874]

4 hours ago, Gill & Tony said:

There's an earthcache there, so I may try for that if there's time.  Not that worried, though.

 

4 hours ago, Gill & Tony said:

There's an earthcache there, so I may try for that if there's time.  Not that worried, though.

I saw one when I researched Alotao.

This ?

GC6CCPJ

 

It's a long way (guessing about 60k by water) from Alotau, just a little uninhabited atoll out in the Solomon sea. I thought I may have got close enough on the way to Kiriwati(?) but it would have night and I don't expect the cruise ship would stop to let me score it anyway.

It would be doable by hiring a fast, reliable boat that could do 30kts  would get you there in about an hour or so. Not withstanding strong, currents/tides/wind cyclones. It would be an adventure.

BUT, I think some cruise ships (not mine - the Noordam) may stop somewhere close by, possibly P&O. Now that would be handy.

 

[+Gill & Tony 338]

There is a get-out-of-jail-free clause in the logging requirements "If you happen to only pass one of the nearby reefs I consider that a find as a guided trip may not pass the exact spot marked in the listing. Please add those coordinates to your log."

 

I'm hoping that the cruise ship passes close enough to a reef somewhere so I can take advantage of that.  I've already researched the answers.   If not, not a problem, but I live in hope.

[+terratin 345]

10 hours ago, HHL said:

That's wrong.

 

Hans

yikes! That went very wrong *blush*

[+colleda 874]

2 hours ago, Gill & Tony said:

There is a get-out-of-jail-free clause in the logging requirements "If you happen to only pass one of the nearby reefs I consider that a find as a guided trip may not pass the exact spot marked in the listing. Please add those coordinates to your log."

 

I'm hoping that the cruise ship passes close enough to a reef somewhere so I can take advantage of that.  I've already researched the answers.   If not, not a problem, but I live in hope.

I'm a slow thinker and it wasn't until the day after we passed the spot that I remembered I could have had my GPS tracking the ships course. That could have given me a chance at close coordinate. I had an ocean view cabin where, in the past and since, I can sit the Garmin and have it tracking while I sleep. Wouldn't work with an inside cabin.

[+on4bam 1503]

Two new countries planned for this year. Flights, accommodation and rental cars are booked and I 'm slowly preparing possible caches trying to select as many different cachetypes as possible. No problem for the first destination (Ljubljana) but not easy for Namibia (Traditional,  Multi,  Earthcache, Mystery only). The only virtual may be visited if we have the time but that's not likely as it adds more than 1.5 hours to our itinerary for that day.

 

 

[+funkymunkyzone 533]

3 hours ago, Gill & Tony said:

There is a get-out-of-jail-free clause in the logging requirements "If you happen to only pass one of the nearby reefs I consider that a find as a guided trip may not pass the exact spot marked in the listing. Please add those coordinates to your log."

 

Wow, a locationless earthcache... 

 

Something tells me that clause was probably not there when the cache was reviewed.

 

But I suppose this is not a topic about earthcaches...

[+hzoi 1585]

22 hours ago, terratin said:

I was just looking at European microstates for a long weekend trip this year, but could not get any half affordable flights.

 

Nice is the best bet for flying to Monaco, it's not a bad (45 min?) train ride from there.  We got a decent Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt. 

 

I can't remember who we flew to get to Barcelona, but we rented a car for a day trip to Andorra from there.

 

I have no advice for flights to get to Liechtenstein - we drove down from Wiesbaden to the Interlaachen area, then drove to Liechtenstein before coming back home.

 

We visited Bucharest this weekend to add Romania to our list.  It's a very spread-out city - Riga and Vilnius were much easier to navigate on foot.  We did not hesitate to use the Bucharest metro, and we still walked a bit.  Probably should have used trams and buses more, but we tend to walk.  An interesting mix of some Parisian-style architecture (and boulevards, boulevards, boulevards!), Orthodox churches, and brutalist concrete apartment blocks.

Edited February 20, 2020 by hzoi

[+NYPaddleCacher 1840]

16 hours ago, colleda said:

My wife and I were in China during SARS. We only knew there was a problem due to one of our group phoning home for news updates otherwise it was business as usual.

 

I was in Africa during the Ebola crises.  However, I was in Ethiopia, which was a greater distance than the cases in Texas from where I live in New York.

[+NYPaddleCacher 1840]

40 minutes ago, hzoi said:

 

Nice is the best bet for flying to Monaco, it's not a bad (45 min?) train ride from there.  We got a decent Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt. 

 

I can't remember who we flew to get to Barcelona, but we rented a car for a day trip to Andorra from there.

