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Finding A Cache Is Like.....


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The other day, one of my non-caching friends asked, "what's it like when you find a cache? Are you happy, relieved, no-emotion, what?" I replied, it's like when you buy a scratch off ticket and win. If the cache is a 1/1, then it's like scratching and getting a free ticket. If the cache is a 2/2 or harder, it's like scratching and winning a few dollars. The harder the cache, the more money it feels like you won when you find it. :P

 

So what's it like when you find a cache?

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Mostly it's a miniature version of the same feeling I get when I solve a problem at work.

 

It's not quite the same feeling - after all I'm not really doing anything all that hard that a bunch of other people won't successfully accomplish before and after me. Still, I get a little feeling of success, and I like that. (I know this is a very silly way to feel!)

 

Kind of depends on the situation:

 

1. I feel clever if I found something quickly.

2. I feel really clever if I found something that was kind of tricky, and took a moderate amount of work. (It's hard on the arms reaching to pat myself on the back like that!)

3. I feel mostly relieved if the cache was not fun (a rarity), or if I just had trouble finding it. Sort of an "I got you you little so and so" kind of a feeling. Surprisingly, this still ends up being fun too, because at least I don't have to obsess over finding the thing any more...

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Good question. It depends on the cache. Some are like scratching off a lottery ticket and seeing a $2 winner. You think "OK, big freakin' deal". With others,my reaction is similar to the way I feel after I solve a problem; whether its completing a crossword puzzle, figuring out a programming solution, building something on my workbench, completing a class, etc.... Its the feeling I get when I accomplish something.

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I agree with the response that compares it to winning on a lottery ticket. If it's an extraordinary challenge, the reward is great. If time permits, and I choose to sacrifice the additional time, all the effort in searching is well worth it once I make the find. There were 2 I did a few weeks ago that were challenges alone, but were on the same mountain. The first took nearly an hour to find and was extremely well hidden. The other took me 25 minutes just to boulder-hop the 500 or so feet to the cache, but was much easier to find. Both finds were validation that the effort was worth it, and the excitment in finding the first one made the entire day worth it.

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Finding a cache is great. For me it''s the kinda feeling you get when you finally solve a problem that you've been stuck on for some period of time. I think I enjoy "watching" the cache page just as much to see what people have to say about the cache after I've found it. Now I'm getting into hiding caches and I get all excited when I see that someone posted a find. I can't wait to see what they wrote and thought of my cache. Anyone else like me as far as logs go and watching your found caches?

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When I find a cache it's like when you find a $20 bill on the subway....or like when you answer the door and it's Ed McMahon with an oversized novelty check. :D

 

When I can't find the cache, it's like when you spill coffee all over the reports you are about to present, or when you run the edge of a piece of paper across your bare eyeball. :)

 

When someone steals my cache it's like when a stray dog eats your pet bunny rabbit, or like when the highschool kid takes your milk money at the bus stop. :D

 

Placing a cache is like when you had this big secret that no one else knows about, or like when you found the cure for the common cold. :D

 

Getting your new virtual approved is like going to the dentist and he looks like Steve Martin. :D

 

Releasing a travelbug is like when you dump a handful of quarters into the slot machine in the lobby, or like when you send your delinquent 22 year old son packing. :)

Edited by BadAndy
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I haven't found all too many, but I have felt different ways about each one I found. The very first one I looked for was a 4/4 deep in the wooded mountains and I didn't have a GPS yet, so I had to do it the old school way with map and compass. Now on a 1:25000 map this will only give you about a 100 meter radius of accuracy, so I spent quite some time searching and right when I was about to give up I found it - it was a feeling like "HA! I'm THAT GOOD!" Of course, I ended up feeling a lot worse about myself when later on I had to stumble back down the mountain in the dark. But that's part of the fun. The other caches I have found, I pretty much walked straight into them with my GPS, so the feeling was mostly just "whoa!... cool." I don't think I will ever get too excited about them unless they are in some remote place and it takes the better part of a day to hike to them.

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