Jump to content

Combine other hobbies with caching ?


jellis

Recommended Posts

Like I know some when they go on business trips find caches too. Or when you visit family. Do you also add another hobby too like golf? Others may find fishing holes by caches. Do some of your hobbies take you to caches?

I myself use to do firework shows and would place or find caches near where we set up. I have been lately into birding. I work around both hobbies by finding caches in areas I am looking for specific birds or I go caching and may get lucky finding special birds, like recently at the Yuma AZ event I was birding nearby the event.

Link to comment

Yes! Traveling and caching in other countries. We just went to Kuwait for a few caches (not logged yet as I don't like logging with mobile phone). Caches often bring us to places we'd not go to otherwise, and honestly: why would someone go to Kuwait in the first place? ;)

 

Other hobby and job: geology. Here's the connection to my fave cache type, earthcaches. We just collected information for placing a new one.

 

Mrs terratin

Link to comment

For the past 40 years, we have always taken long road trips in the summer and any week-long break from school. Our primary objectives have been national parks and many other historical sites in the national park system. We have always hiked, too. Geocaching has added another layer of enjoyment to our trips. An example of combining our hobbies was our last visit to Grand Canyon. We had been there 4 other times when we didn't have the time or were accompanied by our children and always planned to hike to the bottom someday. Well, at the age of 55 we began thinking we had better not put it off any longer. Our three day trip (one day to hike down, one day to loaf around Phantom Ranch, and one day to hike out) we were able to complete the multi-stage virtual cache "South Kaibab to Bright Angel" and check off this awesome experience from our bucket list. We also love earthcaches and have visited some wonderful places we would never had known if not for caching - "Eternal Flame" EC in New York is a prime example.

Link to comment

I was already quite keen on drives, road trips, exploring cool places off the beaten path, and learning about history so geocaching fits well with all of those things.

 

I met my husband geocaching, so that means I have a built-in best friend and caching partner, which is great.

 

Geocaching often prompts us to try things, or rediscover things, like snowshoeing, canoeing, etc.

 

And through geocaching, I met other geocachers who were into photography, which inspired me to get a nice camera and learn to take better photographs.

Link to comment

Sea kayaking, flyfishing, and traveling

 

I enjoy kayaking and also enjoy finding paddle caches. I'm REALLY looking forward to heading to SC to take my touring kayak out into the open waters as well as paddling with the dolphins. There's only one paddle cache, which I'll be doing, but it's the kayak time I'm looking forward to on this trip!

 

I don't know what part of SC you'll be in but if you're in the southern part take a ride down to Sea Kayak Georgia in Tybee Island. Real good people there. I did some kayaking down in Florida with a few people that work there, including the owner of the business.

Link to comment

Before I started caching I was into fishing so I already had a kayak and boat. The thing I liked most about fishing was getting out on the water and around nature. I let most all fish go anyways. Geocaching has been great! I still fish occasionally but like to go kayaking out to caches and biking to them. My daughter and I have started surfing so now we can go surf somewhere cool and then find caches after.

Link to comment

Geocaching just seemed to jump right in with what we (mostly me) like to do. I discovered the hobby in spring 2009 in NW Georgia, USA when a cousin took me to my first cache. I backpack a pretty good bit so later that year my girlfriend (now wife) bought me a GPS as a birthday gift...she actually plugged in coords for a scavenger hunt as part of the present. [Ahhh...such a sweet gift. Although she used the wrong coord system so all the waypoints were around 50 miles out in the ocean]

 

I was hooked on geocaching pretty quickly after that. Since then I've planned enough stuff around geocaching to cause my (now) wife to question her decision to marry me. Fortunately we enjoy many of the same activities so it allows for me to slide in the occasional random cache every now and then.

 

To answer your question, I include caching with pretty much anything I do if possible:

 

Fly fishing trip to Colorado: what caches are nearby?

 

Roadtrip to Boston: states to grab along a route.

 

Backpacking in GSMNP: caches along the Art Loab Trail.

 

Honeymoon in Alberta: Earthcaches along the Icefields Parkway.

Edited by blackdog7
Link to comment

Sea kayaking, flyfishing, and traveling

 

I enjoy kayaking and also enjoy finding paddle caches. I'm REALLY looking forward to heading to SC to take my touring kayak out into the open waters as well as paddling with the dolphins. There's only one paddle cache, which I'll be doing, but it's the kayak time I'm looking forward to on this trip!

 

I don't know what part of SC you'll be in but if you're in the southern part take a ride down to Sea Kayak Georgia in Tybee Island. Real good people there. I did some kayaking down in Florida with a few people that work there, including the owner of the business.

Hilton Head. I've done some FL kayaking along the Ocklawaha River on the western edge of the Ocala National Forest. I'll keep Tybee Island in mind.

Link to comment

I originally discovered geocaching because we always went for long car drives (back in the days before filling the gas tank required a mortgage). Knowing that there were interesting sites to discover gave us a reason to head in a particular direction. Back then, I wasn't concerned about finding the actual cache.

 

Once we actually got into caching, it got incorporated into our other activities: camping, canoeing, boating, fishing. Last year, we got into bicycling, and a whole new world of geocaching has presented itself.

 

A family reunion a few years ago gave us cause to find caches in another province.

 

Oh, geez, how could I forget...primary purpose was to go to a quilt show. Afterwards...you got it...caching!

 

 

B.

