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How do you know when the streak is over?


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So, I've been on a cache-a-day streak for ... well, let's just say it's been awhile.   (I don't want it to seem like I'm bragging.   If you really want to know, you can look up my stats.)

 

I keep saying that the streak can't go on forever; at some point, the rate of people putting caches out doesn't keep up with my find rate, and I'll start going to silly lengths to get a cache-a-day.   I'll admit that it's starting to get that way for me, but I still keep justifying it to myself.    (It helps that I live between a few communities with active cache hiders to keep feeding my obsession.)

 

Next week, I'm going on a two-week business trip, and because I've been there every year during the streak, I'm running seriously low on caches in the area.    Given the demands on my time, my limited mobility (i.e. no car), and cache exhaustion ... the streak may end up coming to a close whether I like it or not.

 

So ... for those of you who've had a streak and ended it, how did you end it?   How did you know it was time to end the streak?   (And how do I find the courage to stop?)

 

 

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51 minutes ago, Team Hugs said:

So ... for those of you who've had a streak and ended it, how did you end it?   How did you know it was time to end the streak?   (And how do I find the courage to stop?)

I ended my 366-day streak by deliberately not finding a cache on day 367.

 

I'm not sure it took any courage. I looked around at the streak challenge caches and saw 366-day challenge caches, with the next level of challenge caches in the 400+ range, and decided that a year and a day was enough.

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1 hour ago, niraD said:

I ended my 366-day streak by deliberately not finding a cache on day 367.

I was almost the same. I cached 366 days in a row to meet the requirements for a nearby leapyear streak challenge -- probably the same one niraD's talking about -- and then I found the challenge cache itself on day 367 since it wasn't clear finding the challenge on day 366 would count. Then I took 3 days off.

 

I don't think that's the same thing, though. niraD and I had specific goals, so we both dropped the streak like a hot potato as soon as the goal was reached. You're asking about someone ending a streak when there's no particular reason for the streak nor a reason to stop it. We had a local well know for his 10 year streak who announced the end of his streak by saying that he knew his streak was over when he woke up one day and realized he'd never gotten around to finding a cache the day before. Streak over at 3712 days for no particular reason. There! Now you have a goal, too!

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I stopped at 371 days.  I realize it's an odd number to stop at but I just felt it was time to move away from a daily streak.  It's unlikely I could get that high again because I cache in a completely different way than I did back then.  I had plenty of caches left and still enjoyed caching (still do, even though it's not nearly as frequent) but one day I just decided to end it.  I think I took 5 days off before I found a cache again.  I just felt it was time.  I know there are people on here that think streaking would be a chore and an exercise in repetition but it honestly never came to that for me.  I think it boiled down to the fact that I knew it was going to end at some point, I had reached my personal goal, and therefore, I might as well end it on my own terms.

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I got 27 but only because we were on holiday and there was something to be found every day during the trip through the South and North Island of New Zealand. At home my streak is probably 2, 3 or 4 during a long weekend. I have a 308 day slump though B)

 

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My longest streak is 39 days and I don't anticipate ever beating that.  It was during the 31 Days in August promotion back in 2013.  That was back when I was new to caching and there were plenty close to me that I had not found.  These days it's just not possible if I want to remain married and see my children while they are still young.  Even where I work, the closest caches to find are a 20 to 30 minute drive each way, so lunchtime cache runs are becoming rare.  

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If you didn't start with a goal it might be difficult to find an easy end if there are no other reasons to stop like no more caches where you are (going), not being able to get outside on one day etc. Your find rate seems low enough to go on for a long time if nothing unexpected happens.

 

If you don't feel like stopping during your business trip, make extended plans, get up earlier, maybe use public transport or a rental car or bike, hold an event (if you count containerless geocaches for your streak) or hope for new cache submissions and set up notifications for them. If you know someone there or a local group, maybe someone is willing to help a long-time streaker and place one or more caches. 

 

And maybe find a reason to stop later, for example at a number of days that has a pattern like 2345, 2468, 2500, is prime, is prime also when read from the other side - or at any number or date that means something to you.

 

You might regret it, so think twice about deliberately ending the streak, it isn't a relief for all people after stopping. 

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23 hours ago, Team Hugs said:

So ... for those of you who've had a streak and ended it, how did you end it?   How did you know it was time to end the streak?