 

I have no advice for flights to get to Liechtenstein - we drove down from Wiesbaden to the Interlaachen area, then drove to Liechtenstein before coming back home.

 

We visited Bucharest this weekend to add Romania to our list.  It's a very spread-out city - Riga and Vilnius were much easier to navigate on foot.  We did not hesitate to use the Bucharest metro, and we still walked a bit.  Probably should have used trams and buses more, but we tend to walk.  An interesting mix of some Parisian-style architecture (and boulevards, boulevards, boulevards!), Orthodox churches, and brutalist concrete apartment blocks.

 

When I visited Barcelona I had flown to Marseille via Frankfurt, then took the train to Montpellier (where I attended a conference/meeting for three days), then took the train to Barcelona and flew home from there.   I also visited Luxembourg by train, taking an overnight trip from Hasselt, Belgium.

[+terratin 345]

10 hours ago, on4bam said:

Two new countries planned for this year. Flights, accommodation and rental cars are booked and I 'm slowly preparing possible caches trying to select as many different cachetypes as possible. No problem for the first destination (Ljubljana) but not easy for Namibia (Traditional,  Multi,  Earthcache, Mystery only). The only virtual may be visited if we have the time but that's not likely as it adds more than 1.5 hours to our itinerary for that day.

 

 

 

Nice! Looks like you have great plans for this year.

 

I nearly booked a 40 euro return flight to Sofia, but figured arriving at just before midnight is maybe not the best thing. I'll pass this. The next round of offers will come sooner or later. So for me this year it's Tokyo, Prague and Montenegro (with trips into Croatia, Bosnia and maybe Serbia).

[+on4bam 1503]

2 hours ago, terratin said:

I nearly booked a 40 euro return flight to Sofia, but figured arriving at just before midnight is maybe not the best thing. I'll pass this. The next round of offers will come sooner or later. So for me this year it's Tokyo, Prague and Montenegro (with trips into Croatia, Bosnia and maybe Serbia).

 

The trip to Ljubljana was not our first choice (we were thinking about Split for a short getaway) but we wanted a destination with direct flights from BRU. We then noticed that the ticketprice was half if we left  on a Wednesday compared to a Thursday so we were still better off going for the extra day + extra hotelnight and on top of that renting a car via the airline got us a cheap rate. BTW, the flight costs only €6, the rest of the price are taxes. The original "long weekend" plan quickly became a 6 day trip

[+Vooruit! 58]

22 hours ago, on4bam said:

Two new countries planned for this year. Flights, accommodation and rental cars are booked and I 'm slowly preparing possible caches trying to select as many different cachetypes as possible. No problem for the first destination (Ljubljana) but not easy for Namibia (Traditional,  Multi,  Earthcache, Mystery only). The only virtual may be visited if we have the time but that's not likely as it adds more than 1.5 hours to our itinerary for that day.

 

 

 

Haha, nice to see I'm not the only one wanting to find as many different cache types in every country I visit. I've got a fitting challenge cache in the pipeline, for which the checker is already online: https://project-gc.com/Challenges/GC8JTHP/44683. It requires you to find at least 100 country/cache types combinations.

[+on4bam 1503]

6 minutes ago, Vooruit! said:

 

Haha, nice to see I'm not the only one wanting to find as many different cache types in every country I visit. I've got a fitting challenge cache in the pipeline, for which the checker is already online: https://project-gc.com/Challenges/GC8JTHP/44683. It requires you to find at least 100 country/cache types combinations.

 

LOL... I have 114 and "only" 100 needed. The problem is that at some destinations there are not many type available. Traditional and Earthcache is possible most of the time but Wherigo and even multi  can be a challenge especially in more "exotic" locations (Greenland, Falklands.... ) .

 

[+terratin 345]

41 minutes ago, Vooruit! said:

 

Haha, nice to see I'm not the only one wanting to find as many different cache types in every country I visit. I've got a fitting challenge cache in the pipeline, for which the checker is already online: https://project-gc.com/Challenges/GC8JTHP/44683. It requires you to find at least 100 country/cache types combinations.

wow, nice! I also always try to get as many cache types in a country as possible. Unless I don’t feel like it. I have 208 combinations 

[+Gill & Tony 338]

I just sneak in with 100 exactly

[+IceColdUK 1042]

6 hours ago, terratin said:

wow, nice! I also always try to get as many cache types in a country as possible. Unless I don’t feel like it. I have 208 combinations 

Very impressive!  I’m up to 145:

 

http://www.icecoldinalex.co.uk/misc/geocaching/cachetypes.php

 

First caching trips to Hungary and Austria planned for May - flying out (from London) to Budapest and back from Vienna.  Flights £150 for the two of us, and that includes a checked bag for my wife, who’s not the biggest fan of geocaching or travelling light! 😉  Train from Budapest to Vienna is an absolute bargain: less than £25 for the two of us.

