After Going Geocache Crazy I Think I've Lost Interest

[+Laughing at the Sky]

I just recently got into geocaching. Well, I'd been out geocaching a few times with friends, but I didn't get into it myself until a few months ago. At first I did it without a GPS, then I got my first GPS for my birthday at the beginning of June.

 

For the first few weeks I went geocaching mad, and was going out geocaching nearly all the time. I got hooked on it really quickly. I had some really long days out where I totally exhausted myself mentally and physically, always wanting to find "just one more geocache before I go home..."

 

Then something happened. Suddenly I seemed to lose interest in geocaching. I took a few weeks off from it, then I came back to it, and have enjoyed it somewhat in a more moderate and less obsessed way. But the initial excitement hasn't quite come back.

 

I think part of it is because I have ended up finding a lot of boring microcaches. Part of it might be because I overdid it to begin with and exhausted myself. But partly I wonder whether I'm just not a competitive person, so I don't really feel much sense of achievement anymore. Sometimes I find a cache, and if it's similar to so many others that I've found before, I have a feeling of "Yeah, so what, been there, done that before..."

 

Has anyone else experienced this?

[+lamoracke]

I imagine most folks have experienced periods of either finding too many caches and being a little bit burned or the other extreme, not have enough time to cache and feeling a bit too antsy.

 

I have changed my habits over the years, I used to enjoy getting them all but now have reached the point where its just fun to clear out the same towns within 12 miles anymore just to get relatively uninteresting caches so I try to plan trips and visit parks or areas I have not been to before, or get high favorited caches, or caches I am working on for challenges. Just getting any cache in the same spots over and over fuels my ennui.

 

Find what you enjoy and do that. It might evolve. You might like solving puzzles tomorrow for all you know and hate it 3 weeks from now.

[+J Grouchy]

Sounds like SASS: Short Attention Span Syndrome. We all get it from time to time...we find something that captures our interest, gorge on it for a short while, then burn out. I think you may want to reassess why you are doing it, really. Are you doing it because of the cache itself or because of how it gets you out and about to new places you have never seen before? For me it's the latter. I care less about the hide and more about the corners of my home town that I never really looked at before. Sometimes they are dull or ugly, but more often than not I see these places that I might other drive by at 45 mph in a new light. I don't binge on caches...instead finding generally no more than 1 or 2 caches per day...sometimes more, sometimes none. For me it's not about instant numbers gratification, and that's what has kept it continually interesting for me.

[+terrkan78]

See if there's a common denominator in the caches you particularly liked, and focus on caches that have that aspect. For me, this means I need caches with a hike. Preferably a long hike.

 

Figure out what the common denominator(s) is, and drive right on by the caches that don't hold that "key." (Which is kind of tough - driving by a dozen easy smilies - it's very temping to stop, but when I do, I usually end up wishing I hadn't.)

[mac367]

Find your balance. As others have already chimed in, seek out the ones that interest you. I live in a cache rich environment but after 4 years have less than 400 finds. I too enjoy caches with hikes, especially in parks I have never been to, or trails in parks I have been to, but had never hiked that particular route. I pass by dozens everyday that simply don't interest me, or don't interest me at the moment so I let them sit. Someday I might grab one or two of them, maybe, maybe not. But when I see a cache in a park or a woodsy area, I am interested. I sometimes go months without a find. Recently I introduced my brother and neices to caching and have enjoyed spending a day with them. I also hid my first cache along a cool trail with an interesting footbridge, and have received several nice logs. Again, seek the ones that you enjoy, don't obsess about ones you don't. Let other cachers that enjoy that type go for it.

[+Ms.Scrabbler]

You said you are not a competitive person. Geocaching is not competitive unless you make it that way.

Maybe if you set a goal, as J Grouchy said, maybe work on one area on the map, see if changing them all to motivates you.

It could be you are just going to be a casual cacher, nothing wrong with that.

 

I've been off and on over the years for various reasons, my goal right now is to have the county I live in done by the end of the year. Very doable, I avoided finding caches for a while because I didn't want to go alone (life changes) but I'm getting used to it and rather enjoying it.

[La Griffe]

As a newb myself I can understand where you're coming from. Though I don't have many finds, even after my scant 55 I'm finding the repetitiveness of the same type of hide quite boring. Another nano on a street sign, another lamp post hide, another in a guardrail, or my favorite - another camo'd bison tube in a tree or bush... What's the point?

 

I appreciate that there are caches to be had in my area, and I appreciate the fact that people take the effort to hide them, but it's getting old quick. My solution? I decided to hide my own caches (just submitted my first last night). I enjoy the planning and thinking up ways to entertain searchers without resorting to the same old same old.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to go out hunting because there IS a fun/creative hide every now and again. On top of that, I'm forcing myself to move even slower than I currently am so that I can appreciate each hide I come across. After all, I didn't start doing this to rack up a huge "found" count. In the end, I started because caching IS fun and hunting is good exercise on my bicycle. I also enjoy the feeling of being in on a little secret too.

[4wheelin_fool]

Sorry I don't believe you. You need to upload photographic proof to your gallery that you have lost interest.

