The wall...

3.8k · June 30, 2003

Is it just me or has anyone else hit it?

Have you ever felt 'cached out'? I went out on Saturday and despite it being a lovely day I just didn't seem to have the same enthusiasm for finding caches. If fact, out of seven visited, I failed to find three of them. I probably gave up much too easily but I just couldn't be bothered to thrash about in the undergrowth any more. Matbe I've done too many, too soon.

I think I'll have a break for a couple of weeks and see what happens.

John

Age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

June 30, 2003

I think that this can happen with any hobby. I have found that by having several hobbies, I have enforced breaks from some whilst taking part in another. I then have a hunger to return to one of the others when that becomes routine.

I think that what I am trying to say is that a couple of weeks break should see you return with renewed enthusiasm.

June 30, 2003

Being from Lincolnshire we have too few caches in our area. This means I have to travel quite some distances to do my caching.

There have been times after the first ten or so I get a little tired. I think to myself that I'll have to do another trip on another day and so push on.

I know what you mean about getting complaisant when looking. I have been lucky in that I have managed to find most of my caches first time. But If I'm under trees and can't get a good lock then I think WHY BOTHER LOOKING.

My enthusiasm is still as strong as it was when I first started caching, but like you, I usually take a couple of weeks off to gain my composure before setting out on a mega cache hunt.

June 30, 2003

Don't do so many in a day. Far less like hard work (and much more enjoyable) if you aim for 2 good ones rather than setting yourself too stressful a schedule.

When time comes, we'll all be drownded, lad

June 30, 2003

Once we did 13 in a day and were absolutely exhausted - never again.

More recently our rate has been limited by children and we're content with a few nice ones. This has avoided "cache fatigue".

Dave

June 30, 2003

I know exactly what you mean by "hitting the wall" - though I don't think I've quite got there yet.

I quite often only hunt one or two per trip, and I definately don't go every weekend, let alone every day. OK, so it means I still haven't hit the 100 mark, but instead I just go when I feel the need to go caching.

Otherwise, I spread my outdoor hobbies out - sometimes, I'll go riding, sometimes I'll just go for a walk with no caching involved.

Then, once every couple of weeks or so, I feel a real desire to grab a cache or two.

That said, failing to find three caches? Heck, I'm sure half the ones I fail to find are because I've given in too easily. Until you mentioned it, I had always put it down to my general ineptitude, but you could be right - perhaps I've hit the wall, but carry on out of habit. I wondered why my nose felt flatter than usual...

------

An it harm none, do what ye will

June 30, 2003

IN 2002 we did 365 caches in 365 days. We hit 500 in February 2003 and decided at that point to give it a rest and spend time doing other things. Since then we have slowed right down, to the extent that without looking I couldn't even say what our current total is.

It's nice now and again to go out and bag a few, it's also nice to go a whole weekend and not even think about geocaching.

Certainly for us the days for driving 200 miles on a Sunday looking for plastic boxes have gone for good.

Alex.

------------------------------------------------

Knights of the Green Shield stamp and shout.....

1.8k · June 30, 2003

Generally I go caching for an afternoon. The most I've aimed for in one afternoon is four, and I usually don't do more than two. I want to enjoy the places caching takes me to, not rush on to find another and another. I can well understand that some people might like a mad scramble for the next and the next and the next, but not me. I think that by doing just a few at a time, and taking my time and enjoying them, it'll never wear thin.

Bill

-------------------------------

"Ah, take the Cache and let the Credit go..."

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, trans. Edward Fitzgerald

June 30, 2003

I haven't done any at all since March. Thing is, there's so many other things to do in Summer.

