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Have your priorities changed?


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I'm glad that you bumped this. My priorities have definitely changed as I have basically lost almost all interest in urban caching. I keep an eye on things and if a new urban cache is getting good logs, I'll go for it, but otherwise it is not a priority at all. My average terrain for my first year, 2005, was 2.01. The next two years were 1.99 and 1.98. 2011, which is when I became obsessed with building my find count, it dropped to 1.67 for the year. Last year it was 2.02, and so far this year, 2.23. I'm finding that I'm more interested in getting my boots in the dirt and looking for trail side caches than I am driving around to parking lots.

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Yes, urban caching for me now = when I happen to be in a new city - if I want to go caching, then it's a country walk or (in winter) a village. There's a series over here called church micros, which means that in most villages in the UK you have a cache you can get without getting muddy!

 

There are 2 or 3 very involved multis in the area - the "pre-trail" type where a 5-mile walk will get you one cache. Now back on the radar having been ignored when I was just after numbers.

 

I've got a caching buddy into the concept of keeping trads under 90% and he's enjoying that too - even though he professes to hate puzzles!

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Surely....everyone's change after that first few days when you start! After several years - goals change, etc. We still totally love the hobby.....

Lately... LIFE has taken priority. More recently - haven't been cachin due to a variety of things. Changing jobs...home interior upgrades...buying/selling a home... packing & moving..unpacking...etc. After all that dust settles in the next month or so and we take a trip to Cozumel...we'll be ready to do some cachin!!

 

Goals? Our main goals have been accomplished (full calender & full D/T chart). Can't do any type of streaks....we work for a living! ;)

 

Can't wait to get the kayaks & bikes out this summer!

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Every time we approach a big milestone (1000s) I think we will slow down but so far it hasn't happened. This thing is just too addictive. I am into the numbers but not so much for quantity, mainly milestones and stats. We hosted an event for our 100th & 200th hide so that will probably be a tradition now. Other than that we just like to find something a bit different for our milestones. This year we are working on the calendar days - only 11 to go now. Next year, who knows? Whatever you do it for, just keep on doing it. It's a great way to spend time with your family.

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started out number number number for me! But noww that i have every cache in the close 3 towns, its a drag with a 20 minute+ drive for a smiley, so we plan out days well now. Though im currently not shooting for 366 days, or the D/T grid, but when i get close enough one year i bet ill try and finish them up. For now i'd be happy to just keep plugging away. I just broke 600 and its been a couple years. Best day i think was 36. which was an awesome day. now the number is still involved, but i like to find one or twoo "AWESOME" caches with lots of favorites, set out for that journey and pick away at its surroundings. its not about the count now, its about the trip as a whole and the sights!

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They have changed. The game has changed even more.

 

Back in 2003 when I started, if a cache was in a large park that could support several, that was it, the park was taken. I asked permission from the CO of one like that to hide another. Now there are 20 or so. Things like PDAs with Cachemate, GSAK and any paperless ability was non-existent. I still have the paper copies of the first 500 or so caches I hunted. GPS units were quite basic by today's standards, and smartphones were years away. Cache saturation was such that if a "power" cacher found one an hour that was a torrid pace. But I don't recall that was really a word used much. It was all about the hunt, the find, reading prior logs and writing a good one.

 

I never chased numbers for numbers sake. My largest day is just over a hundred, and truth be known, it was probably as much work as fun even though it the desert which I love. I was a certified FTF hound for a couple of years but rarely do that now. The first few years I found most alone, now, I only go alone if I have a special reason. Lately I have been filling in my calendar with double digits for all 366 days. 10 and 11x366 are done, 12x will be done this summer, and 13x next winter if all goes as planned. Then that's it, no more calendar driven caching.

 

Caching has had a sea change a couple of times. In 2003 I was not amongst the original cachers which were an exalted lot. By 2005 it was getting very popular and soon I didn't know every cacher in my area. That was okay, by then I was hiding so I got a lot of real logs, not this smarty phone crap of today. Which leads me to the second sea change-- smartphones. They have really opened up the game, not all in good ways. Real logs are way, way down, people whine a whole lot more about logging but not being bothered to sign the log. Back in the day if you signed the book without a story of your experience that was an insult. And.don't.even.think.about.claiming.a.find.without.signing.the.log. Forget your pen? Go get one and come back. Or sign in blood or mud. I did that a few times.

 

I still enjoy going for a few caches by myself but by far it is more fun with others and I look forward to that outing even if I have found some that we are after.

 

Probably the 3rd sea change is Groundspeak. Years ago we operated way below the police and public radar and that caused some problems. GS is much less accommodating these days but I understand why. I guess I wouldn't really return to the old days, not that it is possible. I still haven't totally forgiven them for murdering locationless caches. Which prompted my sig line for a couple of years, "Friends don't let friends waymark." But that is long gone and the LCs are too, but with good memories.

 

I wonder what the game will look like ten years from now.

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I'm glad that you bumped this. My priorities have definitely changed as I have basically lost almost all interest in urban caching. I keep an eye on things and if a new urban cache is getting good logs, I'll go for it, but otherwise it is not a priority at all. My average terrain for my first year, 2005, was 2.01. The next two years were 1.99 and 1.98. 2011, which is when I became obsessed with building my find count, it dropped to 1.67 for the year. Last year it was 2.02, and so far this year, 2.23. I'm finding that I'm more interested in getting my boots in the dirt and looking for trail side caches than I am driving around to parking lots.