 

I started a streak not long after we started.  Around day 90, I noticed that it was taking priority over other things, like enjoying date night with my wife (whose idea it was to start geocaching, but who likely did not appreciate how enthusiastically I would take the ball and run with it).  I had only put a few caches in the GPSr for a trip to Frankfurt, and when we DNF'd several, the only alternative was a multi, which ended up taking us on a short train ride to a park, in which we had to root around in bushes via cell phone light to find the final.  She didn't put her foot down, but I decided that I didn't want it to get to the point where she felt she had to.  I kept going to day 102 and then stopped.

 

The only time I've come close to streaking since was back during the 31 Days of August souvenir program in August 2013.  I was in Command and General Staff College up in Huntsville, Alabama, while my wife was still living down in Montgomery, and I couldn't make it home every weekend, so geocaching wasn't taking away from "us" time.  But when I got the call that she was in labor, I did not bother to try to find any on my way down to Montgomery to meet her in the hospital, nor did I go out until after we brought our daughter home.  It cost me three souvenirs and a 31-day streak, but I have no regrets.  :laughing:

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23 hours ago, Team Hugs said:

(And how do I find the courage to stop?)

 

I reckon that's up to you.  They do say the first step is to admit you have a problem.  Your call whether this thread is actually  you doing that or not.  :anibad:

 

I do find it a little telling that, with only a few exceptions, it looks like most months you stick to a cache a day, presumably out of necessity to ration your available finds and keep the streak going.  Certainly, it would seem that a lot of effort has gone into planning that out.  So the question really falls down to whether you feel that effort is still a labor of love, or whether it's starting to become a pain in your fourth point of contact.

 

If you find yourself really wanting to go for more than one in a day, or to just take a day or two off, then maybe it's time to pick a convenient milestone and call it off.  Or, leave it up to fate (or, here, your work schedule) and be satisfied with the result.

 

On the other hand, if this is still an enjoyable challenge, and you can keep it going, and your family isn't openly threatening bodily harm, then maybe it isn't time yet.

 

As for me, I'm about to move back to a really cache-rich environment.  And I mean, ridiculously so - there are almost 33,000 geocaches we haven't found within 50 miles, and only 250 that we found before we moved nine years ago that are still active.  So it would be pretty easy to get a streak going.  I just don't want to.

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My longest streak is 48 days, and that was long ago, in 2010. I was then (and still am now) a very regular cacher, going on tour essentially every(!) weekend, and finding a cache during the week (before or after work) typically on at least 2 days. But I quickly realized that finding a cache on each and every day is not for me. Family time, long working days, terrible weather, low number of unfound caches in my home zone ... after about 40 days I more or less had enough. I couldn't persuade myself to simply quit the streak here and now, but I defined a very near-term target where I would definitely end it. I chose to complete the current month (giving me my first, and still only, calendar month with a find on each day). That was it, any I never tried to do a streak ever since. Not even during "Souvenir August" (when I found it both amusing and slightly irritating to see to what lengths other cachers may go if they just have to get every souvenir :huh: ).

 

Bottom line: When you realize, that it's really no fun anymore, set a short-term cut-off date (next "round" number, or whatever), enjoy the last few days of the streak ... and look forward to the future, where geocaching is leisure-time hobby and not an obligation for 365 days a year :) .

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My first streak ended (involuntarily) in the 900s on a business trip to Mexico where there were just no caches to be found. I was a beginner then and some of those finds that kept it going were at 11:45 PM in the rain after three DNFs earlier in the day.

 

I am streaking again, from Dec 31 2017 to Jan 1 2021. With more experience under my belt I can plan a bit better and so far it has gone smoothly. I make sure to travel on "easy" days and save the skirt lifters for work days when I don't really have time to cache, and I keep a list of "emergency" caches that I know I can get if I need to. That last year (2020) will be a "mystery streak" year with at least one mystery cache every day, so as new puzzles publish in my area I am solving them but not going out to find them, yet. On Jan 1 2021 I will attend (or host) a New Year's Day event to finish the streak, and on Jan 2 I just will not log a cache and let the streak end.

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I decided to end on a prime number that was unique at the time for the UK. I have now been joined by someone else.and I would  certainly never do it again. The challenge was fun and I was lucky with health, travel ,  helpful new local series and the weather mostly. The hardest part at the very end was NOT finding a cache  on the day after I had stopped!

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8 hours ago, The Snowdog said:

That last year (2020) will be a "mystery streak" year with at least one mystery cache every day, so as new puzzles publish in my area I am solving them but not going out to find them, yet. 

 

That's bold!

 

One guy I know did a year-long streak, but changed it up every month.  One month he did only traditionals, another month he did only mystery caches, another was multi-caches.  Even just doing a month of one type got to be difficult for him.

