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crazypig88

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I am a teenager. For most of the events I've attended, I've had a blast. And the most fun I've had with a cache, has been with other cachers. But for regular caching, I know nobody who actually likes to cache, my parents tolerate it. I think that if I tried to go caching with other cachers by meeting up by email, it may seem A little weird to the others.I know a lot of people do this, but they are in the same age area and can DRIVE. I just seem like an outlier.And also, the majority of the cachers in my area have found thousands more than me. it would be nice to have someone to cache with, but I don't see it happening any time soon for me

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Does your area have a geocaching FB page you can join? Easy to post that you'd like to go out as well as to see others' posts about heading out on a run. Is there a local forum page? Same idea and concept as the FB page, but not quite as "open" as FB. Get contact info at the events you attend and let them know that you would like to go out on a caching run occasionally with them. Specify that you can't drive and would need some help in getting around. Offer to pay for gas or lunch or dinner every once in a while (if you can) to show your gratitude. You're certainly in a different boat than many of the cachers I know in my area, as most of them are older and not teenagers, although there are a couple I've met.

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Three quick thoughts. (1) No teenagers at the events, I guess? (2) Wear a caching t-shirt to school & see if anyone starts a conversation about it. (3) Talk about it at lunch with your friends, and if someone is interested, go to a park with several caches with them on the weekend. Parks often have other possible activities, at least in warmer weather. And when it's a park instead of cache and dash, you can point out to your parents that you're getting exercise. They can't say no to that! B)

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Three quick thoughts. (1) No teenagers at the events, I guess? (2) Wear a caching t-shirt to school & see if anyone starts a conversation about it. (3) Talk about it at lunch with your friends, and if someone is interested, go to a park with several caches with them on the weekend. Parks often have other possible activities, at least in warmer weather. And when it's a park instead of cache and dash, you can point out to your parents that you're getting exercise. They can't say no to that! B)

I took about four of my friends to go caching with me, they liked it a little bit but they aren't interested in it as much anymore.

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Does your area have a geocaching FB page you can join? Easy to post that you'd like to go out as well as to see others' posts about heading out on a run. Is there a local forum page? Same idea and concept as the FB page, but not quite as "open" as FB. Get contact info at the events you attend and let them know that you would like to go out on a caching run occasionally with them. Specify that you can't drive and would need some help in getting around. Offer to pay for gas or lunch or dinner every once in a while (if you can) to show your gratitude. You're certainly in a different boat than many of the cachers I know in my area, as most of them are older and not teenagers, although there are a couple I've met.

Dallas geocachers fb page is as close as it'll get, but their "wall" (I think) has not had any posts since 2013. It would take some serious convincing for my parents to let me go on caching runs with strangers.

 

Use the hashtag #CachesForCrazypig88 to help raise awareness of teenage cachers' struggles [;)]

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There is a kid in my area that started caching while in highschool. I'm guessing he was about 14/15 years old when he started. He hooked up with adults at events. Seemed to work well for him, especially when it came to travelling longer distances, the adults did the driving. Now he's a young adult, continues to be an active geocacher, and quite involved with events. Be sure that you parents are aware of who you cache with, go to the events with you and meet your potential caching partners.

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I too am a "teenage" geocacher (well 12), so technically I'm not but I got over 100 finds in a year. I would meet up with people at events I went to and then after it we generally would go with others around for a few caches in the area. Do people in Dallas ever go look for geocaches after an event?

 

I have never gone caching as a group outside an event yet, but I am planning to with a few others.

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There is a kid in my area that started caching while in highschool. I'm guessing he was about 14/15 years old when he started. He hooked up with adults at events. Seemed to work well for him, especially when it came to travelling longer distances, the adults did the driving. Now he's a young adult, continues to be an active geocacher, and quite involved with events. Be sure that you parents are aware of who you cache with, go to the events with you and meet your potential caching partners.

Agreed.

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I've known some other geocachers who were in the same boat as you.

 

If you can find some other cachers close to your age, that is always great.

 

You will probably also find that some of the experienced cachers don't mind taking an energetic young person under their wing. I think one of the best things about this game is the friends I've made, of all ages and all walks of life.

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I understand how you feel. I'm 18 but began caching when I was 15. My parents still will not let me go caching unless someone is with me, so most of the time I sit and stare at the cache pages. You have an advantage though, you live in a large city where there are lots of people. I suggest wearing a shirt that has to do with Geocaching so you can maybe meet others in school who do it, or are interested. That's the best advice I've got for you.