 

Me too, which means I hardly ever cache any more because I live in an urban area. For a time I was quite happy going from film pot to film pot but whereas then I'd cycle from one to the next to the next, now I prefer to just keep cycling because I find it more fun than stopping every half a mile to look for another film pot.

 

Finding caches in more rural areas is far more fun for me, but then comes the problem that because there aren't so many of them it's easy to find them all, and putting too many of them out just turns rural caching into a numbers game rather than enjoying the walk to a specific cache. I guess I've just gone off the idea of finding dozens of caches in a day even if they are all lame micros, and prefer finding a single cache in a day that takes some effort to get to but the reward is a breathtaking vista I never knew about.

 

Fundamentally I think the key question for me is whether I regard the trip as wasted if I don't find the cache. If I enjoy the walk/ride, enjoy the location, don't find the cache but still come away thinking it was a worthwhile outing then everything is good. If, having found the cache, I revisit the area over and over again, then it was a good cache. If I find the cache and still wonder why I bothered going to the area then the event feels like a waste of time. For me, so many caches fall into that latter category I don't tend to bother hunting them much any more.

 

Maybe it will change, maybe I'll just end up taking some time away from the game.

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Hi,

I'm a geocacher since 2010. It all began with searching some geocaches. I also started to hide caches pretty soon. I love to create adventures for other geocachers. Waymarking was introduced to me at a Mega-Event, i often combine these two games. At the moment I found 806 geocaches and hid 151 caches. I love to visit events (74 including 8 Mega-Events) hosted/ing 10 events. Sometimes I do more Geocaching than a month more Waymarking. Now that I got 2 children I do more geocaching. My daughter loves to search them, she is 1 year and 8 month old and we go out almost daily. At the moment less time to creat Waymarks but I spend a lot of time to review them. I was never up to find 1,000 of caches. For me it's fun to find one or two with a nice walk, meeting people over the whole world, finding new friends in my homezone. I don't want to be a slave of the numbers.

lumbricus

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Thought I'd revisit this thread - relevant to see what lumbricus says above about making new friends, as I've done a whole lot of high-terain caching since my last post with a local cacher I only knew as a prolific CO until my event a year ago. Much tree / bridge climbing, kayaking and tunnel-crawling later I'm now on 70/81 D/T, and you can't stop there can you? Friendships made and reinforced, caching ideas swapped, caches found that would be impossible or at least rather dangerous alone.

21 caches owned, about 60 FPs on them. 5 of them up trees.

Just passed 2nd anniversary, about 2/3 speed compared to 1st year. (1050, 700)

Over 100 multis, 99 mysteries, 10 countries.

Date found grid 365/366 as planned; date, month hidden still not really a priority but their day will come.

Junior on nearly 900, more than half my number and finds most of the ground level ones before I'm within 20m now.

Ticking off a few challenge caches - some are plain daft but others quite interesting and, well, challenging.

 

I think the teamwork, and the accesss that gives to harder more interesting caches like http://coord.info/GC4T7NM , is this year's unexpected bonus.

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My turn: :rolleyes:

 

When I started over a year ago, my "focus" as a georunner was on cleaning the neighborhood. Now I'd have to run far too far for a running cache, so I've given up on this

Then the focus was to log an FTF. There are a few really FTF die-hards in this area, so it proved a real challenge. Eventually I made an FTF an immediately afterwards I realized that it wasn't my thing. I have quite a stressful work, and extra stress just to be the first to find a cache? No, it didn't really make much sense (to me).

Nowadays, some days I cache, others I don't. I am VERY lucky,though, to travel quite a lot for my work, so I'm having fun planning a couple of caches in a distant country I may just do between the meeting and the business lunch, or by early morning or .. In the meantime I'm trying to "convert" some colleagues to this great game

 

Ah, and other than collecting countries, and regions and so on, I love going for oldies (read anything older than 2010). I dream to finish some day the Jasmer matrix, it's pretty cool digging in the history of this game.

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They have changed. The game has changed even more.

 

Back in 2003 when I started, if a cache was in a large park that could support several, that was it, the park was taken. I asked permission from the CO of one like that to hide another. Now there are 20 or so. Things like PDAs with Cachemate, GSAK and any paperless ability was non-existent. I still have the paper copies of the first 500 or so caches I hunted. GPS units were quite basic by today's standards, and smartphones were years away. Cache saturation was such that if a "power" cacher found one an hour that was a torrid pace. But I don't recall that was really a word used much. It was all about the hunt, the find, reading prior logs and writing a good one.

 

I never chased numbers for numbers sake. My largest day is just over a hundred, and truth be known, it was probably as much work as fun even though it the desert which I love. I was a certified FTF hound for a couple of years but rarely do that now. The first few years I found most alone, now, I only go alone if I have a special reason. Lately I have been filling in my calendar with double digits for all 366 days. 10 and 11x366 are done, 12x will be done this summer, and 13x next winter if all goes as planned. Then that's it, no more calendar driven caching.