 

And off to Dublin for a long-weekend with some caching buddies in June. 🙂

Edited February 21, 2020 by IceColdUK

[+colleda 874]

I only make it to 69. I guess it's mostly because on my travels, I generally restrict myself to Trads, Virtuals and the occasional Earthcache.

Yes, I like to increase my find numbers. I prefer to find, say, six traditionals during a cruise port stop than one long six stage Multi.

[+on4bam 1503]

6 hours ago, colleda said:

Yes, I like to increase my find numbers. I prefer to find, say, six traditionals during a cruise port stop than one long six stage Multi.

 

Given the choice, I'll take the multi

I already selected a few in Ljubljana as the  WPs are at touristic highlights we'll visit anyway. It takes a lot of reading listings  and logs though. Looking at the images helps too if WPs are not given. Then there are the mysteries, I have solved many that were too far away from the posted coordinates and probably missed some were the posted coordinates were "too far" but GZ was near places we visited. We don't "go caching" on holiday so it all has to fit in, a small detour is OK but we won't spend hours just to find caches. Just one exception, when our flight out of the Falklands was cancelled (heavy winds) we had to spend the day there after re-organizing our connecting flight and accommodation. We just went out to find a few caches while trying not to get blown away. Not too many to find there anyway.

OTOH we found a few nice and very quiet spots in Venice because there was a cache there. No tourists around, real hidden gems.

 

[+terratin 345]

*sigh* had an idea for a trip to Heligoland. Not a new country, but at least a new federal country. But obviously there's no accommodation left for the few weeks in summer where the boat returns at mid-day, and hotels are prohibitively expensive near the port in summer as well. Not a good idea.

[+on4bam 1503]

7 minutes ago, terratin said:

 and hotels are prohibitively expensive near the port in summer as well

 

The perks of being retired

We've always had to take our holidays in summer (3 weeks, the week of July 21st was always the 2nd week). Most expensive flights, accommodation, rentals.... We now let flight ticketprices decide our holiday dates (weekday flights instead of weekends).

[+terratin 345]

1 hour ago, on4bam said:

 

The perks of being retired

We've always had to take our holidays in summer (3 weeks, the week of July 21st was always the 2nd week). Most expensive flights, accommodation, rentals.... We now let flight ticketprices decide our holiday dates (weekday flights instead of weekends).

 

I don't need to be retired for that But if you want to do a trip to Germany's only offshore island then summer has the best chance of the trip not being cancelled due to stormy weather. And the two summer months are the only time you can stay on the island and travel back around noon instead of the evening.

[+colleda 874]

12 hours ago, on4bam said:

OTOH we found a few nice and very quiet spots in Venice because there was a cache there. No tourists around, real hidden gems.

 

This was our (and is still my) #1 reason for geocaching in foreign places.

[+funkymunkyzone 533]

On 2/21/2020 at 9:16 PM, Vooruit! said:

 

Haha, nice to see I'm not the only one wanting to find as many different cache types in every country I visit. I've got a fitting challenge cache in the pipeline, for which the checker is already online: https://project-gc.com/Challenges/GC8JTHP/44683. It requires you to find at least 100 country/cache types combinations.

 

255 for me. Thought it would be higher, definitely have some work to do to increase variety

[+Da Wards 3]

On 2/21/2020 at 3:16 PM, Vooruit! said:

 

Haha, nice to see I'm not the only one wanting to find as many different cache types in every country I visit. I've got a fitting challenge cache in the pipeline, for which the checker is already online: https://project-gc.com/Challenges/GC8JTHP/44683. It requires you to find at least 100 country/cache types combinations.

 

We are currently sitting at 101. We just picked up three types last week in Cambodia. Now in Laos but haven’t gone caching yet. I love trying for different cache types wherever we end up.

[+barefootjeff 3853]

On 2/22/2020 at 12:12 PM, colleda said:

I only make it to 69. I guess it's mostly because on my travels, I generally restrict myself to Trads, Virtuals and the occasional Earthcache.

Yes, I like to increase my find numbers. I prefer to find, say, six traditionals during a cruise port stop than one long six stage Multi.

 

I only have 12. Is there a prize for the lowest? 9 types in Australia and 3 in New Zealand. Clearly I need to get out more.