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16 minutes ago, J Grouchy said:

One guy I know did a year-long streak, but changed it up every month.  One month he did only traditionals, another month he did only mystery caches, another was multi-caches.  Even just doing a month of one type got to be difficult for him.

 

When I made the decision in early 2017 to do a year of mystery caches in 2020 I had found all but three ? caches in my city. Now it's eighteen months later and there are a couple hundred in the books waiting to be found, thanks to our prolific puzzle cache COs and a couple of new geo arts. It should be a fun year.

Edited by The Snowdog
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1 hour ago, lodgebarn said:

I decided to end on a prime number that was unique at the time for the UK. I have now been joined by someone else.and I would  certainly never do it again. The challenge was fun and I was lucky with health, travel ,  helpful new local series and the weather mostly. The hardest part at the very end was NOT finding a cache  on the day after I had stopped!

 

I also ended on a prime number with find count a prime number and both also prime numbers when read from right to left. If you don't find any other reason to stop ... 

 

8 hours ago, The Snowdog said:

That last year (2020) will be a "mystery streak" year with at least one mystery cache every day, so as new puzzles publish in my area I am solving them but not going out to find them, yet. On Jan 1 2021 I will attend (or host) a New Year's Day event to finish the streak, and on Jan 2 I just will not log a cache and let the streak end.

 

Good luck. After 123 days of Unknowns I had enough (and plenty of solved puzzles left) and continued the streak with Tradi/Multi/Unknown/Wherigo/LBH. Later a Multi streak in between very soon was no fun any more at all during workdays, although I like multi-caches very much, so I did only 31 days and then again Tradi/Multi/Unknown/Wherigo/LBH, whatever came in handy.

 

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I started a consecutive streak unintentionally.. and ended it at 321 because I was going on holiday a couple of weeks later to a place I had been several times before and there weren't enough caches there for me to find a cache every day.  It was hard quitting when I was so close to a full year.. but I didn't have a choice unless I cancelled my holiday.

 

I did choose the finish day though.. and I chose 321 because it was consecutive in a backwards kinda way..  and I liked it. :lol:

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My cache streak of a whopping 25 days is purely un-intentional. My decision to stop a streak started before it began. I saw a streak challenge cache and said 'no way'. No fun in it. (And expensive, and a waste of time in transit.) So, I have never attempted a streak. Also, while there are lots of caches around me, most are completely uninteresting.

 

I prefer a different set of challenges, challenges like filling my 365/366 day calendar. If that means getting one a day for a while, I might do it then. But not just to reach some arbitrary number.

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I'm reading this thread with interest, as I am currently on day 145, with a goal of a cache-a-day in 2018.  We (hubby and I) started geocaching in March 2017, cached for the enjoyment we got out of fully sharing a hobby with our son and daughter in law (we'd been peripherally involved, but didn't have our own accounts or actually gone out on our own) and were not in it for the numbers or challenges or any of that.

 

As our find count grew, we started exploring Earthcaches, Puzzles, Virtuals, Multi caches, and very recently Wherigo's.  We found a cache on the last day of 2017 and the first day of 2018 for the souvenir, just because.  And then we thought it would be fun to try and find a cache every day in 2018.  We set a goal, and most days we go together; there are days when we have to go individually and find a cache.   There are lots of caches around us, with new ones being published daily.  We haven't really had a problem with not having any close enough to find.

 

There's a challenge cache for filling the 365 day grid; we should get that done by Dec. 30 this year.  366 will have to wait till 2020.  And there's a 400 day challenge that we might just go for once we get to 12/31 - as that will be 367 consecutive days, so what's another 33 days?  But we may decide to end it on December 31.  We'll see how we feel then.  Right now, it's still fun, and challenging.  And if life happens and we don't make our goal, we'll keep on caching  and say, oh well.  In the meantime, it's nice to wake and ask where we are going to go find a cache today?

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I just woke up one morning, and it was not that much fun anymore.  Picked an interesting number not too far into the future and the decision was made to stop then.  It gave me enough time to prepare mentally for the stop.  So when the day arrived it was no problem at all.  I suppose for some people it would be easier to stop on their terms, and for others when they have no other choice, meaning there is no more caches available within reasonable distance or similar.  You will have to decide for yourself what applies to you.

 

It is easier when you replace one obsession with another.  So I started solving puzzles.  And no, I did not fall into the trap of solving a puzzle  a day and go on a streak. All of a sudden I had lots of time on my hands, so I started placing caches again.  Now it is my time to give back to the community again.  I am still far behind on that, but it is a work in progress.

 

The rush of getting a great log on one of your own caches, quickly fades the memories of your streak.

 

Good luck with your decision either way.