 

Caching has had a sea change a couple of times. In 2003 I was not amongst the original cachers which were an exalted lot. By 2005 it was getting very popular and soon I didn't know every cacher in my area. That was okay, by then I was hiding so I got a lot of real logs, not this smarty phone crap of today. Which leads me to the second sea change-- smartphones. They have really opened up the game, not all in good ways. Real logs are way, way down, people whine a whole lot more about logging but not being bothered to sign the log. Back in the day if you signed the book without a story of your experience that was an insult. And.don't.even.think.about.claiming.a.find.without.signing.the.log. Forget your pen? Go get one and come back. Or sign in blood or mud. I did that a few times.

 

I still enjoy going for a few caches by myself but by far it is more fun with others and I look forward to that outing even if I have found some that we are after.

 

Probably the 3rd sea change is Groundspeak. Years ago we operated way below the police and public radar and that caused some problems. GS is much less accommodating these days but I understand why. I guess I wouldn't really return to the old days, not that it is possible. I still haven't totally forgiven them for murdering locationless caches. Which prompted my sig line for a couple of years, "Friends don't let friends waymark." But that is long gone and the LCs are too, but with good memories.

 

I wonder what the game will look like ten years from now.

 

Good post and and my sentiments exactly! Except for one thing,,, it wouldn't bother me a bit to return to how things were done in the old days. B)

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while my priorities haven't drastically changed, I definitely enjoy pondering the different priorities of myself against other cachers, and this is a good hobby on which to get a wide variety of habits since there are so many strategies and statistics.

 

for example, one of my favourite things are when one of my caches are someone else's first ever find; just a specific oddity that I covet when it happens. I completely ignore filling in days on my calendar, and, I completely ignore the different formats and have 96% traditional. a good friend of mine tries diligently to fill in his calendar and makes sure traditionals make up at most 80% of his tally. I enjoy looking at the smiley pattern on the map, whereas he doesn't really look at the map.

 

just really neat to see the many takes possible on what is a pretty straightforward activity.

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Well now,

 

Having fun and being safe are just as important as they were years ago.

 

Tastes now tend to be older caches. **(must qualify for The Original Fizzy Challenge ... met and had lunch with Fizzy himself)**

 

Most importantly trying to be that cacher who sets the example for others **(still fall short, siiiiiggggghhhh)**

 

Still relish being a thorn in the side of those folks who "need" to be poked a bit.

Edited by humboldt flier
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I've been looking through old threads here on the forums and this one jumped out to me because I've thought a lot about how our caching behavior has changed since we started 8 years ago. We live in a suburb of a huge urban area (Houston, TX) and we used to go all over the city to cache. Now, urban caching has little or no appeal to us. We really enjoy caching in out-of-the-way places on our road trips, doing state stars, and completing state county challenges. We recently completed the Jasmer Challenge and need just one more spot for the Fizzy. We set our own goals and enjoy the game our way. We will soon head out on our annual summer road trip and look forward to discovering new places that geocaching will lead us. Happy Trails to all!

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When, earlier in this thread, I said that to stay caching for a long time your priorities need to change, some people responded that their priority was still the same -- to have fun.

 

Come on, folks. If having fun were not the main priority then we wouldn't be doing this. You know perfectly well that was not the intention of the OP.

 

So can we drop the "my priority is to have fun" nonsense?

 

Maybe it could be better worded as "how has your caching style evolved?"

I think my priority is to have fun (mission/strategic) but how I achieve that priority (goals/tactical )has certainly changed over time.

 

For awhile, just getting out and discovering new parks and new areas was a goal. Then I had a period of time where I was about numbers. Then I was gunning for FTFs. Then I became a radius slave. Now? Caching is more done to supplement my other activities rather than being the activity unto itself.

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I've found that I'm much more choosey with caches I seek. I've gone through stages of wanting to fill grids, radius clearing, FTF runs, get find counts up, etc.,...but have ended up falling into only caching when I'm doing other things--not doing other things while I cache.

 

When I started I'd hunt a few of whatever I found here and there on the message boards for "stash hunting" around town--there wasn't much at that time. Then, when I joined Geocaching.com in 2005, I'd drive all over northwestern Oregon and southwestern Washington for new caches and FTF hunts. I enjoyed using geocaching as a way to get out and about--finding new routes to the coast, small parks, good backcountry spots to camp or fish, etc. It was a great way to learn the area. Then in Minnesota I settled into just hunting caches that were of interest, but tried to fill grids and see what I could do about streaking a little bit with my finds. Then in northern Minnesota I got more involved in the community and events and the state organization. Now, in Alaska, I continued the community involvement and board work with the state organization.

 

However, here in Alaska (especially where I am) I've got to travel more than 70 miles for a cache I haven't found, or buy a boat to get some island or remote coastal caches nearby. So now I just grab one or two caches when I can, and much of that has to do with my wife not being so keen on our activities revolving around geocaching. So I'll go get a cache while she shops, or I'll load a few along the hike or bike ride we're taking that weekend.

 

I can also count on getting out for some new caches when I go visit my geocaching parents in North Carolina, or when they come to visit us in Alaska.

 

So, yeah. My priorities have changed. It's a different caching climate here in Alaska, and I'm busy with land management issues and other things that weren't on my radar back in 2001 with this game.