[+Chief301]

There's a reason why Favorite points are doled out at a rate if one for every 10 caches you find....I find that's just about the ratio of really cool, notable caches to "the rest", at least in my experience. Your area may be a little better or a little worse but there's always going to be some clutter you'll have to sift through to find the gems.

 

You don't have to find them all. If there's a certain type of cache you don't like, say, you really don't like micros, it's not difficult to filter those out and focus on the kinds that you prefer.

 

I also like to use the Favorite points that a cache has earned as an indication that it might be a pretty cool one (regardless of size.....there really are some awesome micros out there). If I'm going to be in a new area with limited time for caching, say traveling for work for example, I'll run a Pocket Query then sort the results by Favorite points to see which are the "must do" caches in that area. I'll hunt the others too, but I'll try to make sure to grab a couple of the "cool" ones according to the local caching community.

 

I find that my enjoyment is greater if I focus on the journey and discovering new places. I discovered a great park yesterday, for example, that I never knew about before and would not know about if it had not been for the fact that there were 4 caches there. I also found one yesterday that was at the site of a former German POW camp during WW2....being a history buff I was very pleased to discover this place and glad that the CO had brought me there. The fact that the actual cache was a fairly ordinary micro (although the method was pretty clever) did not detract from my enjoyment of the experience. I even gave it a Fave point.

 

It might also be helpful to hook up with some local cachers and maybe do some small group outings. My most fun caching days are usually the ones where my wife (who is not a cacher) and daughter and I go out and make a day of it. It takes on the air of a road trip and we discover a lot of cool new places. The actual caches we find are just the excuse for the trip 😄

[+Ambrosia]

I spend time now, looking at caches online before I go out caching. In my home area especially, I look at the caches on the map, so I know where they are, and I read the descriptions and some of the logs. I just don't even look for them unless they look interesting, which at this point is mostly the hiking/walking caches. There are a lot of caches in town that I may never get to, unless I get a geocaching itch and decide to do one or two when I'm out and about.

 

The other day, I had to do an errand, and I thought that I might as well swing by a cache to get the daily souvenir. Big mistake. I only had some caches in my gps that I'd downloaded a while ago just in case. I didn't have any descriptions. The first one I saw was probably on a sidewalk with neighbours sitting on a porch staring at me and lots of foot and car traffic going by. I just turned around and got back in my car (later saw online that it was in the cache owner's yard with clear hints). The next was a clever micro on an electrical pole that I spent exactly one minute on before I got cranky and thought to myself, "Why am I doing this to myself? Making myself do something that's not fun just because of a souvenir?". So I stopped.

[+Bubbles&Bonkers]

You could start a trend in your area and put out cool caches! Cool places or cool containers. Maybe people will get inspired!

[+unabowler]

I've gotten back into caching this month after a break of about 4 months. But thinking back I've always had hobbies that I've in an out of over the course of time, it brings variety to life. The thing that's nice about geocaching is that whenever you decide you want to do it again, you can pick it right back up (as opposed to something like, say golf, where you have to get your swing back).

[+MountainWoods]

I slowed down too, but I think that I'd do more geocaching if I consistently had someone to do it with me. Also, being a bit "size challenged" (as in too much), I don't really seem to be interested in playing the game during the hot summer months. Where I live we have relatively mild winters and excellent spring and fall months, so that's when I'm more into the geocaching mood.

 

Also a string of DNFs sometimes spoils the fun for me. That's why, even though I have some 188 under my belt, I still only look for simpler caches. I want to use the sport to get out and about and enjoy the location and the Aha moment of finding the cache. A bunch of DNFs, especially on supposedly "simple" caches, makes me recoil. Again, if I were caching with someone, it might make a difference. (My wife has gone geocaching with me a couple of time, but she's just not "into it" and I don't blame her.)

 

I cannot give you much advice on what you might want to do. I can mention what I did: instead of cutting way back, I've just slowed down significantly. For example, I don't go on trips to go geocaching; I go geocaching whilst I'm out on a trip. Although I'm not much into the "side games" of geocaching, I personally like the idea of getting a GC in each state that I visit. (Too bad I wasn't into it earlier, because I've been to all 48 contiguous US states a couple of times over.)

 

I may not think about geocaching for a few weeks, and then, since I'm going to be 50 miles from home, say, I'll download a few caches from the area. I'll usually download about 6 or 7 easy GCs, and then I'll only look for 3 or 4 of those. The others are in case I run into DNFs. I don't pressure myself to find all of them.

[team tisri]

I just recently got into geocaching. Well, I'd been out geocaching a few times with friends, but I didn't get into it myself until a few months ago. At first I did it without a GPS, then I got my first GPS for my birthday at the beginning of June.

 

For the first few weeks I went geocaching mad, and was going out geocaching nearly all the time. I got hooked on it really quickly. I had some really long days out where I totally exhausted myself mentally and physically, always wanting to find "just one more geocache before I go home..."