 

Good luck!

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I understand how you feel. I'm 18 but began caching when I was 15. My parents still will not let me go caching unless someone is with me, so most of the time I sit and stare at the cache pages. You have an advantage though, you live in a large city where there are lots of people. I suggest wearing a shirt that has to do with Geocaching so you can maybe meet others in school who do it, or are interested. That's the best advice I've got for you.

 

Good luck!

 

Is 18 not age of majority where you live?

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I understand how you feel. I'm 18 but began caching when I was 15. My parents still will not let me go caching unless someone is with me, so most of the time I sit and stare at the cache pages. You have an advantage though, you live in a large city where there are lots of people. I suggest wearing a shirt that has to do with Geocaching so you can maybe meet others in school who do it, or are interested. That's the best advice I've got for you.

 

Good luck!

 

Is 18 not age of majority where you live?

It is, but my parents are overprotective. They don't want me more than 5 miles out of town on my own. I still live at home because I'm not out of high school yet, so they see it that I should follow their rules. I believe it to be fair.
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I am a teenager. For most of the events I've attended, I've had a blast. And the most fun I've had with a cache, has been with other cachers. But for regular caching, I know nobody who actually likes to cache, my parents tolerate it. I think that if I tried to go caching with other cachers by meeting up by email, it may seem A little weird to the others.I know a lot of people do this, but they are in the same age area and can DRIVE. I just seem like an outlier.And also, the majority of the cachers in my area have found thousands more than me. it would be nice to have someone to cache with, but I don't see it happening any time soon for me

 

I don't know if this was brought up yet, but if your friends like to go hiking or just hanging out at the mall, you could take a few minutes while out with them to poke around in the woods or under a lamppost. That way you both have fun!

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I understand how you feel. I'm 18 but began caching when I was 15. My parents still will not let me go caching unless someone is with me, so most of the time I sit and stare at the cache pages. You have an advantage though, you live in a large city where there are lots of people. I suggest wearing a shirt that has to do with Geocaching so you can maybe meet others in school who do it, or are interested. That's the best advice I've got for you.

 

Good luck!

 

Is 18 not age of majority where you live?

It is, but my parents are overprotective. They don't want me more than 5 miles out of town on my own. I still live at home because I'm not out of high school yet, so they see it that I should follow their rules. I believe it to be fair.

 

I'm old enough to be yo mama, so I'd worry about ya, too! :P And I've felt a little uncomfy in certain places as a woman caching alone. I generally just have more fun caching with someone anyway! :D

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The thing is, there aren't any events that are close enough to me. There is an event really close, but it's on a Friday morning, just in time for school :(

 

Then host one yourself!

That would be great, but I wouldn't even know where to start. Also, money. Also, parents.

 

Here's a start--a link to the cache page for an event I held that didn't cost a cent and no permission was required. It was in a neighborhood park less than 1/2 mile from my home. Do you think your parents would let you do something like this? Do you have a small park nearby?

 

http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC5ARAR_7-souvenirs-picnic?guid=78ef6dfe-7f67-4b53-90a3-bf402a74e141

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The thing is, there aren't any events that are close enough to me. There is an event really close, but it's on a Friday morning, just in time for school :(

 

Then host one yourself!

That would be great, but I wouldn't even know where to start. Also, money. Also, parents.

 

Reserve a room at a restaurant and create a link.

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The thing is, there aren't any events that are close enough to me. There is an event really close, but it's on a Friday morning, just in time for school :(

 

Then host one yourself!

That would be great, but I wouldn't even know where to start. Also, money. Also, parents.

 

Reserve a room at a restaurant and create a link.

 

I'm guessing crazypig88 is 14 years old. I don't think a kid can reserve a room at a restaurant.

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The thing is, there aren't any events that are close enough to me. There is an event really close, but it's on a Friday morning, just in time for school :(

 

Then host one yourself!

That would be great, but I wouldn't even know where to start. Also, money. Also, parents.

 

Reserve a room at a restaurant and create a link.

 

I'm guessing crazypig88 is 14 years old. I don't think a kid can reserve a room at a restaurant.

Hm, perhaps it's different in different areas. Here, you can reserve a room just by calling up a restaurant. They don't ask your age, or to ever even meet you. You give them the date and time, if it's available, you give your name or group name and that's it.