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I did 100 - can't remember why I didn't go caching on day 101. A cacher local to me completed 5 years on 9 May, and I was honoured that he chose a cache of mine to complete the 5th year. He shows no signs of stopping. At some point in the last 5 years he's stopped being a teacher and become a postman - so 2 non-office jobs that probably help. It's funny doing a cache trail and finding his logs all on different days, sometimes done in the dark a mile or more from the nearest road.

My longest slump is still only 9 days and that was in my first couple of weeks, 5 years ago! I don't think I've missed a weekend since. Caching is very much a weekend hobby nowadays though and even then I have to drive 15+ miles for new caches.

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I don't remember why I started my largest streak, maybe it was a small challenge cache, but originally, I only wanted to do 100 days. But as that time was nearly up, I thought "that wasn't hard," and I was enjoying it more than I thought I would. So, I decided to go for 180 days instead of quitting. As I approached my 180-day goal, I thought that I needed to beat my longest slump which was and still is 265 days. I was really enjoying getting up earlier than normal, 5:30 a.m., so that I could get to work on time and not interfere with family time. I was really enjoying the dark quietness of my searches, before the noise of heavy traffic and joggers were about. As fall and winter approached I had to use a flashlight. Even though most of these finds were urban rather than forest mountain hikes, it was very serene and even spiritual. As I approached the goal of beating my slump, I thought "what the heck," I decided to go for a full 365 which of course needs to be 366 for some old challenges. But once that neared, I was enjoying myself so much, that I just kept going, although I was finding myself driving farther out of the way on the way to work. 

 

Although I did enjoy it so much, some days were tough. There were a handful of days (not many) that I couldn't find one before work, and had to find one on the way home. I did eventually quit at 420 days, a nice round number, 60 weeks exactly, and 14 (30-day) months. I decided intentionally to not find a cache the next day. I actually felt naughty.

 

On most days, I still try to find a cache before work, but if I DNF, that's OK. I don't HAVE to find one anymore. But it is an experience, that I really enjoyed and am glad I did it.

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On 5/24/2018 at 8:28 AM, AnnaMoritz said:

 

Good luck. After 123 days of Unknowns I had enough (and plenty of solved puzzles left) and continued the streak with Tradi/Multi/Unknown/Wherigo/LBH. Later a Multi streak in between very soon was no fun any more at all during workdays, although I like multi-caches very much, so I did only 31 days and then again Tradi/Multi/Unknown/Wherigo/LBH, whatever came in handy.

 

 

Part of that was motivated by a bunch of mystery streak challenge caches - 150 days, 100 days, 75 days... which were all in a cluster so you can't double up on them but have to do the streaks back to back. That plus a bunch of 30-day-mystery-streak challenges takes me into November. And I am going to do month streaks to celebrate my mystery cache CO friends - January for one, February for another, and so on. I am really looking forward to it.

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On ‎5‎/‎22‎/‎2018 at 6:02 PM, Pork King said:

I broke my streak after 9 days, beating my previous streak of 7.  I just ran out of steam, guess

Dang,,, ya got me beat! :P  I think my best was 7 days and that came about by accident. I like to challenge myself but this is not the kind of challenge I would find to be worth while.

 

As far as stopping, everyone is different and there is no right answer. Everyone has to decide for themselves if and when they want to end it. 

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I only lasted 50 days and had a specific goal in mind i.e. to meet a challenge. I found it a huge chore and took me away from my family. So I was glad when it ended.

 

I think, like others, it helps to have a specific goal in mind. For you, you might want to end it on the same day/month you started or at another date meaningful to you, like when you started caching.

 

If you don't want to end it during your trip, you could simply set up daily coffee-shop events during your business trip. Like 15 minute informal meet n greets at different locations every day. That way, you can end it on your own terms when you get back home.

 

 

Edited by The_Incredibles_
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2 hours ago, The_Incredibles_ said:

If you don't want to end it during your trip, you could simply set up daily coffee-shop events during your business trip. Like 15 minute informal meet n greets at different locations every day. That way, you can end it on your own terms when you get back home.

Make those 30-minute informal meet n greets and you've got something. (Events have to last at least 30 minutes now.)

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I had a streak for about a month early in my caching days. I stopped when I decided the time, gas, and effort weren't worth it.

 

Someday when I move to a new area, if the cache saturation is sufficient, I might try a streak again but I'll give up on it again as soon as I feel it becomes wasteful. 

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I know a streak is "over" when I start seeing logs of groups of people caching together and one person is intentionally logging on different days from the group.  that's one of the ways I know the streak is "over".