 

Then something happened. Suddenly I seemed to lose interest in geocaching. I took a few weeks off from it, then I came back to it, and have enjoyed it somewhat in a more moderate and less obsessed way. But the initial excitement hasn't quite come back.

 

I think part of it is because I have ended up finding a lot of boring microcaches. Part of it might be because I overdid it to begin with and exhausted myself. But partly I wonder whether I'm just not a competitive person, so I don't really feel much sense of achievement anymore. Sometimes I find a cache, and if it's similar to so many others that I've found before, I have a feeling of "Yeah, so what, been there, done that before..."

 

Has anyone else experienced this?

 

I know exactly what you mean. I cached on and off between 2004 and 2008 although struggled to find much time for it with work commitments. Then I simplified my life which meant less time working and my find rate exploded. Then I started to lose interest in lame micros, and one thing that really did it for me was getting first to find on a cache in Pennsylvania a week after it was published. To find the cache I had to climb the 1000 steps, hike about a mile along a trail (which included more steps), then climb a scree slope and unearth the cache. After doing that I drove back to where I was staying and went literally right past half a dozen billboard micros, but after having such a good time finding the cache on the mountain top I just couldn't be bothered with a film pot behind a sign.

 

Even now, nearly a year later, I struggle with motivation to find film pots behind signs. For several months I regarded cycling as my primary activity rather than as a means of getting from cache to cache so my find rate nosedived. This month I've tried geocaching as a primary activity, using the bike to get to caches, but even now I'm finding that I'm happy to get one in a day and then get on with the cycling.

[+ngrrfan]

I haven't lost interest in caching, but weather plays a factor in when I go out.

Now I'm more interested in road trips and hiking excursions rather than a day of running around town looking for a jillion micros.

Also I work on solving puzzles and challenges drive me to find certain types of caches.

[+The_Incredibles_]

I think alot of people go crazy in the beginning, then slow down.

 

I got a bit burned out after a 50-day streak. Just took it easy after that, only going out when I felt like it. I still enjoy caching but I'm not quite as obsessed as I used to be to the first few months.

[+SirDonB]

I have been caching for 2 years now and I find them when I can find them... I deff want to be able to travel a lil further to make some finds, but life and finances keep me local and I have just about exhausted all caches between my work and my home. New ones pop up every so often and when I can, I find them usually at night. I have yet to feel burned out and I will usually find one or 2 a trip. I am now getting my kids interested in caching so I will be revisiting my finds, this time to watch the excited look on their faces when they make the discovery.

 

Caching for me is about spending time with my kids, discovering something that I would not have found otherwise, getting outdoors and enjoying time away from the TV, Computer, etc. Yes I use a smartphone to cache with, but it is just a phone that can allow me to geocache, I do not use it to run my life and I can live just fine without it. LOL...

 

My question to you is this: Why do you geocache? What types of caches do you enjoy? Puzzles, multi's, traditional? What size caches got you excited, seek those out, you can choose if you look at the cache size.

[+Sagefox]

Has anyone else experienced this?

 

No. We've been very consistent for over ten years, not getting too crazy but keeping at it at a reasonable pace.

[+DonB]

I just recently got into geocaching. Well, I'd been out geocaching a few times with friends, but I didn't get into it myself until a few months ago. At first I did it without a GPS, then I got my first GPS for my birthday at the beginning of June.

 

For the first few weeks I went geocaching mad, and was going out geocaching nearly all the time. I got hooked on it really quickly. I had some really long days out where I totally exhausted myself mentally and physically, always wanting to find "just one more geocache before I go home..."

 

Then something happened. Suddenly I seemed to lose interest in geocaching. I took a few weeks off from it, then I came back to it, and have enjoyed it somewhat in a more moderate and less obsessed way. But the initial excitement hasn't quite come back.

 

I think part of it is because I have ended up finding a lot of boring microcaches. Part of it might be because I overdid it to begin with and exhausted myself. But partly I wonder whether I'm just not a competitive person, so I don't really feel much sense of achievement anymore. Sometimes I find a cache, and if it's similar to so many others that I've found before, I have a feeling of "Yeah, so what, been there, done that before..."

 

Has anyone else experienced this?

Lets face it, geocaching isn't what it once was. It used to be there were plenty of caches where you could trade items, nowadays it's one micro after another. I'm not into numbers so the micros don't do much for me other then being an excuse for going for a walk. I have a large bag of swag and have a hard time finding a cache to put it in. Then the PTB all but done away with virtuals which were on the top of my list of favorites, especially while traveling. So over all I have become what I call a casual cacher, I probable haven't done more then a dozen caches since the first of the year.

[+Laughing at the Sky]

Wow, thanks for all the replies!

 

Since I posted my message I have been giving some thought to it all, and all your comments have really helped me get things clear in my head.

 

What I hate most of all: Microcaches in boring places.

 

I don't mind a microcache if it takes me to a really interesting place that I wouldn't have gone to before, e.g. a special monument or really interesting hidden corner of a town. But if I find a micro just hidden in the base of a tree, it seems utterly pointless to me. There's literally zero point to the cache. I see trees all the time. I love trees, but absolutely nothing is added to my experience by just finding a little tub with a piece of rolled up paper in it. Well, there was a novelty there when I first started, but now I've found loads like that, I'm done with it. It's like if someone said to me, hey, go to this place, you'll find a little stone on the ground. Yeah, so what? There are stones everywhere.