Edited by Pup Patrol
Link to comment

Sea kayaking, flyfishing, and traveling

 

I enjoy kayaking and also enjoy finding paddle caches. I'm REALLY looking forward to heading to SC to take my touring kayak out into the open waters as well as paddling with the dolphins. There's only one paddle cache, which I'll be doing, but it's the kayak time I'm looking forward to on this trip!

 

I don't know what part of SC you'll be in but if you're in the southern part take a ride down to Sea Kayak Georgia in Tybee Island. Real good people there. I did some kayaking down in Florida with a few people that work there, including the owner of the business.

Hilton Head. I've done some FL kayaking along the Ocklawaha River on the western edge of the Ocala National Forest. I'll keep Tybee Island in mind.

 

If I recall, Hilton Head is about an hour from Savannah and Tybee Island is about 20 minutes from there. Much of the paddling in the area is at the far side of the island around Tybee creek. It's a short paddle from Tybee Island to Little Tybee island where there are several boat only accessible caches. Tybee Island has a fair amount of caches on the main island as well.

 

I haven't paddled in Florida since I started geocaching. I did a long weekend trip with a day trip in Oleta River state park and a day around the south end of Key Largo. I also attended a 4 day sea kayaking symposium out of Pinellas park near St. Petersburg where I got my BCU 3 star certification.

 

 

Link to comment

I actually started getting into geocaching to make a change from some of my other hobbies. I like to read, craft, and game - all activities that are stationary and mostly indoor activities. Geocaching gets me out of the house, moving around, getting some sunshine and exercise that I wouldn't get otherwise. The only other hobby of mine that it really seemed to fit right in with is exploring cemeteries.

 

Like others have mentioned, I tend to geocache around travelling - I've already informed my future husband that we will be doing at least one quick cache run on our honeymoon so I can get Florida on my map :) I usually look for caches to do along the way whenever I'm taking any sort of trip. Added bonus for the trip and it breaks up the monotony of a long drive :)

Link to comment

I rarely go someplace just to cache - so I look for caches that I might do while pursuing other interests: kayaking, photography, exploring abandoned places, tracking down petroglyphs and rock art, visiting quirky places or caches with quirky themes (certain types of street or folk art, cryptids, Roadside America, etc.). Earthcaches and virtuals often take me to places I want to go. On our last trip to Utah, they helped introduce me to slot canyons. I want to do more of that.

 

I used to be able to combine caching with trips to watch professional darts; that now requires a trip to Europe so it's no longer as accessible. In any event, this is all on my profile.

Edited by geodarts
Link to comment

I rarely go someplace just to cache - so I look for caches that I might do while pursuing other interests: kayaking, photography, exploring abandoned places, tracking down petroglyphs and rock art, visiting quirky places or caches with quirky themes (certain types of street or folk art, cryptids, Roadside America, etc.). Earthcaches and virtuals often take me to places I want to go. On our last trip to Utah, they helped introduce me to slot canyons. I want to do more of that.

 

I used to be able to combine caching with trips to watch professional darts; that now requires a trip to Europe so it's no longer as accessible.

 

While on a flight from NYC to Dubai one of the entertainment channels was playing an interview with Ray van Barneveld and Phil Taylor. Apparently there's a big professional darts tournament held in Dubai that's sponsored by "Dubai duty free" (those duty free shops in airports). The tournament is in May but I did manage to find a cache during my overnight layover. One the way home I had a beer in the bar at the Dubai airport and they were showing a dart match on tv. I guess darts is popular in Dubai. Who knew?

 

 

Link to comment

Looking for geocaches has been a great motivator to go out and just generally be more active. We've been doing more hiking and biking, and just general exploring of parks and other places nearby. What I particularly like about looking for geocaches while hiking/biking is that it provides a good excuse to take a break and rest a bit.

 

Another hobby I've been wanting to pursue is paddling, both kayaking and stand-up. Just need to get out and buy equipment, become comfortable with transporting, and then learn about the rules for where/when it's okay to go into the water. Don't want to get run over by a ferry or cargo ship! :o

Link to comment

Looking for geocaches has been a great motivator to go out and just generally be more active. We've been doing more hiking and biking, and just general exploring of parks and other places nearby. What I particularly like about looking for geocaches while hiking/biking is that it provides a good excuse to take a break and rest a bit.

 

Another hobby I've been wanting to pursue is paddling, both kayaking and stand-up. Just need to get out and buy equipment, become comfortable with transporting, and then learn about the rules for where/when it's okay to go into the water.

 

I'd recommend putting that last stage at the top of the list.

 

When I first move here I went out and bought a recreational kayak that I figured I'd use for fishing and paddling on our local lake (it's 40 miles long). The next weekend I took a two day sea kayaking class that covered all the basic skills and a lot of safety related skills and information. During the weekend I had to opportunity to paddle several different models of touring kayaks including a tandem kayak. Two weeks later I bought a "real" fiberglass touring kayak and sold the recreational kayak. That class provided the opportunity to discover the kind of kayaking (and kind of kayak) I would enjoy, which turned out to be not the kayaking I thought I'd enjoy before buying that first boat.

 

If you have the opportunity, take a beginners class or two and rent a few different boats before buying one (then, look at the used market) to get an idea for what kind of boat will be best for what you want to do. I bought that fiberglass kayak in 1997 and still own it today, but ironically that first recreational boat would have been ideal for a few series of paddle caches that have been placed along some of the local rivers.

 

 

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...