-------

jeremyp

The second ten million caches were the worst too.

http://www.gagb.org.uk

1.4k · June 30, 2003

Apart from Geocaching I enjoy, postcard and online competitions, Legend of Mir (online game), Off Roading etc. So between them they take an enormous amount of time. There is just not the time to 'hit the wall'. Unless you mean 'where is all the time coming from' :-)

Bob....

http://www.bobh.co.uk

June 30, 2003

Well speaking for myself (ie Mr H) that I do get bored with a hobby after a while. That's why I have so many. When we started geocaching Mrs H and I were going at it like crazy. At least 6 caches on a Saturday and the same again each Sunday. When we meet up during the week it was another couple of caches at least. Nowadays we just do a couple. Indeed this last weekend we did just one. Admittedly we did do the charity shop circuit on the Saturday morning to find hedgehogs. On Sunday we were at the big Ashley Heath car boot sale looking for hedgehogs and found over a dozen! Some we'll attach travel bugs to. Others are just to go into caches. We were going to do some caches but I guess the heat took over, so we sat in a beer garden for most of the afternoon. . On the way back we did have a good look round a lovely site for a possible cache location. But we didn't have the same drive as when we started. Now I have many other hobbies (plane and train spotting, collecting Eddie Stobart lorry numbers and being a guitarist in a rock band) and July is THE month when all the big aircraft shows are on. So we are not going to do much caching at all over the next month. Hopefully we'll be back in August, desperate to spend some quality time caching and hopefully it would have cooled down a bit

[This message was edited by Mr & Mrs Hedgehog on June 30, 2003 at 02:31 PM.]

1.8k · June 30, 2003

Yes John, I for one do know how you feel. Though like others I don't try for too many at a time. But some days - last Saturday failed to get to the only cache I aimed for because the tide had already come in too far. Then failed to find three trigpoints in a row and redeemed it all by a super walk to a trigpoint I did find in a magnificant location. Somewhat restores your enthusiasm. Incidentally so did the get together at Alston, not least because of the people like you who were there!

Member Geocaching Association of GB

June 30, 2003

Seven in one day is mad, that would brand you an "AnoraK" in most peoples book. Whilst I find it a very enjoyable passtime I would not ever attempt more than two in a day, it's nice to take in the countryside and enjoy the bits of our world we havn't seen before, I've seen loads of tuppaware boxes, but our landscapes always hold something new no matter how often or when you visit them. What we need is more caches in more of our beautiful places in this fine and varied land in which we live. I'm gonna do another, soon, somewhere I have loved from my childhood. Hope everyone goes to find it when it's done, as much for where it is as for being another notch on the cache post. Might even make it a multiple so you get to explore the wonders of the location as well as several tuppaware boxes.

June 30, 2003

During the lighter months I'm tending to go out perhaps 3 evenings per week after work and do a couple or maybe three on each of these evenings. For me, geocaching is a way to unwind and get some needed exercise away from the office desk. I treat it as just 'going for a good walk' but with a purpose. How many I do or how long it takes is irrelevent, it's the walk, fresh air and exercise that count for me. Some days I really need to get out there and other days I don't...

If you can see the 'light at the end of the tunnel', it's usually a train coming !

June 30, 2003

Ive been at this game since 2001.. and got a 102..

This is a way to get away from it all.. chill out... Numbers are just that .. numbers.. I have many in my area I aint touched.. one day I will.. Eventually.

To me this hobby gave me a reason to get out at weekends.. Times I do 1 or 2.. times I do none.. others 3 n 4

There is no race.. no count.. just getting out to see the join between mother earth and father sky.. Time to absorbe what we miss in this high speed life..

Cacheing to me is the brake pedal.. slows yer down.. lets you see what life is passing by.. we got 80 years.. bugs have 80 hours.. blink and they are gone..

One totally chilled out...

Moss the Boss... Sorta

June 30, 2003

...I'll have some of whatever he's on...

No trees were harmed during the production of this posting, but a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced....

3.8k · July 1, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by makerofthingsup:
Seven in one day is mad, that would brand you an "AnoraK" in most peoples book.

I wonder what the 17 I did in one day around Bracknel and the 14 in one day around Winchester would brand me, then? A whole Outward Bound store, perhaps

You're right, of course... but that's just the way I am. Not an 'anorak'... I don't think anyone could justifiably accuse me of that... I just go at thing head on and forget to slow down...

quote:
Originally posted by MCL
...I'll have some of whatever he's on...

I think it's probably just Best Bitter... but lots of it

John

Age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

1.4k · July 1, 2003

I know exactly what you mean

We hit the wall at around 230 caches, probebly the main reason was doing too many "Easy" physical caches. It can quite easily turn into a day of drive car,walk short distance,find box,TN LN, get in car, repeat... if you are not carefull. Loads of caches done - none of which made an impression on you.

