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What is Waymarking?


andersen1982

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I am  a fairly new geocacher.

My daughter and i found our first geocache about 6 years ago and within the last year we have gone all in and she (dyslexic) is now solving mysteries on screen and finding them in nature.

My favourites have been the LPC and historic caches. We have promised to make a cache for a Christmas calender.

 

Is WM a series of waypoints to guide the visitor through interesting Places?

How do you tell the story underway?

Will a WM qualify as a GC in a Christmas calender for a local GC Group?

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2 hours ago, andersen1982 said:

 We have promised to make a cache for a Christmas calender.

 

Is WM a series of waypoints to guide the visitor through interesting Places?

How do you tell the story underway?

Will a WM qualify as a GC in a Christmas calender for a local GC Group?

A waymark is a single location (usually) of some interest (at least, to someone). Many are historical locations where a traditional geocache would not be allowed. The main difference between waymarks and geocaches is that geocaches want you to locate a "hidden item". Waymarks are absolutely NOT hidden. There is a picture (usually) of what is waymarked, and hopefully a long description of why it is interesting. The write-up should make someone want to go visit this to see it for themselves.

There may be geocaches very near a waymark. (There is a geocache just over a mile west of me in a city park. There is a category for "Municipal Parks and Plazas". The park could be waymarked and have the geocache in the park.)(But the park is not that interesting.)

Will your GC group accept a waymark in their calendar?? That would be up to them.

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The question is: How popular is Waymarking in your part of the world. Here in Vienna, Austria me and my girlfriend do both Geocaching and Waymarking, but many geocachers have no idea what Waymarking is, how it works etc. Many of them have never ever heard of it until we tell them about it. So, depending on how open-minded your colleagues are you might either start their interest in Waymarking or put yourself on their ignore list. :-) Seriously spoken: If you find a waymark you can't log a geocache and therefore some of them might be disappointed, but some might be grateful for drawing their attention to this new opportunity.

If you want to show several spots in one waymark, check out the Waymark Tours (WayTours) category.

And most of all: Don't hesitate to ask more questions, if you have some.

Edited by PISA-caching
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29 minutes ago, andersen1982 said:

So it`s a bit like a pamphlet from the tourist office recommending sites for this and that reason and a waymark Tour are several sites (waymarks) combined together to form a hike that leads past all of them?

 

Yes it can be :) - I designed my waytour to pick up some hard to find icons and also take people to significant places in Dallas 

http://www.Waymarking.com/waymarks/WMGC3P_Downtown_Dallas_Dealey_Plaza_WayTour_Dallas_TX

 

 

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On ‎11‎/‎20‎/‎2017 at 8:54 PM, andersen1982 said:

Is WM a series of waypoints to guide the visitor through interesting Places?

How do you tell the story underway?

Will a WM qualify as a GC in a Christmas calender for a local GC Group?

41 minutes ago, andersen1982 said:

So it`s a bit like a pamphlet from the tourist office recommending sites for this and that reason and a waymark Tour are several sites (waymarks) combined together to form a hike that leads past all of them?

Possible you're confusing Waymarking with  Wherigo  ?

 

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1 hour ago, andersen1982 said:

So it`s a bit like a pamphlet from the tourist office recommending sites for this and that reason and a waymark Tour are several sites (waymarks) combined together to form a hike that leads past all of them?

 

 

Nope. It's more like following people on Flickr that post and share their vacation photos. We were here pictures with coordinates. ;)

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I'm glad someone is asking this question.  I am not being flippant, just trying to understand.  If a geocache, a virtual, and a Wherigo take people on pretty much the same outing as Waymarking, what is the point of both bringing people to the same site?  I'm trying to understand Waymarking, but I'm also overlapping the 1/10th rule of Geocaching as well.  I know Benchmark Blasterz's tour and the plethora of downtown Dallas' many Waymarks, but I've used a virtual to take me to the JFK site, and the Wherigo, and the Traditional, and I am just confused as to why a Waymark doesn't meet the 1/10th rule so that the saturation point is, well, not so saturated, because Benchmark Blasterz did not exaggerate the number of Waymarks in the downtown Dallas area.  I am assuming Waymarking saturation is also the case for many metropolises, as well.  If a 1/10th overlap does exist, why not address by chronological order?  I do know a Virtual and physical cache don't have to meet the 1/10th rule, but many COs police their own and try to avoid the overlap in my experience.  Again with the JFK theme but to serve as an example, 9Key archived the very popular Virtual he had at the Texas Theatre when a Traditional showed up bringing folks to the Texas Theatre.