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Hehe I'd forgotten about this post of mine!

So nearly two years on, to reply to myself:

 

Me? Started ten months ago and am on 830 something [2200 and some now], so HAVE to go for 1000 in my first year [tick]. Best stretch 74, best day 51. Not interested in bettering either of those [now 100, 63!]. 40 D/T combos, am using pocket queries for some challenging ones to try one day but no ambition to do 81 [now 76 and a kayak trip planned to get the last 5]. Will go for 366 days by 29/2/2016 [got to 365 found days in about 18 months; am on 360 hidden days; hidden months I have 8 in the 2002-05 zone, all done 06 onwards]. Happy to collect countries, counties and regions when there but not going far out of my way [still true but on about 10 countries now and the odd weekend away has just happened to be in a new county]. I really think that once I've done 1000 I'll slow down, partly of course because the map around home and work is filling up [yes]. I own 7 [23 live]caches, some more inspired than others, and know where I'd put more (lovely quiet stretch of the Thames, would make a long but beautiful walk linking to other people's caches).

 

So as time has gone on I've developed more of a hunger for challenging (and Challenge) caches and that has made life more interesting.

 

As a CO I have 99 FPs (about 17%) and very proud of that. OS Junior is on 1100 or so and will be dragging me out for more this weekend, no doubt.

 

When grids are not of relevance it's still nice on a Sunday morning to look at the map, see maybe a 2-mile walk with half a dozen caches maybe 20 miles from home, find a pub, have a nice stroll, see somewhere new. So I cache on different levels. An underground river and a tree climb on the to-do list for the next week as well.

 

One last thing, though I'm not big on events I've done a lot more days with another cacher than I would have envisaged, and made some good new friends.

 

As you can see from my annotated OP I've done a lot more than I could have dreamt of. I'm sure other achievements await.

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My priorities have changed since I joined the game in 2002 (at the national website first). Unlike many others, I had no opportunities to hit milestones or travel extensively. So my steps were:

 

a) Using geocaching as a nice add-on to my main hobby (hiking),

b ) Developing the national variant of the game,

c) Experimenting with new caches, mostly difficult field puzzles in woods,

d) Getting acquainted with international experience, finding caches while travelling abroad, geocaching events,

e) Promoting the sport in our country.

Edited by -CJ-
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Yes, my priorities have changed. I've reached over 1,000 caches. I will probably reach 2,000, but I doubt I will make it to 3,000. I now generally limit my geocaching to "quality" caches. I will not go after a park and grab, unless it is located at the trailhead. My definition of quality caches will vary, but they generally are interesting locations, or are part of a personal challenge (Jasmer, Fizzy, etc.). I will complete my personal challenges, and will go to some lengths to achieve them. To complete the Jasmer challenge, there are only 3 remaining Aug 2000 caches. The closest is 650 miles straight line from my house. All other months are closer. I drove two days out of my way to get that Aug 2000 cache.

 

Once I fill my current personal challenges, I will probably change to more of a focus on GeoTours and reward trails, Earthcaches and Virtual Caches. Ive already completed a number of GeoTours, and find them well worth doing. Good, well maintained caches in interesting locations. I never knew Oregon had so many covered bridges, but thanks to GeoTours, I have seen quite a few. Earthcaches have taken me to some unique places, and I have learned a bit of history while logging Virtual caches.

 

There are a number of factors for the change. Kids are now out of the house, grandkids, finances, even a change of vehicles (From a Mini Cooper with no ground clearance, to a Suzuki Sidekick with over-sized tires).

 

Skye.

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Priorities changing? Coming soon. I don't know what the outcome will be.

My caching partner of eleven years will soon be visiting his maker/namesake, after a two year battle with cancer.

We've found six cache together this year. As opposed to 118 last year in the same time period.

I will be archiving forty (or so) caches soon. His neighborhood is not my neighborhood. Thirty-five miles away. (Probably a fairly large percentage of the caches in Hudson County, New Jersey.)

I may take up hiking again. But I'm eleven years older and hot as healthy. And there's the moratorium on caches in NJ State Parks and Rail Trails, and the ban in NJ WMAs.

I may just give up entirely. Dunno. Or I may go wandering off distances for the Fizzy Challenge. (Hmm... Few finds in months hidden caches since last November.)

I'll probably give up on cache and dashes. They were boring anyways,

Priority changes coming. Just not sure what they will be.

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Mine haven't changed much.

Now that CJ's in corporate, on days, and every-other w/e on call, our caching together is almost zip.

- But now we're not getting the tons of C&Ds, tough-to-find micros (she liked to see if she could find 'em), or FTFs in the dark either.

Supportive, but I wasn't happy with those.

Now I can center on the ones I like to do, usually higher terrain, or a nice lengthy walk, and escape for a while.

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My priorities have changed.

 

I wanted to clear out a huge area around my house and work my way out.

 

Now where I live I haven't found one for a great distance around my house.

 

Things changed a lot after I did the "Washington State Island Hopping Challenge". Nothing could top that, so I've been trying to find caches that take me to good places, even though none can be that good.

 

I do a lot of earth cache now, when before I couldn't be bothered with all the work it took to log them. I visited a lot of them, and even wrote down answers, but never logged them because they were too much trouble. Now I seek out earthcaches because usually they are in cool places and they will teach me something.