We have noticed that the caches which were most memorable and fun generally took the best part of a day to do so we tend to look for multis, or cache/trig clusters that we can combine into one days adventure (where we are out of the car all day).

I think the trick is to ignore the numbers and just look for places that will spark your interest - there are so many caches now that the best approach is to cherry pick rather than work through your nearest cache list.

or just take a break - it dosn't matter how many you do some grumpy old git will have done more

Chris

If only life had an undo button....

London & UK Geocaching Resources: http://www.sheps.clara.net

July 1, 2003

Prehaps the onset of bordom with caching is natural in any activity, but especially one in which people tend to go so crazy with at first.

What can be done? Well, taking it steady might help (speaking as somebody who has not even hit 50 found since 2001), and picking more interesting caches provides more interest than just going all out to find as many as possible in an area. Unless you are as keen on racking up large numbers of caches (i.e. you have just started), doing a few interesting caches rather than lots of 'driveby' caches starts to get boring after a while.

Although there will always be newcomers, I think they are pretty well served by lots of easy and accessible caches already. Prehaps we should all start to think about setting more challenging caches. Challenging doesn't have to just mean puzzles or really hard to find, but can also include ones in interesting and out of the way places that are worth visiting in their own right. When I find a place I would have have known about let alone visited had it not been for the cache, then I feel caching has been time well spent. Although children and some adults might complain about a longer walk from the car, you are more likely to have had a memorable time if you have to travel away from the car, and go somewhere interesting. Certainly few of the most enjoyable caches for me have been located near main roads. Some of the best times have even been looking for caches I have yet to find. I will always remember more pleasantly sunny evenings in the country, or rain blasted moorlands as opposed to litter strewn paths next to the thundering traffic of a main road.

July 1, 2003

Hi Pharisee,perhaps all the travelling is hard work and the mental side of it as well is pretty demanding.We use use it get to places in the country we would would not visit otherwise.We enjoyed seeing you at the Northern Cache bash and hope to see you return with renewed enthusiasm after a break.

3.8k · July 1, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Ferney & Gally:
Unless you are as keen on racking up large numbers of caches...

When I 'discovered' geocaching towards the end of last year, I was delighted to find that there were A LOT of caches close to where I live so the first 50 or so came up very quickly. As I approached my 100th cache, my wife realised that I was becoming obsessed. 'Don't worry' I told her, I'll slow down when I get to 100. I didn't. If anything, I speeded up and my second hundred came up even faster. The lawns remained uncut, the decorating not done and my wife realised that I WAS obsessed. Still the cache total increased. As I approach 300 I again told my wife that I would slow down. 'Please yourself' she said 'Im leaving.....'

John

Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.

[This message was edited by Pharisee on July 01, 2003 at 11:07 AM.]

July 1, 2003

I know exactly what people are talking about with this. I haev seen it happen so many times in the past so when I staretd Caching a year ago, I was determined to just take it steady and not burn out.

So here I am, a year later, and I still haven't made 100. (I don't mind about that...) What I *have* done, is gotten a firm memory of nearly every cache I have ever done. I think if I'm careful, I can sustain this for many hundreds of caches to come.

No trees were harmed during the production of this posting, but a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced....

July 2, 2003

I have suffered a bit of this recently too. Mind you, part of the problem has been that I've had a lack of free evenings (2 kids going to scouts including an evening canoeing, Hospital Radio etc etc). There are also things to do at weekends.

Luckily I was was over Wrexham way last week for a night, so managed one on the night, and other on the way home (and didn't attempt the one in the middle of Chester coz there were SO many people around / lack of time... but still looked around the area).

I'm hopind to do a couple on the way home from work, but have had to come home to do something for most of the last 2 to 3 weeks! Maybe next week!!!

Paul

Another proud member of the GAGB!

July 4, 2003

I've suffered a low cache count lately as well... not a lack of enthusiasm though, more a lack of free time! I might feel burnt out after another ton maybe, but I still feel passionately about the countryside and caching so once I've got certain things sorted out I'll be back at it!

"Woof" quoth he. Oh, and "Grrr" also.

July 5, 2003

I think we've probably hit the wall a couple of times now. We tend to go caching in bursts now, although as others have said that is as much to do with all the other hobbies and responsibilities we've got.