I guess what I need to know is:  What am I doing in Waymarking?  How is Waymarking different from Geocaching, keeping Virtuals in mind?  What is Waymarking's purpose?   I know I could probably have found more Waymarks than I have Geocaches, but I am failing to understand Waymarks and have given up several times after looking at them.  I even took a photo with 8 Nuts at an event holding up a Waymarking logo, but I failed to understand them then.

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4 hours ago, flyfshrgrl said:

I'm glad someone is asking this question.  I am not being flippant, just trying to understand.  If a geocache, a virtual, and a Wherigo take people on pretty much the same outing as Waymarking, what is the point of both bringing people to the same site?  I'm trying to understand Waymarking, but I'm also overlapping the 1/10th rule of Geocaching as well.  I know Benchmark Blasterz's tour and the plethora of downtown Dallas' many Waymarks, but I've used a virtual to take me to the JFK site, and the Wherigo, and the Traditional, and I am just confused as to why a Waymark doesn't meet the 1/10th rule so that the saturation point is, well, not so saturated, because Benchmark Blasterz did not exaggerate the number of Waymarks in the downtown Dallas area.  I am assuming Waymarking saturation is also the case for many metropolises, as well.  If a 1/10th overlap does exist, why not address by chronological order?  I do know a Virtual and physical cache don't have to meet the 1/10th rule, but many COs police their own and try to avoid the overlap in my experience.  Again with the JFK theme but to serve as an example, 9Key archived the very popular Virtual he had at the Texas Theatre when a Traditional showed up bringing folks to the Texas Theatre.

I guess what I need to know is:  What am I doing in Waymarking?  How is Waymarking different from Geocaching, keeping Virtuals in mind?  What is Waymarking's purpose?   I know I could probably have found more Waymarks than I have Geocaches, but I am failing to understand Waymarks and have given up several times after looking at them.  I even took a photo with 8 Nuts at an event holding up a Waymarking logo, but I failed to understand them then.

First of all, stop thinking geocaching! The two games are completely independent. They have a historic connection and many waymarkers are also geocachers, but today, they have not more in common than the use of GPS and some base functionalities like logging. You will never understand basketball when you insist on keeping the rules for soccer in mind, if you know what I mean.

One main difference is probably the personal approach to the game. Nobody will be able to tell you exactly how to do it and what. There are as many ways to play the game as there are waymarkers, probably more, because some have contradictory goals like concentrating in History and still filling the grid. Your way to play it will be a different one than mine, I guess. There are certain limits set by the guidelines, category descriptions and technical possibilities, but inside of them, we have quite an anarchic chaos - or a lot of personal freedom, if you look at it from the other side.

It is up to you. You can concentrate on visiting the waymarks in your area or posting new ones or both. You can ignore categories or departments or you can take whatever you can. You can try to fill the grid or the calendars or go for a new longest strike.

What's the purpose? I don't know. What's your purpose? Having fun outdoors, documenting your area and your travels, telling stories about locations - exceptional ones or plain jane fast food joints. It is your choice.

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12 hours ago, flyfshrgrl said:

I I know Benchmark Blasterz's tour and the plethora of downtown Dallas' many Waymarks, but I've used a virtual to take me to the JFK site, and the Wherigo, and the Traditional, and I am just confused as to why a Waymark doesn't meet the 1/10th rule so that the saturation point is, well, not so saturated, because Benchmark Blasterz did not exaggerate the number of Waymarks in the downtown Dallas area.  I am assuming Waymarking saturation is also the case for many metropolises, as well.  If a 1/10th overlap does exist, why not address by chronological order?  I do know a Virtual and physical cache don't have to meet the 1/10th rule, but many COs police their own and try to avoid the overlap in my experience. 