 

What I like most of all: Travel Bugs

 

The few travel bugs I have found, I have really enjoyed the added purpose of it, the thrill of finding something that someone has moved there from another cache as part of its bigger journey on to somewhere else. I love being part of that, helping it on its way.

 

Of course, finding a box geocache without a travel bug in it is still more interesting than just finding a meaningless micro. But even then, there's not really the same purpose to it as when there is a travel bug. Most of the non-travel-bug items you find in most geocaches are rubbish little things you can find anywhere - erasers, toy cars, pencil sharpeners, little action figures, etc. All stuff I don't want or need, and none of it with any goal to get anywhere else. Of course those kind of things would be more interesting for children.

 

I've been using the Pocket Queries section of this site a lot, so I know that I can filter it down to just the Travel Bugs. Actually, I just created a new pocket query. I searched for travel bugs within a 20 mile radius of where I live, and it came up with over 300 of them.

 

So there you go, that's the answer really. I'd rather spend a whole day trying to find just one geocache with a travel bug in it than I would find 10 boring microcaches. I would even happily revisit caches I've already found, if they had a new travel bug in them.

[+briansnat]

I've seen a lot of people start, go cache crazy then burn out.

 

I've never felt a need to find every cache, so I don't bother with anything that appears that it will be a boring micro. I usually carefully select the caches I want to hunt. Because of that I don't have a very high find count, but I've never experienced burnout and geocaching is still fresh and fun for me after almost 12 years.

Edited August 24, 2013 by briansnat

[+Laughing at the Sky]

I've seen a lot of people start, go cache crazy then burn out.

 

I've never felt a need to find every cache, so I don't bother with anything that appears that it will be a boring micro. I usually carefully select the caches I want to hunt. Because of that I don't have a very high find count, but I've never experienced burnout and geocaching is still fresh and fun for me after almost 12 years.

 

And yet you are "Eight time US Geocacher of the Year"?

[+briansnat]

I've seen a lot of people start, go cache crazy then burn out.

 

I've never felt a need to find every cache, so I don't bother with anything that appears that it will be a boring micro. I usually carefully select the caches I want to hunt. Because of that I don't have a very high find count, but I've never experienced burnout and geocaching is still fresh and fun for me after almost 12 years.

 

And yet you are "Eight time US Geocacher of the Year"?

 

Oops, 9 times now. Forgot to update that.

[+MI_CO]

I definitely go in spurts, and have never been a 'numbers run' or obsessed FTF person. I like challenge caches, the ones where you have find so many of particular type or series before logging the challenge cache. Right now I am working on a Spirit Quest challenge, where you have to find 185 caches with 'SQ' or 'Spirit Quest' in the title of the cache, and a 100,000 foot cache where you have to find 8 caches whose altitudes adds up to at least 100,000 (I live in Colorado, so more than enough caches, except a lot of the terrain readings are 3.5+ and caching at 10,000+ is literally breathtaking!). This helps me seek out unique areas with unique history, often with incredible scenery, which is what I love about geocaching.

 

Someone mentioned favorites points. I have over 50 points in the bank. I assign favorites for unique cache containers, a twist on a traditional cache, and lately, for the great story behind the cache, even if that cache itself is a common one.

 

You might want to seek out a cache with some type of challenge behind it before logging. They can take you to some interesting places!

[+Ambrosia]

I've seen a lot of people start, go cache crazy then burn out.

 

I've never felt a need to find every cache, so I don't bother with anything that appears that it will be a boring micro. I usually carefully select the caches I want to hunt. Because of that I don't have a very high find count, but I've never experienced burnout and geocaching is still fresh and fun for me after almost 12 years.

 

And yet you are "Eight time US Geocacher of the Year"?

Being geocacher of the year entails a lot more than number of finds.

[+Laughing at the Sky]

I've seen a lot of people start, go cache crazy then burn out.

 

I've never felt a need to find every cache, so I don't bother with anything that appears that it will be a boring micro. I usually carefully select the caches I want to hunt. Because of that I don't have a very high find count, but I've never experienced burnout and geocaching is still fresh and fun for me after almost 12 years.

 

And yet you are "Eight time US Geocacher of the Year"?

 

Oops, 9 times now. Forgot to update that.

 

How did it happen? Were you FTF on all your finds? Or are they all difficulty level 5?

[+Don_J]

• 
   
  
• I will set up a plan to find all the caches along a specific hiking trail.
  
• I will set up a plan to find all of the caches along a lonely country or mountain road that gets me out of the hustle and bustle of the city.
  
• I will NOT set up a plan to get all of the local parking lot caches at once.
  
• I will occasionally alter my route to or from work to grab a new parking lot cache.
  
• I will look for a cache in a parking lot if I am visiting a business in that lot. Some new caches may sit for months before I find myself in that particular parking lot.
  