 

I think I logged 6 or 7 last weekend.

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I'll still find most everything out there, if it happens to be right in front of me, but now I usually focus more on non-traditional caches. Case in point, I was at Wickham Park in FL and found about 7-8 in the park, but only a couple were traditional caches and they were on the way to a non-traditional hide and that park is packed with caches. I find myself looking for longer hikes and paddle caches as well.

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Reading the "not another souvenir promotion" thread and searching for "priorities" brought up this nearly 10-year-old thread of mine!

 

Here are some aspects of caching in (for me) descending order of importance:

 

puzzles / mysteries (1313/9088 finds)
all local caches (I do like to keep that map clean...)
high Terrain or Difficulty 
counties and countries (next stop N Wales to "complete" England and Wales)
D/T grid (2 and 85/91, kind of stalled)
being a CO (over 100 caches but slowing down)
FTF (nearly 100 but I don't dash out for them - prefer to find "lonely" / long-unfound caches)
challenges (on a self-imposed one to fill calendar 10 times, 6 days to go)
events (one or two a year - local cachers have an active FB group so keep in touch that way)
TBs 
series (Side Tracked etc…) - some people obsessed by these but just not interested

souvenirs (ignore)

 

I'd be interested to know what order other people would put those in - do souvenirs make the top 6 for anybody???

I think the 2013 me would be amused that I'm on 9000+ caches (teenage OS Junior approaching 6000) and still climbing trees etc!

On the human side - made some firm friends, people I'd literally trust with my life as have been abseiling / climbing / kayaking / tunneling with them.

Happy caching, here's to the next 10 years...

 

Edited by Oxford Stone
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6 hours ago, Oxford Stone said:

 

 

 ...do souvenirs make the top 6 for anybody???

 

The other 2/3rds refused to have us cache during a month of souvenirs in 2013 because they didn't mean anything to her.

She felt Groundspeak was inserting themselves into the way we enjoyed the hobby.  So yeah, they mean something to some...

A few other examples of souvenirs "gifted" without knowing, and now she could care less.

I still try to get the regulars (International Geocaching Day, etc.) but that's about it now.

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7 hours ago, Oxford Stone said:

I'd be interested to know what order other people would put those in - do souvenirs make the top 6 for anybody???

Good question. I really haven't been doing much geocaching lately, mostly local events and a few caches of opportunity. When we moved to Tennessee in 2020, I could have picked up a bunch of new states as we drove from California to Tennessee along I-40, but there was enough going on at the time without stopping for geocaches along the way.

 

But from your list, I can see a number of things that I'm definitely ignoring:

  • finding all local caches (I created quite a blast radius when I started more than 15 years ago, but I broke that habit when I was working on my year-long streak)
  • D/T grid and high D/T caches (I've got a big hole in my grid along the T4 axis that isn't going away; plus, I generally go interesting places and find the geocaches there, rather than seeking out specific geocaches with specific ratings)
  • counties and countries (I don't travel that much, although I was slowly working on a local quadrangle challenge in California; however, those aren't allowed any more)
  • FTF (although I did get a few--mostly puzzles that I solved quickly--before my year-long streak)
  • Souvenir promotions (although I might pick up some additional state Souvenirs, and a few date-related Souvenirs)

When I start doing more geocaching again, I'll probably start by logging the dozens of field notes drafts that have been languishing in my account. Also:

  • hide a cache in the nearby community garden (similar to the community garden cache in California that I archived)
  • start solving local puzzle caches
  • choose another API-based app (the first two that I used were much better than Groundspeak's app, but they became abandonware and then Groundspeak changed the API in non-backwards-compatible ways, and they stopped working)
  • renew my premium membership (so I can really use an API-based app)
  • release proxies for my alphabet block TBs (once I find the box the alphabet blocks and backup tags are in)
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2 hours ago, cerberus1 said:

The other 2/3rds refused to have us cache during a month of souvenirs in 2013 because they didn't mean anything to her.

 

If they meant nothing to her she would have ignored them.

 

I thought the month of souvenirs was easily the lamest souvenir promotion Groundspeak has ever done because it really cheapened their significance. They're the only souvenirs I ever hid on my profile. But they didn't lead to skip caching.

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I opt out of most "improvements" to the game since 2005 when I started, so I guess it's not me that's changed, but the game as defined by Frog HQ.

  1. Non-cache "caches" that are really geology lessons.  I have little time for weird.
  2. Badges for participation, I turn 'em off but new ones keep popping up.
  3. Some new game that doesn't seem very adventurous in spite of the name, connected loosely to this game by ownership and a "find" count?  Pass, thanks.
  4. Old maps are the best, even if GS can't ever make changes to 'em.
  5. Old logging page is still the best; it has preview after all.
  6. Old search links still work best (I keep bookmarks) because more info, less white space, less waiting.
  7. I can't brain the official search, so I don't search.
  8. Forums lost Off Topic so I spend more time elsewhere.

The original game still has all the magic I need, to keep it fun through all these years.  Boxes!  In the woods!

 

Edited by Viajero Perdido
poofreading fail
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2 hours ago, Viajero Perdido said:

I opt out of most "improvements" to the game since 2005 when I started, so I guess it's not me that's changed, but the game as defined by Frog HQ.