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The thing is, there aren't any events that are close enough to me. There is an event really close, but it's on a Friday morning, just in time for school :(

 

Then host one yourself!

That would be great, but I wouldn't even know where to start. Also, money. Also, parents.

 

Reserve a room at a restaurant and create a link.

 

I'm guessing crazypig88 is 14 years old. I don't think a kid can reserve a room at a restaurant.

Four more months and I'm fourteen! But for now, I'm at 13

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I wonder how many parents of kids that age WISH their kid was into something as healthy and wholesome as geocaching? Your parents should go with you.

They do.my dad thinks there is no point to it and finds it a nuisance. My mom is a little more tolerant of it, occasionally using it as a bribe for me to accompany her on errands.

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I wonder how many parents of kids that age WISH their kid was into something as healthy and wholesome as geocaching? Your parents should go with you.

They do.my dad thinks there is no point to it and finds it a nuisance. My mom is a little more tolerant of it, occasionally using it as a bribe for me to accompany her on errands.

 

A lot of teenagers are WAY more of a nuisance than that!

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CP88, there is a Saturday breakfast event coming up at the end of this month, Lazy Days of Winter. Try to get your parents to attend it with you. They can meet some of the nicest people in Texas, who just happen to be geocachers, and have a nice time. That event is about 140 miles from me, but I am thinking about making the trip, based on stories from last years event.

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You should try and find some of the local cachers that go out on trips to find caches. I don't know if every area has this but we do. There is probably 10-15 of us in the main group. One of us will find a fun series of caches we want to go for and then blast it out to the group a couple of weeks before we plan to go in a email. All interested say they will go and it is usually a group of 5 or more. We will pick out a couple of drivers and all meet up at one place and then carpool around to all the caches. There is a bunch of us and there would be no problem to take along a teenager who was actually interested in the sport. My daughter and other kids from the geocachers often go. I'm sure if your parents met some of us and our kids and we said we would take care of you as one of our own they would be OK with it.

As a parent I wouldn't want you to go alone with one cacher or who knows maybe even another group but I know ours would be fine and I am sure there are other ones like ours. It would take time to figure out if the group was cool or not but if they had thousands of finds and there was a bunch of them I am sure it would be fine as they are more worried about there rep in the game then hurting a kid.

Of course we would then have to explain we are going for caches climbing off the edge of a cliff threw a swamp full of alligators but that is after the fact. :)

You would just need to get into the click and get the Email of the idea of going for the cache and see who else is going. If it all worked out and you could go and many others were going I think you would be fine and have fun.

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You should try and find some of the local cachers that go out on trips to find caches. I don't know if every area has this but we do. There is probably 10-15 of us in the main group. One of us will find a fun series of caches we want to go for and then blast it out to the group a couple of weeks before we plan to go in a email. All interested say they will go and it is usually a group of 5 or more. We will pick out a couple of drivers and all meet up at one place and then carpool around to all the caches. There is a bunch of us and there would be no problem to take along a teenager who was actually interested in the sport. My daughter and other kids from the geocachers often go. I'm sure if your parents met some of us and our kids and we said we would take care of you as one of our own they would be OK with it.

As a parent I wouldn't want you to go alone with one cacher or who knows maybe even another group but I know ours would be fine and I am sure there are other ones like ours. It would take time to figure out if the group was cool or not but if they had thousands of finds and there was a bunch of them I am sure it would be fine as they are more worried about there rep in the game then hurting a kid.

Of course we would then have to explain we are going for caches climbing off the edge of a cliff threw a swamp full of alligators but that is after the fact. :)

You would just need to get into the click and get the Email of the idea of going for the cache and see who else is going. If it all worked out and you could go and many others were going I think you would be fine and have fun.

That already sounds like it would be a fun experience! Now, here comes the question. How did you organize that group? Was it from an event?

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Sounds to me likely there's a wise head on those young shoulders. Good on ya too crazypig88 for posting logs that are worth reading rather than just "yay" or TFTC.

At first, I thought posting tftc and stuff was okay, but when I hid my first few caches, I realized that I didn't like to get those logs, so I stopped and wrote more meaningful logs

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CP88, there is a Saturday breakfast event coming up at the end of this month, Lazy Days of Winter. Try to get your parents to attend it with you. They can meet some of the nicest people in Texas, who just happen to be geocachers, and have a nice time. That event is about 140 miles from me, but I am thinking about making the trip, based on stories from last years event.