[+on4bam 1503]

21 minutes ago, barefootjeff said:

 

I only have 12. Is there a prize for the lowest? 9 types in Australia and 3 in New Zealand. Clearly I need to get out more.

I have 12 in NZ and Oz too. 2 times 6 on a total of 207 finds. I need a letterbox in Oz and Wherigo in NZ

[+hzoi 1585]

On 2/21/2020 at 9:16 AM, Vooruit! said:

I've got a fitting challenge cache in the pipeline, for which the checker is already online: https://project-gc.com/Challenges/GC8JTHP/44683. It requires you to find at least 100 country/cache types combinations.

 

We have 138 so far.  I'd've thought more, but it turns out there are plenty we visited and only logged a handful of traditionals.  I bet if we went back to several of those, we'd at least have virtuals now, too.

[+Harry Dolphin 1170]

I've only cached in two countries, but I have Locationless in 8 countries.

[+CAVinoGal 663]

11 hours ago, barefootjeff said:

I only have 12. Is there a prize for the lowest? 9 types in Australia and 3 in New Zealand. Clearly I need to get out more.

 

I have 11.    9 in the US, 2 in Mexico.

[+NYPaddleCacher 1840]

Although I've found caches in 30 countries, I only had 56 country/cache combos.  That may be because finding a lot, or a variety of types has never been a priority when I have geocached while traveling.  It may also be that I've primarily traveled for my job and often don't have a lot of free time for geocaching.   I almost always try to find some time but it's usually very limited unless I specifically schedule some extra time before or after my work obligations.

[+STNolan 196]

Just booked a small European vacation for the Mrs. and I; our honeymoon (though delayed two years) will also net me four new Geocaching Countries (though only one of those is actually a new country for me). 

 

1) UK

2) France

3) Italy

4) Vatican City. 

 

Looking forward to getting out of the US again - it's been too long!

[+Belcan 0]

I've never concentrated on collecting different types, I was just happy to log at least one cache in each new country. My count is now at 82.

[+on4bam 1503]

2 minutes ago, Belcan said:

I've never concentrated on collecting different types, I was just happy to log at least one cache in each new country. My count is now at 82.

 

Neither do we but it comes naturally because we enjoy multi's, earthcaches and virtuals more than traditionals.

[+funkymunkyzone 533]

On 2/21/2020 at 9:16 PM, Vooruit! said:

 

Haha, nice to see I'm not the only one wanting to find as many different cache types in every country I visit. I've got a fitting challenge cache in the pipeline, for which the checker is already online: https://project-gc.com/Challenges/GC8JTHP/44683. It requires you to find at least 100 country/cache types combinations.

 

There's actually an error in the script.

 

It does not differentiate between the Community Celebration Events (formerly the 10 year celebration events) and the Lost and Found events (now HQ celebration event).  It reckons I have one find of the latter, but in actual fact I only have one of the former, and they are indeed two separate cache types.

 

It wouldn't change my score at the moment, but it soon will...

 

[+terratin 345]

15 hours ago, on4bam said:

 

Neither do we but it comes naturally because we enjoy multi's, earthcaches and virtuals more than traditionals.

for me it’s ECs, virtuals and letterboxes. I don’t want to solve mysteries before a trip (though I might) and often don’t feel like doing a massive multi unless it’s something special like visiting 14 or so ancient painted churches on Cyprus. 

[+IceColdUK 1042]

We visited Isla Mujeres, an island off of the coast of Cancun, a few years ago - the only opportunity we had for two or three cache types in Mexico.  I sulked for a day after a DNF at the Letterbox. 😢

[+on4bam 1503]

1 hour ago, terratin said:

for me it’s ECs, virtuals and letterboxes.

 

EC's and virtuals tend to be in interesting places so they get visited anyway making it easier to get them when "touristing" (is that a word? ) OTOH sometimes finding answers for an EC can be very challenging.

 

 

[+Vooruit! 58]

11 hours ago, funkymunkyzone said:

 

There's actually an error in the script.

 

It does not differentiate between the Community Celebration Events (formerly the 10 year celebration events) and the Lost and Found events (now HQ celebration event).  It reckons I have one find of the latter, but in actual fact I only have one of the former, and they are indeed two separate cache types.

 

It wouldn't change my score at the moment, but it soon will...

 

 

Unfortunately, they're actually the same cache type. Look at GC2401K, the Lost & Found event you've attended. It actually says 'Community Celebration Event'.

 

But: come to think of it, I could implement some temporal logic based on the year the event was in.