Back in California, I knew someone who never logged online, because when he started geocaching, there were no online logs. You had to write everything in the physical logbook in the cache. So that's the way he continued to do it.

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Watch it.  I love learning.  I dislike having to prove it.

 

Weird is pretending you can "place" or "find" these geology quizzes, as if they were something tangible.  Weird is that it's mixed in with a game about containers.  Weird is that you need landowner permission to "place" nothing at their land.

 

I'm EC-free for well over 10 years now.  That hasn't changed.

 

Oh, since they nuked Brass Cap Cache (searching for tangibles), I'm done with virtuals too.  I offer the same ridicule for them as the special-case virtuals about geology.

 

EDIT to avoid dragging this out.  Nothing weird about events; we talk about finding caches, and don't pretend to "place" or "find" events.  I love events.

 

Edited by Viajero Perdido
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When I started out I sought out pretty much everything in my local area, as I think most new cachers do. The longer I play, the more I started skipping caches that interested me less. LPCs got boring fast. GRIMs and micros tucked into palm trees were frequently frustrating; I logged a lot of DNFs on containers that were present and not intended to be evil, but I simply couldn't spot them. I find it boring to search a bush for 15 minutes in the hopes of spotting a micro.

 

Swag was interesting at first, but that didn't last long. Too many messy cache contents.

 

I deliberately tried a streak in my second year of geocaching and told myself I would stop as soon as it got tedious. 28 days in, I needed to drive 15 minutes out of my way to find a cache. I've never tried to build a streak since.

 

I do puzzles less now than I did early on. I found I was solving a lot of puzzles that I never found before they got archived. Also, puzzle finals tended to be in dull locations.

 

I rarely move trackables anymore. I found that I would be prompt about logging the retrieval, then unintentionally hang on to them for months before finally remembering to take them on a hike to a new cache. Especially because containers large enough and waterproof enough for trackables are rare. I still occasionally move them from caches that have really log activity (last week I grabbed two from a challenge cache that required a hike and hadn't been found in almost a year). Trackable mass logging also made me less interested in bothering to discover other people's trackables in their display binders. Trackables launched by myself or my friends all vanished quickly, which led me to quickly stop launching any of my own.

 

I did some Waymarking early on (400+ visited; 58 created), but the large number of mundane categories, lack of PQs or an app, and the predominately urban nature of it led me to pretty much stop bothering with them after a couple years. Also, the amount of information on any given Waymark page usually made a visit seem unnecessary. In the last 10 years I've used Waymarking as a reference tool far more than I've used it as a travel guide. I was turned off from creating Waymarks because of how stringent some of the required fields and/or Reviewers were. If Groundspeak would ever overhaul Waymarking I would be willing to try it again.

 

I really liked Earthcaches at first, when they were basically Virtuals but for Earth Science. I like them less now as the more stringent requirements in recent years have lead to a more narrow scope and some Earthcaches that baffle me - I don't understand what I'm supposed to be looking for and don't understand how how I'm supposed to answer the open-ended questions. That said, I still do most Earthcaches. I have loved Virtuals steadily throughout my 13 years caching: they are almost always somewhere worth going, they are rarely DNFable, and they can't have a wet/moldy logsheet.

 

At some point I realized what interests me most about geocaching is where it takes me, not so much the geocaches themselves. My ideal GPS game would be 100% virtual - no containers to find, no containers to maintain, no abandoned containers to become geo-litter. Just an enormous checklist of categorized waypoints for cool spots, with online logs to read about the adventures of others visiting the same places (what Waymarking might have been?). I like ammo cans in the woods not because of swag or trackables, but because they are easy to find and likely to contain a dry logbook.

 

One thing that hasn't changed: I have always enjoyed writing online logs. I like to share my experiences.

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1 hour ago, JL_HSTRE said:

When I started out I sought out pretty much everything in my local area, as I think most new cachers do.

I agree with this a lot of what you wrote. I also tried to find all the caches in my area, but when more and more got published (often power trails of unsuitable caches that soon leak in water), just placed there for no reason, but to hide a cache, I gave up trying to find them all and now cache less when at home. My Bulk load used to stretch about 70kms, but now with all the power trails, etc, it now only stretches about 18kms. Caches have become more boring, and I don't see this as an attraction for beginners.

 

1 hour ago, JL_HSTRE said:

Swag was interesting at first, but that didn't last long. Too many messy cache contents.

I still like to see swag as it is an attraction for beginners. It also means it's not a micro. It's up to the CO to maintain their caches. Occasionally something nice is a surprise. I leave reasonable stuff, but except for a pair of old 'diamond' earrings, that someone excitedly sent a message to thank me for, I never know if they are picked up. The earrings were very nice, but I don't wear them.

 

1 hour ago, JL_HSTRE said:

last week I grabbed two from a challenge cache that required a hike and hadn't been found in almost a year

I did that recently returning from a road trip. I had already gathered up enough trackables and didn't want any more, but when I found three in a semi-remote cache, I guessed they might have been there awhile, so gathered them up. They had been there about a year I think from memory, so I did the right thing.

 

1 hour ago, JL_HSTRE said:

Trackable mass logging

No longer into that, and stopped showing my personal TB.