 

In Waymarking, one photo can be listed in as many categories that will accept it. That way you can have 10 or more Waymarks at the same location with the same photo.

There may be a few hundred Waymarkers left, but only a small handful compared to geocachers. It's mostly just about sharing vacation photos. :)

Edited by Manville Possum
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Don't think about the quantity of Waymarks in an area. Think of the variety of subjects various people like.

"A" may be interested in Courthouses. "B" may be looking for Historical Markers. "C" enjoys finding Benchmarks. "D" is trying to locate those rare Time Capsules. "E" loves War Memorials. "F" is a retired architect  and likes to read Building Cornerstones. "G" doesn't care, but "H" ,his spouse, wants to see the Mural inside the courthouse, and "I" & "J", his two children, want to go to the playground in the park across the street.

By not having a 1/10 mile rule, we, as Waymarkers, have created 9 Waymarks close together to make 9 out of 10 people happy. "G" would be happy too if he went down the street to the Hooters Restaurant Waymark to watch the ball game.

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On ‎3‎/‎4‎/‎2018 at 11:38 PM, flyfshrgrl said:

I guess what I need to know is:  What am I doing in Waymarking?  How is Waymarking different from Geocaching, keeping Virtuals in mind?  What is Waymarking's purpose?   I know I could probably have found more Waymarks than I have Geocaches, but I am failing to understand Waymarks and have given up several times after looking at them. 

In the Geocaching Wiki, it's explained that Waymarking was created from a retired cache type, Locationless caches.

Bored sometime, look on Geocaches dropdown on our profile for the couple Locationless we found.  Looking at the Waymarking site as well, you could compare them for the nuances in this other hobby.  :)

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I had the advantage of not being around when Waymarking was spun off.  I started out doing geocaching, but kinda got tired when so many GCs were soaking wet or missing.  So I checked out the other games.

Other than using the GPSr and logging (as fi67 pointed out), I did not look for more commonality than that.  I didn't know anything about locationless caches or any of the history.

All I know is that I started visiting tons of Waymarks in my area and like the idea.  For about 3 months I didn't think I'd ever actually make a Waymark, let alone be an officer in a category's group.  But I submitted my first waymark for a Woodmen of the World marker in a cemetery where the well-known Waymarker GEO*Trailblazer 1 had "run out" of candidate WotW Waymarks (since only 4 are allowed per person per cemetery), and when that was accepted, I was hooked.

I like 8Nuts Mother Goose's description of the various audiences for Waymarks.  I may be looking for Baptist Churches while Waymarker Joe may be looking for Country Churches, and we end up at the same place because of two different Waymarks on the same location.  The idea is to let folks know what interesting things are in an area, even if such things match multiple areas of interest.

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On 3/6/2018 at 4:47 PM, cerberus1 said:

In the Geocaching Wiki, it's explained that Waymarking was created from a retired cache type, Locationless caches.

Bored sometime, look on Geocaches dropdown on our profile for the couple Locationless we found.  Looking at the Waymarking site as well, you could compare them for the nuances in this other hobby.  :)

This is correct and a reference to Locationless is a lot better than to Virtuals. However, this explanation does not cover the evolution to what Waymarking is today and still might confuse a beginner more than completely forgetting about the geocaching ancestry of the game.

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9 hours ago, fi67 said:

This is correct and a reference to Locationless is a lot better than to Virtuals. However, this explanation does not cover the evolution to what Waymarking is today and still might confuse a beginner more than completely forgetting about the geocaching ancestry of the game.