• I try not to make special trips just for a cache, but I do keep an eye on things and if it is becoming obvious that a special trip would be worth it, I'll do it.
  
• Very seldom have I set goals that force me to find caches when I may not particularly be in the mood to do so. IMO, this turns fun into work.
  

[+JL_HSTRE]

Start filtering out micro caches with less than 5 Favorite points. That should solve your mundane micro burnout. If you are eager for TBs then look for TB hotels and other regular caches.

 

I keep a database in GSAK of every cache in FL I think I might want to find someday; out of 41k+ caches, my list only has about 4k. It's okay to be picky.

[+Scubasonic]

I just recently got into geocaching. Well, I'd been out geocaching a few times with friends, but I didn't get into it myself until a few months ago. At first I did it without a GPS, then I got my first GPS for my birthday at the beginning of June.

 

For the first few weeks I went geocaching mad, and was going out geocaching nearly all the time. I got hooked on it really quickly. I had some really long days out where I totally exhausted myself mentally and physically, always wanting to find "just one more geocache before I go home..."

 

Then something happened. Suddenly I seemed to lose interest in geocaching. I took a few weeks off from it, then I came back to it, and have enjoyed it somewhat in a more moderate and less obsessed way. But the initial excitement hasn't quite come back.

 

I think part of it is because I have ended up finding a lot of boring microcaches. Part of it might be because I overdid it to begin with and exhausted myself. But partly I wonder whether I'm just not a competitive person, so I don't really feel much sense of achievement anymore. Sometimes I find a cache, and if it's similar to so many others that I've found before, I have a feeling of "Yeah, so what, been there, done that before..."

 

Has anyone else experienced this?

 

Hmmm looked at your profile and 150 caches doesn't seem that much not what I would call going "HOG WILD" something else is going on I think.

[+Laughing at the Sky]

Hmmm looked at your profile and 150 caches doesn't seem that much not what I would call going "HOG WILD" something else is going on I think.

 

Well, I only got my GPS around the beginning of June. I've only found 14 in August so far. Most of those 150 were in June and July. I found 68 in June and 55 in July. Maybe that's not a lot to you, but it was enough to get me bored of micros. I suppose all things are relative to each person.

 

Actually, I can see why it doesn't seem much to you. Looking at your profile, and you've found over 23k geocaches over the last 10 years! In 2011 alone you found 6,213, which is an average of 17 per day! I'm obviously no match for an utter geocaching lunatic like you

 

But I'm curious to know what else you think is going on? Are you expecting to discover that I was sexually abused by a geocacher as a child?

[4wheelin_fool]

Hmmm looked at your profile and 150 caches doesn't seem that much not what I would call going "HOG WILD" something else is going on I think.

 

Well, I only got my GPS around the beginning of June. I've only found 14 in August so far. Most of those 150 were in June and July. I found 68 in June and 55 in July. Maybe that's not a lot to you, but it was enough to get me bored of micros. I suppose all things are relative to each person.

 

Actually, I can see why it doesn't seem much to you. Looking at your profile, and you've found over 23k geocaches over the last 10 years! In 2011 alone you found 6,213, which is an average of 17 per day! I'm obviously no match for an utter geocaching lunatic like you

 

 

I wouldnt mess with him. He found 1271 caches in one day on 11/05/2010, so you don't know what else he could be capable of.

[+The_Incredibles_]

I just recently got into geocaching. Well, I'd been out geocaching a few times with friends, but I didn't get into it myself until a few months ago. At first I did it without a GPS, then I got my first GPS for my birthday at the beginning of June.

 

For the first few weeks I went geocaching mad, and was going out geocaching nearly all the time. I got hooked on it really quickly. I had some really long days out where I totally exhausted myself mentally and physically, always wanting to find "just one more geocache before I go home..."

 

Then something happened. Suddenly I seemed to lose interest in geocaching. I took a few weeks off from it, then I came back to it, and have enjoyed it somewhat in a more moderate and less obsessed way. But the initial excitement hasn't quite come back.

 

I think part of it is because I have ended up finding a lot of boring microcaches. Part of it might be because I overdid it to begin with and exhausted myself. But partly I wonder whether I'm just not a competitive person, so I don't really feel much sense of achievement anymore. Sometimes I find a cache, and if it's similar to so many others that I've found before, I have a feeling of "Yeah, so what, been there, done that before..."

 

Has anyone else experienced this?

 

Hmmm looked at your profile and 150 caches doesn't seem that much not what I would call going "HOG WILD" something else is going on I think.

 

Scubasonic has a point. I mean, if your biggest month was 68 caches and your biggest day was 11 caches how is it that you managed to push yourself so much your were physically and mentally exhausted?

 

The other day I took my 12 year old daughter caching. We found 21 at a leisurely pace. We had lots of time to take silly photos and eat junk food. Most were not park and grabs. I am fat and out of shape. I was tired at the end of it, but not as much as the day I found 30 by bike.

Edited August 25, 2013 by The_Incredibles_

[+briansnat]

Hmmm looked at your profile and 150 caches doesn't seem that much not what I would call going "HOG WILD" something else is going on I think.