 

2 hours ago, JL_HSTRE said:

I really liked Earthcaches at first, when they were basically Virtuals but for Earth Science. I like them less now as the more stringent requirements in recent years have lead to a more narrow scope and some Earthcaches that baffle me - I don't understand what I'm supposed to be looking for and don't understand how how I'm supposed to answer the open-ended questions.

Agree strongly. Long lists of questions I am supposed to guess the answer for is tedious. One CO told me my answers were better than the average answers he gets, but still, often lots of guess work. I like Earthcaches because they take you to interesting places, but if they were more like Virtuals, they would be so much more fun. Earthcaches should be there to get people to visit interesting places and have the process of what occurred there explained, but they then shouldn't be like a school exam to answer. For years this turned me off them and I avoided Earthcaches, not knowing what I was missing out on. I am only now doing them, because a challenge I found, need more Earthcache finds from me.

I can get taken to a fascinating place (although not all Earthcaches do this, but usually at least there is something to learn), only to have the experience ruined by boring, tedious questions.

 

2 hours ago, JL_HSTRE said:

At some point I realized what interests me most about geocaching is where it takes me

Agreed. The best cache take you to somewhere interesting, or at least get you out getting some exercise, such as caches along a bike track. When I visited Wellington NZ a few years back, the placement of the caches there took me on a wonderful tour of the city centre, with information to read about where I was. Great tour. (Have no idea if this is still the same.) Caches should aim to have a reason to be there.

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On 8/29/2013 at 4:24 PM, Oxford Stone said:

I'm interested to hear if people have found their geocaching priorities changing over time.

Me? Started ten months ago and am on 830 something, so HAVE to go for 1000 in my first year. Best stretch 74, best day 51. Not interested in bettering either of those. 40 D/T combos, am using pocket queries for some challenging ones to try one day but no ambition to do 81. Will go for 366 days by 29/2/2016. Happy to collect countries, counties and regions when there but not going far out of my way. I really think that once I've done 1000 I'll slow down, partly of course because the map around home and work is filling up. I own 7 caches, some more inspired than others, and know where I'd put more (lovely quiet stretch of the Thames, would make a long but beautiful walk linking to other people's caches).

I've also noticed that my favourite points in the bank are up to five. Have I really only done mediocre caches recently? Maybe some of the initial thrill has gone.

Enough about me... how has your caching experience evolved?


I haven't checked who revived this thread but it sure gave me a big chuckle! I betcha @Oxford Stone, you might not know that I basically really started around the same time... and it's likely I first met you in 2013 or 14. :-) When did SOX begin?? 

Evolution of my experience: I did it only regularly or irregularly until a winter of unemployment when a certain local (to the OP) cacher talked me into trying his puzzles. That was about 6 yrs ago. That series occupied me for weeks and weeks, doing a series of 40 and getting hooked on puzzles. I then tried a streak (with my ex other half) and we went along great til he got impatient one day and the streak ended. Solo caching for me has just increased a ton in the past few years. My biggest year was 0.6 caches/day until 2021. That was a huge jump to 3 per day. Last year I hit 4.5 per day. I think it's also down to where I have lived or spent time. I am currently in a cache-rich area and find it super easy to grab 4-10 caches in a day without even trying much. Good hikes, rail trails, etc. I suppose I could aim for a 2k year but I'm going to be satisfied with completing a fizzy soon. (How does one get 4k+ caches without filling a fizzy? Not owning a boat! See my posts in "what irks you?"... ha.) I still enjoy puzzles and have a bigger "toolbox" but still not big enough that I don't need to ask brighter friends for help. :-) 

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When I first started (7/5/2003) I used to try and get out a lot, and my husband would almost always go with me.  Eventually I shifted interest towards trying to be ftf.  After a while there wasn't a lot of people (in my area) putting out new caches, and I wasn't really wanting to put out caches, I just wanted to find them.  I'd still go out occasionally but it wasn't a priority at the time.  Then my husband died, and I had nobody to go with me, so I basically stopped for a long, long time.  Only lately have I rediscovered this great activity, and my friend goes with me sometimes.......almost 20 years later and I've only found 222.

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7 hours ago, CCFwasG said:

How does one get 4k+ caches without filling a fizzy?

If you mean, Finds for Each Day of the Year

Easily. I think I was over 10,000 finds before I filled it. I don't climb trees or do many puzzles. The boat issue has not always been a problem. I have waited until warm weather and swum to some caches.

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1 hour ago, WolfWalker said:

When I first started (7/5/2003) I used to try and get out a lot, and my husband would almost always go with me.  Eventually I shifted interest towards trying to be ftf.  After a while there wasn't a lot of people (in my area) putting out new caches, and I wasn't really wanting to put out caches, I just wanted to find them.  I'd still go out occasionally but it wasn't a priority at the time.  Then my husband died, and I had nobody to go with me, so I basically stopped for a long, long time.  Only lately have I rediscovered this great activity, and my friend goes with me sometimes.......almost 20 years later and I've only found 222.

Sorry about your husband, but it is fun to cache alone too. I mostly cache alone.

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11 hours ago, CCFwasG said:

How does one get 4k+ caches without filling a fizzy?