My mom said that is a maybe, but it's too early to Tell for sure. She usually confirms a few days before we go

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CP88, there is a Saturday breakfast event coming up at the end of this month, Lazy Days of Winter. Try to get your parents to attend it with you. They can meet some of the nicest people in Texas, who just happen to be geocachers, and have a nice time. That event is about 140 miles from me, but I am thinking about making the trip, based on stories from last years event.

My mom said that is a maybe, but it's too early to Tell for sure. She usually confirms a few days before we go

 

Tell her and your dad you want them to take you to the event as an early birthday present.

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CP88, there is a Saturday breakfast event coming up at the end of this month, Lazy Days of Winter. Try to get your parents to attend it with you. They can meet some of the nicest people in Texas, who just happen to be geocachers, and have a nice time. That event is about 140 miles from me, but I am thinking about making the trip, based on stories from last years event.

My mom said that is a maybe, but it's too early to Tell for sure. She usually confirms a few days before we go

 

Tell her and your dad you want them to take you to the event as an early birthday present.

101 ways to manipulate your parents. Way 35: use the early birthday card! :D Did you say that you might be Able to make it?

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CP88, there is a Saturday breakfast event coming up at the end of this month, Lazy Days of Winter. Try to get your parents to attend it with you. They can meet some of the nicest people in Texas, who just happen to be geocachers, and have a nice time. That event is about 140 miles from me, but I am thinking about making the trip, based on stories from last years event.

My mom said that is a maybe, but it's too early to Tell for sure. She usually confirms a few days before we go

 

Tell her and your dad you want them to take you to the event as an early birthday present.

101 ways to manipulate your parents. Way 35: use the early birthday card! :D Did you say that you might be Able to make it?

 

I'm trying to work it out to be there. Depends mostly on my son and a Scout project we may be working on.

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Im also a teenager and started caching last April. My neighbor and his sister are really into it as well and my sister loves to come with too. My parents are fine with it and think its a fun way to spend a saturday afternoon if I don't have a Basketball/Football/Lacrosse game! They let us bike wherever we want, just be home by dark. We bike to every cache we find and have logged over 250 miles on our bikes each. We always bring some stuff for a picnic or something and have it at the little parks we find and play some basketball. I thinks its a fun pastime that I usually get out and do for an afternoon about once a month. I couldn't imagine caching without some friends as its all I've known! I hope you find some caching friends and it makes it more fun if they're your age! It really makes the game for me and I probably wouldn't cache without my neighbors and sister! :)

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You should try and find some of the local cachers that go out on trips to find caches. I don't know if every area has this but we do. There is probably 10-15 of us in the main group. One of us will find a fun series of caches we want to go for and then blast it out to the group a couple of weeks before we plan to go in a email. All interested say they will go and it is usually a group of 5 or more. We will pick out a couple of drivers and all meet up at one place and then carpool around to all the caches. There is a bunch of us and there would be no problem to take along a teenager who was actually interested in the sport. My daughter and other kids from the geocachers often go. I'm sure if your parents met some of us and our kids and we said we would take care of you as one of our own they would be OK with it.

As a parent I wouldn't want you to go alone with one cacher or who knows maybe even another group but I know ours would be fine and I am sure there are other ones like ours. It would take time to figure out if the group was cool or not but if they had thousands of finds and there was a bunch of them I am sure it would be fine as they are more worried about there rep in the game then hurting a kid.

Of course we would then have to explain we are going for caches climbing off the edge of a cliff threw a swamp full of alligators but that is after the fact. :)

You would just need to get into the click and get the Email of the idea of going for the cache and see who else is going. If it all worked out and you could go and many others were going I think you would be fine and have fun.

That already sounds like it would be a fun experience! Now, here comes the question. How did you organize that group? Was it from an event?

I don't think it was from a event. Just all the local cachers get to know each other from finds and FTF's and all. Asking questions about a puzzle. And being friends on facebook. We now have eachothers emails and just post about a cache we want to find. It happened again last night and we are all planning a crazy trip for a hard cache.

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I wonder how many parents of kids that age WISH their kid was into something as healthy and wholesome as geocaching? Your parents should go with you.

 

I know... I'm thinking the same thing. Most parents are worried about their kids at that age going to wild parties! Here's a 13+ year old that actually is TRYING to do something healthy and positive and getting shot down. Keep trying, Crazypig. Best of luck!

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