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caching a hobby, activity, or sport?


Guest mfratto

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Guest mfratto

I have seen caching referred to all kinds of ways here...it could also be an "interest" or a "game" (extreme caching? -- LOL).

 

I am not looking for "the answer" and hope people won't get all flamey about it, but more interested in how people perceive it and why -- so, for instance, I tend to think of caching as an "activity" or "hobby" -- those two seeming kind of synonymous to me. We don't do it all the time, it's something we like and spend some money on here and there, do for fun, but it's not something I feel I would get better at -- it is pretty much the same all the time, go out, find the box, etc.

I also think of caching as a "hobby" compared to a "sport" or "game" beacuse I think people attack sports or games with some sense of competition (even against yourself), train for them, want to excel at, etc (which could be the case for some cachers, just not us).

How about you? Other possibilities? Geocaching as philosophy? icon_wink.gif

 

Mauri, of Mauri and Mike

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Guest jeremy

I posted this in a previous posting... This was a sidebar in National Geographic Adventures magazine for July/August '01.

 

Q. Is geocaching a sport or just a geeky hobby?

 

A: It depends on what your definition of "sport" is. Take rock climbing - you're really not competing with anybody but yourself. And that's kind of how geocaching is: You create your own challenges. We just had a cache hidden in the Red Sea in an old sunken tugboat that you have to use scuba gear to find. There's another one hidden near the Pyramids. There's a cache in New York City beneath the piers of the Hudson River Park - You have to use a canoe or kayak. But you also might have a cache that's right off the road, because there are lazy people who play the game, too. Geocaching motivated me to get off my butt; it was the perfect opportunity to go out and hike. It used to be very tech-geek-oriented; now it's just people who need an excuse to go outdoors.

 

Sometimes you open up a cache and there's a balloon in there, or maybe a Pez dispenser. There could be a nun that winds up and breathes fire or little punching dolls that look like aliens. There's a Mr. Potato Head that's gone from cache to cache. What's the facination of finding these things? It's the thrill of the hunt. People are planning vacations around geocaching. It's a good way to see the world.

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Guest navdog

Somewhere in your definition of geocaching should be the word "ADVENTURE". Whether you are climbing a trail half way up a mountain or looking in the local city park for a cache, Its that sense of adventure that you feel or read about in the cache logs of everyone who enjoys this sport,activity,hobby.

 

[This message has been edited by navdog (edited 24 July 2001).]

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Guest rusty

I think Geocaching is all of those:

 

It's a hobby to those who enjoy the devious creativity it takes to come up with the wonderful unique caches that are so fun to hunt. The hobby aspect also comes to mind for those who get their thrill from the exchange of treasures.

 

It's an activity for those who would normally vegetate on the couch and can now combine their geek interests with the outdoors and exercise. This would include those weekend-GPS warriors / husband wife teams getting out to just enjoy the outside with a new excuse. It could even be good for relationships.

 

It's a sport for those who enjoy the competitive side of it in piling up finds or also in placing lots of new caches. I like to be the first to get to new caches in my area. It's a sport to those that want to find the most difficult caches.

 

I like Geocaching for all of those reasons and they are all valid reasons to enjoy it. My wife has been logging our hikes and we have put in over 300 miles this summer (at 500 we each get a sweatshirt from her work) and a lot of those miles were hunting for caches. We used to just walk around the same 4 mile path and the first cache we found was one that got placed in "our" hiking area "Rabbit Island". Now we go all over the state to hike and cache. She just likes to get outside but I view it a little more competitively. It doesn't really matter we both enjoy it.

 

Rusty...

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Guest k2dave

I think of it as a game but also an activity. There are lots of things that some might refer to as a sport but if you look into it it really is not (scuba comes to mind).

 

In geocaching there is an objective (goal) as such it would be more of a sport then scuba. It is competive in the sense that you are competing against the cache hider to find his cache. You migh also be competing against others in your group to find this cache or the most caches.

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Guest c.mathis

hat "score". Similar to rock climbing I am competing with myself.

 

Perhaps it's like trying to categorize a certain song. Is it Rock or Pop? Who cares. Just enjoy the music. icon_wink.gif

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Guest Sluggo

For me, geocaching is not an activity, a sport, a hobby, a game, or an idle pastime.

 

For me, GEOCACHING IS A WAR! I will steal, lie, injure, disfigure (others and/or myself), step on, knock down, burn, slice, dice, kick, bite, and destroy anything and everything that stands between me and a geocache. (This is why I have to take Sugar with me, she thinks it's a hobby.) icon_wink.gif

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Guest brokenwing

quote:
Originally posted by k2dave:

I think of it as a game but also an activity. There are lots of things that some might refer to as a sport but if you look into it it really is not (scuba comes to mind).


 

As is my nature, I thought it would be a good idea to define the terms we are using. Per the Merriam-Webster Collegiate edition dictionary:

 

Game: 1. activity engaged in for diversion or amusement. 2. any activity undertaken or regarded as a contest involving rivalry, strategy, or struggle. 3. a physical or mental competition conducted according to rules with the participants in direct opposition to each other.

 

Sport: physical activity engaged in for pleasure.

 

Activity: a pursuit in which a person is active.

 

Using those definitions, both geocaching and scuba are sports, but may or may not be games depending on which definition of game you use.