I understand that someone with no geocache finds may be confused with that explanation ...  But when it's a question from an experienced Geocacher, as to how the hobbies are different, and why they should continue it, don't you think it fits?   :)

Edited by cerberus1
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18 hours ago, cerberus1 said:

I understand that someone with no geocache finds may be confused with that explanation ...  But when it's a question from an experienced Geocacher, as to how the hobbies are different, and why they should continue it, don't you think it fits?   :)

That sound logical and some background informations are always good. I do not doubt that many geocachers can profit from your hints.

But we cannot ignore the fact that it is just the geocachers that are confused and ask questions here, not the others. And it looks a lot like this confusion is exactly because of their geocaching knowledge. The informations about the roots of Waymarking often raise false expectations, that have little in common with how Waymarking looks today.

Some people think that waymarks are the new virtuals. Not completely wrong, but it does not define them sufficiently at all. Your mention of locationless is probably better, but don't forget to say that the replacement for the old locationless were not the single waymarks but the whole categories.

This lineage of the categories from the locationless may also be an explanation for the extremely weird (for outsiders) fact, that hardly anyone seems to really care about visits. The main relationship between geocaching and Waymarking are not waymark visits vs. virtual finds, but waymark posts vs. locationless finds.

Edited by fi67
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47 minutes ago, fi67 said:

This lineage of the categories from the locationless may also be an explanation for the extremely weird (for outsiders) fact, that hardly anyone seems to really care about visits. The main relationship between geocaching and Waymarking are not waymark visits vs. virtual finds, but waymark posts vs. locationless finds.

I really care about visiting other people's waymarks.  On the other hand, I don't really care as much about people visiting my own waymarks even though that should be why I create them in the first place.  You are correct...'extremely weird.'

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All of these comments really begin to make sense of what Waymarking is, especially the advice to divest Waymarking from Geocaching and the topics.  I don't know if I will ever waymark, but I do know I am kind of crazy about bridges, so maybe I can use Waymarking to bring me to some interesting bridges.  Anyway, thank you to everyone who took the time to thoughtfully comment and explain. 

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On ‎09‎.‎03‎.‎2018 at 5:51 PM, flyfshrgrl said:

All of these comments really begin to make sense of what Waymarking is, especially the advice to divest Waymarking from Geocaching and the topics.  I don't know if I will ever waymark, but I do know I am kind of crazy about bridges, so maybe I can use Waymarking to bring me to some interesting bridges.  Anyway, thank you to everyone who took the time to thoughtfully comment and explain. 

Sounds like a great plan. Always keep in mind that Waymarking shall be there for you, not the other way round. If Waymarking is just a list for you to find interesting bridges, then Waymarking is fulfilling its task. If you start logging them, great, if not, it's also ok. And if you once find a great bridge and notice that nobody has yet made a waymark for it, you might create your first waymark. :-)

Often it is a slow process. In our case it all started with geocaching and after a while we discovered Waymarking.com and started to visit waymarks. For us it was a tool to keep track of places that we had visited in the past. Most of the time we didn't even read the description of the waymarks we visited. We just enjoyed filling the map with red color. After years of geocaching we had a bad conscience for not hiding any geocache. We still haven't done that yet. We don't like the fact that you have to take care of geocache(s), replace broken boxes, refill them with new logbooks etc. So, to do at least something we created our first waymark. And of course one waymark doesn't look good in the statistics, so we made some more. Our second waymark was the first Aviaries waymark in Austria and it was the first time that we learned something new about the history of the city that we have been living in for decades. Today, several years later, I'm addicted to finding out new things about my home town, the people who lived here, things that happened here etc. We still do geocaching from time to time, but most of the time it's just writing our name on a piece of paper that we find in a simple container in an area that has nothing special. It's just a place that has the correct distance to the next geocache. But when the cache is logged I grab my phone and search for waymarks in the area and there is a Citizen Memorial here, a Community Garden there and so on. That's so much more interesting than looking for the next container with a piece of paper in it. And whenever we go on vacation, we look at all the waymarks that we might find there and every time we find something interesting that one can't find in any guidebook.

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