As I mentioned before, I've got a big hole in my D/T grid along the T4 axis that isn't going away. I can use various types of equipment to access T5 caches, which are usually relatively easy when you use the necessary equipment. But T4 usually means that equipment won't really make the terrain any less challenging.

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7 hours ago, barefootjeff said:

I'm pretty hopeless with difficult puzzles and needles hidden in haystacks.

I really enjoy "hidden in plain sight" camouflage caches, so I've gotten a number of D4 caches in that category. A few D5 caches have needed equipment to retrieve/open, and others have been puzzles. Back in California, the highlight of the year used to be Venona's annual "ACTIVITIES", which involved online cooperation to solve extremely difficult puzzles, and offline cooperation to retrieve the physical clues at the coordinates indicated by those puzzles. Some years, the containers for the physical clues were listed as D5 puzzle caches, so that got me some more D5 caches.

 

As for T4, the description used to say "more than a 10 mile hike" and "May require an overnight stay." Most of my backpacking has been on short out-and-back trips with kids from church, less than 10 miles one way (and then back the next day). I've hiked the same loops in a day (without a full backpack, of course). So even the caches I found on those backpacking trips didn't require an overnight stay.

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On 3/23/2023 at 7:46 PM, Goldenwattle said:

If you mean, Finds for Each Day of the Year

Easily. I think I was over 10,000 finds before I filled it. I don't climb trees or do many puzzles. The boat issue has not always been a problem. I have waited until warm weather and swum to some caches.

 

Fizzy not calendar... still have my two blanks. Calendar was filled this year but only because I finally looked to see if I had empty dates and I had some, so I made notes in my Google calendar to remind me. :-) 

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My top priorities:

1) Tree climbing at T3-T4 = free climbing on moderate difficulty. Definitely my #1!

2) Other "sweet spot" caches, T3-T4, D2-D3. Not trivial, takes a bit of effort and can be a bit tricky but it usually works out. Fun stuff!

3) High FP caches. (High Wilson score.)

4) Old caches.

5) High T that look possible. I don't dare the most extreme T5's any more. It was close enough once...

6) Smart mysts that are not wild guessing and not plain time wasters.

7) Lab caches - and I mean the real ones, temporary, usually physical and often very original caches at mega events.

8) FTFs. They are not super important but it can be fun to be first once in a while.

 

I opt out of

 

- most challenges, since the new ones are not challenges at all. Many old ones are good.

- ALCs, since they mess up my lab cache statistics and the concept is flawed anyway.

- JiGiDi puzzles. No thinking, just mechanically spend too much time.

- Most 1.5/1.5. Default D/T is a warning signal, can be a careless CO.

- Power trails. Feels like working.

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On 4/14/2014 at 6:44 AM, Oxford Stone said:

When I started this thread I'd never have guessed I'd put out as many as 13 caches, organise an event or - more importantly - see some of the places near and far from home that I've been to. Who knows what adventures lie ahead?

 

I admit one of my favourite things about this thread is knowing the OP and also now knowing it has been nearly ten years for both of us and ... look where we are now! Still avidly caching. @Oxford Stone what a hoot if you updated this (quoted) post to your current status!

I was thinking about adding to my prior comments: my priorities have shifted a lot based on where I am and what's available, combined with the local community (friendly or not, active or not, etc), combined with availability. I've noticed that when I want to cache but can't quite decide where to go etc, I initially just made an effort to fill a calendar and then started on a fizzy grid. Once that is done I guess I might seek out incomplete challenges. But where I am now the caching community is SO active that I will never run out of caches to find - singles or series both. I am not a numbers person but maybe one day I might try up-ing my streak or increasing my max finds in one day. Who knows? :-) 

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On 3/23/2023 at 12:19 PM, CCFwasG said:

How does one get 4k+ caches without filling a fizzy?

Heh, easy; I know plenty of people who aren't out for stats and just love finding quicker easier caches. Those high D or T caches require specific attention in many times. You could vastly imbalance the DT grid to the top left when just years and years of casual caching.  Especially if your general home area doesn't actually have any particular DTs you might need to travel a greater distance for. 

I'm slowly inching towards 50 fizzies, mainly because my region is filled with stats people and power trails and challenges and tree climbs, each being quicker ways to earn those lower and rightmost DTs.

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I figured you knew it was technically possible, I was just highlighting an anecdote I have literally seen occasionally with people with so many finds I was just as surprised to see no fizzy completed... but that's coming from us/people who watch stats so much it seems impossible to miss such a significant statistical thing :lol:

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My priorities have definitely changed. I started in 2012. From about mid-2017 to early 2019 I became less and less mobile. I had both hips replaced in August 2018. After getting back on my feet I'm still in some pain and am sometimes "concerned" about falling or even just the longevity of the new joints so I didn't cache much. Then last fall I told myself to get to 5000. I had about 4600 at the time. I hit 5000 in January. That put me in 48th place for all-time Oklahoma cachers. 40th was at about 5350 so my next goal was to be in the top 40. Made that. I'm at 5444 and in 38th. Next goal is to catch the cacher just ahead of me because she's a friend and we're having fun being in a bit of a competition. I'm within 80 and am finding more than her. At least right now. Next goal will be to get 6000 while moving up with my friend to the top 30. I'm at 5444 today. 

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