 

Well, I only got my GPS around the beginning of June. I've only found 14 in August so far. Most of those 150 were in June and July. I found 68 in June and 55 in July. Maybe that's not a lot to you, but it was enough to get me bored of micros. I suppose all things are relative to each person.

 

 

You can eliminate micros from your pocket queries, but depending on the types of cache hiders in your area that might just leave you with boring small and regular caches and you could filter out some of cool micros out there.

 

Unfortunately the trend in geocaching has been toward mundane micros for some time. There are so many of them that you have to work a bit to find the caches you like. If there is a cache owner whose caches you've enjoyed, look for more by that owner. Favorite points are also a good way to find the better caches. Not foolproof, because some people will like something that you might not, but if you see a cache with more than a few favorite points you can be fairly certain it's a cut above the ordinary. Look for caches in the sorts of areas you enjoy. If you like hiking, concentrate on caches that take you on hikes. If you enjoy exploring old ruins, look for those sorts of caches. If you enjoy solving puzzles concentrate on puzzle caches.

 

Combine caching with other hobbies and activities you enjoy. If you kayak or canoe, go after the paddle caches. If you ski, there are often caches at ski resorts. If you like to travel, use geocaching as a way to find interesting places that aren't in any guidebook.

 

Go caching with a group of friends. Sometimes that can make even finding a bunch of boring micros fun.

 

Become a casual cacher instead of cache crazy. Don't feel as if you need to find a cache every day, or week, or month for that matter. Don't think that finding lots of caches is important or provides some sort of status. I know a guy who has been caching 12 years. He enjoys it, but has yet to reach 100 finds. He just finds a few a year, but they are of the sort that he really enjoys. He doesn't bother with the rest.

Edited August 25, 2013 by briansnat

[+Laughing at the Sky]

I just recently got into geocaching. Well, I'd been out geocaching a few times with friends, but I didn't get into it myself until a few months ago. At first I did it without a GPS, then I got my first GPS for my birthday at the beginning of June.

 

For the first few weeks I went geocaching mad, and was going out geocaching nearly all the time. I got hooked on it really quickly. I had some really long days out where I totally exhausted myself mentally and physically, always wanting to find "just one more geocache before I go home..."

 

Then something happened. Suddenly I seemed to lose interest in geocaching. I took a few weeks off from it, then I came back to it, and have enjoyed it somewhat in a more moderate and less obsessed way. But the initial excitement hasn't quite come back.

 

I think part of it is because I have ended up finding a lot of boring microcaches. Part of it might be because I overdid it to begin with and exhausted myself. But partly I wonder whether I'm just not a competitive person, so I don't really feel much sense of achievement anymore. Sometimes I find a cache, and if it's similar to so many others that I've found before, I have a feeling of "Yeah, so what, been there, done that before..."

 

Has anyone else experienced this?

 

Hmmm looked at your profile and 150 caches doesn't seem that much not what I would call going "HOG WILD" something else is going on I think.

 

Scubasonic has a point. I mean, if your biggest month was 68 caches and your biggest day was 11 caches how is it that you managed to push yourself so much your were physically and mentally exhausted?

 

The other day I took my 12 year old daughter caching. We found 21 at a leisurely pace. We had lots of time to take silly photos and eat junk food. Most were not park and grabs. I am fat and out of shape. I was tired at the end of it, but not as much as the day I found 30 by bike.

 

Okay, I was probably exaggerating when I said exhausted. That's not my overall feeling. I gave the impression that after only finding 150 caches I was totally exhausted. I explained that wrong. My overall feeling has ended up being boredom with the microcaches.

 

It was only on a few days that I felt tired with it, when I had found 10 or 11 in one day. From the mental side of things, I was new to it, and probably found some of them more difficult to find than I had anticipated, so I found that mentally tiring. From the physical side, I live in rural Gloucestershire, England, where there's a lot of up-and-down little hills, and they weren't all really close together, so they were some rather long days out.

 

But that doesn't even really make any sense to me, now I've written it, because I am pretty physically fit, and well used to doing lots of walking round these hills.

 

So I think it was the mental tiredness thing. Looking for 10 in a row when some of them were hard to find (probably partly due to being new to geocaching and being inexperienced), I found that mentally draining. But as I say, this only happened on a few days, but it was enough to make me think, "Oh, maybe I'm overdoing this a bit!" But after that, I started to get more of a feeling of boredom for the microcaches.

 

But am I the only person here who finds it mentally tiring to struggles to find multiple difficult caches in a row? Also, maybe you're looking at this all wrong, because maybe the low number of finds is the actual problem. What you're overlooking here is that on some of those days I had lots of DNFs too. I think one on or 2 days I had just as many DNFs as finds, so even though I found 10, there were 10 other ones that I spent ages trying to find and couldn't find them, and that was what made me mentally tired I think.

 

Of course, there's nothing really tiring about finding a bunch of easy caches in a row. 10 easy ones in a row wouldn't be a problem. But spending ages looking for ones you can't find, that is tiring don't you think?