 

I also know it's over when I know his wife is having a baby and he's logging a virtual 200 miles away on the coast.

 

there's other ways.

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My longest streak was 6 days, back in 2002.  I'm not sure what was going on in my life back then that made me go overboard like that. 

As far as streaks, at one time the longest streak was Kablooey at 3172 days.  A cache every day for 10+ years.  As I understand it, his streak ended when he simply forgot to find a cache one day. No intent, no reason, he just plain forgot.

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I am currently on a streak, initially trying to beat another cacher, I passed him at i believe it was 201 days and decided that I wanted to make a full year out of it.  As a firefighter it can be some what of a challenge during fire season, a year seemed good enough.  I did notice that another friend made it 375 days so I have been contemplating catching that person as well.  I too find myself going well out of my way “just to get a cache today” and being pretty particular to avoid caches with multiple DNF’s.  Funny how you will put an extra 10 miles on the drive to work just to grab one of the closer caches that has been found in the last year.  I did look at your stats and wow that is a feat, I wont make it that long.  Hahahah good luck.

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On 5/21/2018 at 3:05 PM, Team Hugs said:

So ... for those of you who've had a streak and ended it, how did you end it?   How did you know it was time to end the streak?   (And how do I find the courage to stop?)

 

On 5/24/2018 at 8:58 PM, CAVinoGal said:

I'm reading this thread with interest, as I am currently on day 145, with a goal of a cache-a-day in 2018.  We (hubby and I) started geocaching in March 2017, cached for the enjoyment we got out of fully sharing a hobby with our son and daughter in law (we'd been peripherally involved, but didn't have our own accounts or actually gone out on our own) and were not in it for the numbers or challenges or any of that.

 

As our find count grew, we started exploring Earthcaches, Puzzles, Virtuals, Multi caches, and very recently Wherigo's.  We found a cache on the last day of 2017 and the first day of 2018 for the souvenir, just because.  And then we thought it would be fun to try and find a cache every day in 2018.  We set a goal, and most days we go together; there are days when we have to go individually and find a cache.   There are lots of caches around us, with new ones being published daily.  We haven't really had a problem with not having any close enough to find.

 

There's a challenge cache for filling the 365 day grid; we should get that done by Dec. 30 this year.  366 will have to wait till 2020.  And there's a 400 day challenge that we might just go for once we get to 12/31 - as that will be 367 consecutive days, so what's another 33 days?  But we may decide to end it on December 31.  We'll see how we feel then.  Right now, it's still fun, and challenging.  And if life happens and we don't make our goal, we'll keep on caching  and say, oh well.  In the meantime, it's nice to wake and ask where we are going to go find a cache today?

 

Here's an update on our 2018 "streak" - we did it.  And we also continued into February to be able to claim the 400 days challenge we had signed.  It was getting to be ... not fun ... awhile before the 365 days were up, but we had come so far and KNEW we wouldn't do it agian, so we persevered to the 365, then 400, and ended it at 404 - "cache not found" on day 405.

 

Now we cache when we feel like it, with no pressure to find a cache on any given day.  It' s a lot more fun this way.

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1 hour ago, CAVinoGal said:

Here's an update on our 2018 "streak" - we did it.  And we also continued into February to be able to claim the 400 days challenge we had signed.  It was getting to be ... not fun ... awhile before the 365 days were up, but we had come so far and KNEW we wouldn't do it agian, so we persevered to the 365, then 400, and ended it at 404 - "cache not found" on day 405.

 

That's a cool number to finish on!

 

My only streak was the 7-day Streak Week promotion in 2019 and boy, that was tough enough. Only two of the caches I did were in my local region, both a fair bit west of here along the Old Pacific Highway, one was a 50km drive each way to a cache near Berowra, one required a ferry ride plus two buses on Sydney's northern beaches, and the other three were train trips to Sydney's upper north shore, each requiring an intercity train to Hornsby and then changing for a local all-stops service.

 

StreakWeekMapList.jpg.23ee6d16b8c096d499f8f6677a6a6def.jpg

 

It was raining on four of those seven days, three just intermittent showers that I managed to dodge but the other one was heavy rain all day so it was a quick P&G. Needless to say, I'm not inclined to attempt any longer streaks.

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On 5/22/2018 at 1:28 AM, Corp Of Discovery said:

I ended mine when it wasn't fun any longer. 

Yep.

IIRC, it was the other 2/3rds who attempted a streak, but it only amounted to 11 days.  I thought her fascination with FTF was enough...

The few we know that actually found a cache each day, more power to 'em.   :)

 - I'd quit this hobby if I had to access nondescript carp just to keep going. ..

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