 

quote:
Originally posted by mfratto:

I also think of caching as a "hobby" compared to a "sport" or "game" beacuse I think people attack sports or games with some sense of competition (even against yourself), train for them, want to excel at, etc (which could be the case for some cachers, just not us).


 

It seems to me that game is the term that implies the competition you speak of. In my mind, sport does not.

 

Other definitions from Webster:

 

Hobby: a pursuit outside one's regular occupation engaged in especially for relaxation.

 

Yep, that fits...

 

Pastime: something that amuses and serves to make time pass agreeably.

 

OK, that works too.

 

So, in my book, geocaching can be a sport, a hobby, a pastime, and an activity. I don't really care for game however, for the reasons mentioned above.

 

Thanks,

brokenwing

 

 

[This message has been edited by brokenwing (edited 24 July 2001).]

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Guest Snowtrail

How about OBSESSION? How many times do you check the website to find out if there are new caches in your area? How many times have you ran around in circles (literally) trying to find the cache and decided not to give up no matter what until you found it? How many times have you done those things on the "You know you're addicted to geocaching when" list??

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Guest bearboy

I dont know about anybody else but I consider this Geocaching thing an ADDICTION and I admit I have a problem.I could have worse addictions though!

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Guest celts

quote:
Originally posted by bearboy:

I dont know about anybody else but I consider this Geocaching thing an ADDICTION and I admit I have a problem.I could have worse addictions though!


 

Too true. At least I'm not the only one who has the Jones for this activity. McIrish, how you coming with setting up that 12 step ? I can see us all--"Hi, my name is celts, and I'm a GEOCACHER"!!!!! icon_biggrin.gif That said, I think it's a sport--but most of all-- it got me off my arse and into the great outdoors and --that qualifies it as a MIRACLE.

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Guest tslack2000

quote:
Originally posted by Sluggo:

For me, GEOCACHING IS A WAR! I will steal, lie, injure, disfigure (others and/or myself), step on, knock down, burn, slice, dice, kick, bite, and destroy anything and everything that stands between me and a geocache.


 

I was quite releived when I saw that your address is somewhere in Washington! icon_wink.gif

 

I call Geocaching a sport due to the fact that you are active and, as of late, "competing". We have a guy that goes by Brewster here in Utah who is hiding a series of 5/5 caches and it's amazing how much competition is going on out there to see who can bag them first! Everytime I log on to the internet, the first thing I do is check for Adventure Cache #3 to see if he's posted it yet. (Maybe I should be posting this in the "You know you're addicted when..." thread?)

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Guest Chris Juricich

ain time might qualify) might qualify it as a sport. What about dogshows? Is that a sport? It's competetive, but lacks real physical challenges, other than for the dog!

 

I'd welcome a competetion in geocaching, but it would involve both seeking and setting caches, I think. With varying levels of challenge, too. Rock climbing, steep cliffs, water, etc. These all would make for what I'd qualify as a sport.

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Guest EyezOfTheWorld

quote:
Originally posted by jeremy:

It used to be very tech-geek-oriented; now it's just people who need an excuse to go outdoors.


 

Some people make it a game and if they have fun doing that then that's cool. No matter how challenging and grueling the game can be, though, with whatever obstacles it can involve, I don't think it can ever be a sport.

 

My excuse to go outdoors was created when the earth was created. I had a GPS (for backcountry hiking purposes) before this website was even thought of. Now i have something else to use it for and can say geocaching is a hobby of mine, an activity that i take part in.

 

As far as it being an obsession or an addiction, well, that just ain't right. Being passionate about something is okay but no obsession or addiction is good.

 

Please take in casual doses icon_smile.gif

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Guest c.mathis

quote:
Originally posted by EyezOfTheWorld:

No matter how challenging and grueling the game can be, though, with whatever obstacles it can involve, I don't think it can ever be a sport.


 

Why not? What is your definition of a "sport"?

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Guest EyezOfTheWorld

Okay... uh, lemme see here. Going out on a walk with a GPS unit isn't a sport, in my opinion.

 

When I really think of a sport I think of football, hockey, basketball, baseball, soccer, rugby, maybe a few more. I think i'd sort of classify sports because stuff like badminton and curling certainly isn't like football but still they're sports.

 

Thinking a little more about it I suppose if geocaching was elevated beyond a walk it could be a sport if it involved teams or person vs. person who competed to find caches in a manner similar to Eco-Challenge involving long distance travel, rockclimbing, kayaking, a whole bunch of stuff like that.

 

Eco-Cache? Sign me up!!!!

 

[This message has been edited by EyezOfTheWorld (edited 07 August 2001).]

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Guest jeremy

Regardless of your opinion on semantics, by definition geocaching is a sport. But most folks would consider it an activity.

 

Walking around with a tennis racket is not a sport either. Using it to compete against another makes it a game.

 

Jeremy

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Guest prv8eye

Mirriam Webster defines "sport" as:

sport (noun)

 

First appeared 15th Century

 

1 a : a source of diversion : RECREATION

 

b : sexual play

 

c (1) : physical activity engaged in for pleasure

 

(2) : a particular activity (as an athletic game) so engaged in

 

I think most people consider a sport to involve competition. I certainly don't consider rock climbing, canoeing or geocashing to be a sport unless there is some type of competition, it's simply recreation.

The same debate has gone on for years about bowling and billiards, even WITH the competition

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