 

Now do you understand better?

Edited August 25, 2013 by LaughingAtTheSky

[+Laughing at the Sky]

Yeah, I see in my original message I did actually write. "I had some really long days out where I totally exhausted myself mentally and physically" - I think I was overstating this. No, it was more of a feeling of being mentally drained, due to being new to it and finding some of them difficult to find. So I don't think you can always compare one set of numbers with another. 3 in a row that you find difficult to find may be more tiring than 50 that are easy. And I say, I'm talking about what I found difficult, being new and inexperienced at it.

 

Just to highlight my point: before I even got my GPS, I tried looking for just 2 geocaches in a forest with my dad. I didn't find either of them, and put so much effort and concentration into trying to find them, I found that tired my brain out a fair bit, almost gave me a headache. But it definitely was more difficult without a GPS.

 

Maybe I wouldn't find it so mentally draining now, because I've gained some more experience. I'm still bored of the micros though.

 

But then the majority of the ones I've found have been micros. Maybe it's something about this area. But to me it seems that micros can tend to be more difficult to find than bigger ones. They can be more well hidden, or more easy to disguise as the environment.

 

Found a TB today, by the way. Interesting looking frog. Really pleased. Also found a second geocache which had said it had a trackable in it but didn't, and I felt utterly disgusted. Just kidding. But these two box ones were really easy to find, no trouble at all. So it really does depend on the caches.

[+The_Incredibles_]

Yes, DNFs, especially a series of them, can be draining. Best thing to do if you're searching for a cache and your life starts flashing before your eyes...stop and move on to the next one....or just stop for the day. If you hate micros, I would just focus on larger caches for now.

[+Markwell]

The key really is to find what you like. There are SOOOOOO many caches out there, that being OCD about clearing an area can be something that will potentially disappoint you. I've been around a LONG time, and there's been long stretches where I haven't gone out caching. Early on in the game, I wanted to find all of the new ones, and anything that popped up within 20 miles of home was something I *HAD* to get. But sometime around 2005/2006, I slowed considerably. The GONIL region around Chicago changed its focus for cache placement around that time as well. Take a look at this chart of data from an offline database I keep. This is looking at active caches by size as of Jan 1 of each year. The only component I don't capture is if the cache changed its size over time - so this is their current cache size, but which caches were active on those dates:

 

The yellow column represents the most numerous for that date, blue second place and green third place. Sometime in 2004, micros surpassed regulars, and in 2009, smalls surpassed regulars. As of Jan 1 2013, only 15% of the caches in the GONIL region were listed as "regular" in size. One of the disappointing numbers is that between Jan 1 2012 and Jan 1 2013, there was only an increase of 74 regular caches.

 

As a result, I have indeed become much more selective in my searching, allowing myself to find or try caches if they are in proximity to other GPS games I play, or if I am in that particular area for a reason. Even then, I weed out poison ivy (new sensitivity) and parking lot micros and private residence caches as much as possible. It takes a little more weeding and prep work, but the reward is worth it.

 

So yea, find a style of caching that you like, and pace yourself to really enjoy the experience of the caches. If you do plan a run, do it with some friends. In my opinion, companionship on the road and the trail make the whole experience much more enjoyable.

[+Bleeder973]

My perspective is not quite so simple. I've been caching for roughly 8 years. I hit it hard the first few years. I loathed the thought of yet another micro in a parking lot after the first year.

I took some extended breaks but the thought would pop into my head when I would be going to a new place or I was sitting in a patch of woods for some reason.

My children followed the typical A.D.D. pattern and had little interest after I had dragged them into the woods one too many times.

Today, 7 years later, they don't have the excitement they once had about grabbing a smelly rubber ball from an ammo can but our time today is a little more precious so going out and looking for a cache, regardless of size and content has very little to do with anything but the adventure and journey.

The bottom line is, from my perspective, don't question certain things too much. Custom tailor your experiences, if need be. And just enjoy the moment you're in when you make the choice to go outside and do something as opposed to sitting in front of the tv etc.

It's actually quite interesting. Out of the 575 finds I have to my credit, only a very few have left memories. But the people I have met, the places I have gone and the experiences I have had while caching are priceless.

Sometimes we have to suck it up for 20 lamp post micros before we get to that breath-taking waterfall.

I've always said that the beauty of Geocaching is in the fact that the cacher is completely free to make it all they want or nothing at all.

 

Regardless, enjoy those moments with your Dad!

[+briansnat]

My perspective is not quite so simple. I've been caching for roughly 8 years. I hit it hard the first few years. I loathed the thought of yet another micro in a parking lot after the first year.

I took some extended breaks but the thought would pop into my head when I would be going to a new place or I was sitting in a patch of woods for some reason.

My children followed the typical A.D.D. pattern and had little interest after I had dragged them into the woods one too many times.

Today, 7 years later, they don't have the excitement they once had about grabbing a smelly rubber ball from an ammo can but our time today is a little more precious so going out and looking for a cache, regardless of size and content has very little to do with anything but the adventure and journey.