I agree with the sentiments expressed by Chris and Maria. We'll now not tend to make special trips for simple quick to find caches, (although I may go off and do any local ones, or ones close to work if I have some spare time). If we make a special trip or detour it will be for a multi-cache, or a cache that has got a load of good recommendations on it's logs.

I also find that we are not driving nearly so far to do caches - the first few we did were 20-30 miles away. Having said that, with the great selection of caches there are around our area now, we don't really have to.

Richard

July 7, 2003

I have just finished three weeks vacation which took me to Yorkshire, Warwickshire the Isle of Wight and London and the only geocache related thing that I did was a bit of maintainance on Tumuli Turmoil.

I did however walk miles in beautiful countryside and visit some stunning places, which is to me like geocaching without the lunchbox at the end.

I would not care if I only did ten more caches this year as long as there were ten great memories to go with them.

Also I find that I much prefer winter caching than summer. Not much fun when you are sweating up a hill in 80 degrees!

I woke this morning and my boat was not rocking...for one horrid moment I thought I lived in a house!

July 8, 2003

I tend to sympathise with The Merman there, in that winter caching is often better due to lack of undergrowth, tree canopies and heat!

No trees were harmed during the production of this posting, but a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced....

July 8, 2003

I've always thought of this game as a temporary thing. We average only one or two caches at a time now and treat them more as a good dog walk than point scoring.

We haven't lost interest, our holiday in the US was enhanced because there were caches to find and new places to go in a place we know well and visit regularly.

There are too few and they are too far between to sustain the hobby for long here.

1k · July 10, 2003

A break definitely renews the enthusiasm. I did 200 caches in my first 6 weeks (including 64 locationless ones) and then didn't hunt another for a month and a half.

During my break I spent a week up in the Scottish Islands without even thinking about say the 7 caches hidden on the small island of Bute which are easy to get at in a day.

June is a month of BBQs and parties (birthdays etc.)for me so I became unfit again and decided the best way to get fit was to start caching again!

I thoroughly enjoyed a good day out touring the lakes a couple of weeks ago on my first cache hunt after the break. But it felt strange finding my first cache above Penrith, sort of deja vu, just like the first one I ever found!

I'm back into top gear now and have done 39 since my return, including 16 on Tuesday (nothing wrong with endurance caching!).

I fancy a bit of a climb today so am off to Ribblesdale & Wharfedale to bag some hill/mountain caches.

Tally ho!

Seasider

1.4k · July 10, 2003

Just a thought

if hunting is getting you down why not spend the time reaserching some great ideas/locations and start planting some really special caches

Chris

If only life had an undo button....

London & UK Geocaching Resources: http://www.sheps.clara.net

July 10, 2003

Ah! You're all amateurs at pacing yourselves. Sue & I have logged 16 caches since starting in Sept 01. How's that for inverse bragging?

Of course, we usually do them one at a time - and cycle about 20 miles each way to do it. This gives us a new destination each time, indeed, a recent cycle to Cromer saw us visit Felbridge Hall but we deliberately ignored the nearby Keyring Cache. We'll get that another day.

Our latest was an opportunity visit - we were at a Wedding in Las Vegas at the site of a virtual cache. It was too hot to cycle there anyway...

Sue & Bernie

1.3k · July 11, 2003

Hoping not to hit the wall.. Booshka likes walking, I hate it... have to have a purpose and so I love caching and I need to work of the beer belly so I can add to it at night!

Natty

July 13, 2003

Never happened, and I doubt it ever will. I rarely do more than one cache in a day, and I always try to pick something special - preferably a huge multi offering plenty of opportunity for misadventure

I never go caching just for the sake of it - if I don't find myself in the mood for weeks or months, then so be it. Actually, I seem to be speeding up - partly, I think, because I'm increasingly choosy about what caches I do, so the experience is ever more enjoyable.

What's your favourite thing?

July 13, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Pharisee:
You're right, of course... but that's just the way I am. Not an 'anorak'... I don't think anyone could justifiably accuse me of that...

As long as it has a bit of armour in the elbows, I'll let you off

"Woof" quoth he. Oh, and "Grrr" also.

Omally

The wall...

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