The bottom line is, from my perspective, don't question certain things too much. Custom tailor your experiences, if need be. And just enjoy the moment you're in when you make the choice to go outside and do something as opposed to sitting in front of the tv etc.

It's actually quite interesting. Out of the 575 finds I have to my credit, only a very few have left memories. But the people I have met, the places I have gone and the experiences I have had while caching are priceless.

Sometimes we have to suck it up for 20 lamp post micros before we get to that breath-taking waterfall.

I've always said that the beauty of Geocaching is in the fact that the cacher is completely free to make it all they want or nothing at all.

 

Regardless, enjoy those moments with your Dad!

 

Well said.

[+Bleeder973]

 

Well said.

 

Thank you, kindly!

[Clan Riffster]

...and your biggest day was 11 caches...

I can't speak for LATS, but if I were to find 11 crappy caches, I would be utterly exhausted.

[+Two Owls]

There are a wide variety of different caches..some require a bit of brain power before leaving the armchair...some require a bit of planning...some require a sense of humour.....think out of the cache/box. Take photos/add a decent find log.....and even get to setting your own caches and make them unique...watch the logs roll in and see your popularity grooooooow.

 

 

 

 

The

I just recently got into geocaching. Well, I'd been out geocaching a few times with friends, but I didn't get into it myself until a few months ago. At first I did it without a GPS, then I got my first GPS for my birthday at the beginning of June.

 

For the first few weeks I went geocaching mad, and was going out geocaching nearly all the time. I got hooked on it really quickly. I had some really long days out where I totally exhausted myself mentally and physically, always wanting to find "just one more geocache before I go home..."

 

Then something happened. Suddenly I seemed to lose interest in geocaching. I took a few weeks off from it, then I came back to it, and have enjoyed it somewhat in a more moderate and less obsessed way. But the initial excitement hasn't quite come back.

 

I think part of it is because I have ended up finding a lot of boring microcaches. Part of it might be because I overdid it to begin with and exhausted myself. But partly I wonder whether I'm just not a competitive person, so I don't really feel much sense of achievement anymore. Sometimes I find a cache, and if it's similar to so many others that I've found before, I have a feeling of "Yeah, so what, been there, done that before..."

 

Has anyone else experienced this?

Edited August 26, 2013 by Two Owls

[+JimC61]

I have been Geocaching since the end of May and have 171 finds and 2 hides. My brother introduced me and my 3 daughters (his Geo-nieces)to this game. I could absolutely see how one could get burned out by playing this. I guess it depends on why you do it and how much enjoyment you get. I agree getting a whole string of lamppost hides or micros in the bushes can get boring. However I have a lot of them because I Geocache with my kids. My kids like getting some of the easier ones, and when ever we go out I try real hard to throw an easy park and grab so we can say we at least we got one tonight. Since we have been doing this they also have been wanting to go after harder hides. We have also found some cachers with very unique and/or difficult hides and like to find more from them. I check out the map, read descriptions and the logs to see which look interesting. I look for these as we all have come to like the challenge. We have been going out just about everyday that I don't work. One reason we have been going out so much is I know with school starting and days getting shorter our Geocaching will be greatly reduced. Also living in Northeast Ohio Old Man Winter can be quite cruel.

 

We have talked about putting out some "epic" hides (their word) and will use the winter as time to plan, build and pick spots to put them. So even though we will not be Geocaching we will still be involved. I am not sure if you go alone or with others but I would rather be Geocaching with my girls instead of doing it alone. I think of all my finds I only have 4 by myself. The rest were found with at least 1 of my daughters.We are hoping to attend an Event Cache in October to meet some of our fellow cachers.

 

My brother likes getting caches while hiking, and leaves others alone. Others I am sure do the opposite. You need to find what you like doing and focus on those. It may mean only Geocaching occasionally, but if you have a good time it will be worth it and you won't be frustrated doing caches that bore you. Next summer my girls and I want to hike more. We spent a day hiking and Geocaching with my brother and had a lot of fun. We want to do more of that. We also are going to hike even if we aren't Geocaching. I had a great summer with my girls. We had fun, we laughed a lot, and we found a bunch of caches. We were taken to a lot of different places. We went on Night Caches. We went to museums. We cached near rivers,creeks and Lake Erie. We discovered a lot of old cemeteries with lots of history. I am not sure we would have done all of that unless we were looking for caches. We have learned its not only finding the cache, it is the journey to the cache that is also fun. When we are driving to a cache we talk strategy on what to look for. Is the cache a micro? Is it magnetic? Do the logs say it is a unique container? We know what to look for (most of the time) when we hit GZ. We have found some caches within seconds of arriving. We also have spent quite a lot time looking and sometimes coming up empty.

 

When my kids get older I am not sure how much they will want to Geocache. Life gets in the way sometimes. I think I will always enjoy doing it though. I may slow down or maybe only search for certain types, but who knows. Right now I am enjoying it and wish the kids didn't start school tomorrow. As I said before our Geocaching time is going to be lessened, but also we were busy getting everything ready for their first day we didn't have time to get any tonight. Oh well, we have a long weekend coming up.... Cache on!