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Do I Need Therapy?


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I have noticed that I seem to put in a lot less time caching lately and when I do hunt, I give up a lot quicker than I used to and I tend to avoid caches that are in "questionable" places. I seldom print out cache pages before I go to a new area anymore. I don't seem to have much interest unless I can try for an FTF or a TB. And when I do hunt, it's usually just one or two caches, not an all-day event like before.

 

For example, I'll read a cache page, enter the coords in my mobile GPSr and drive to the area. If I don't see something right away when I get in the area that looks like a park or some kind of public area, oftentimes I will abort the mission and look for another. Likewise, I'll move on if the roads "don't go there".

 

Or I'll get to ground zero and if the hollow tree doesn't yield its fruit, I'll spend a few minutes looking around in "the usual" places in the near vicinity and then call it quits.

 

And then sometimes I'm real self-consious about who's watching and what they might be thinking about why I'm prowling around looking "suspicious". So I just look for the obvious and give up rather than search thoroughly.

 

It didn't used to be this way.

 

I would drive around on every conceivable roadway to get as close as humanly possible to the cache. Then I was ready to "risk it all"- I didn't really care if there was a stream to cross or a half mile bushwhack over apparently private (but not posted) property.

 

I used to spend hours searching the forest floor, looking under every fallen limb if I had to in an ever expanding search until i had scoured an area 150 feet radius of the coords.

 

I used to wander around city street corners and bridges, even at night, searching every crack in the masonry, pretending to be some kind of "inspector" if need be, not caring a whit if somebody thought I was strange.

 

Have I just "lost it" (my nerve, my mind, or whatever)? Is this a stage all cachers go through? Is there any hope for me?

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I don't know if it's a stage, per se, but maybe you need to sit back and rethink your passion for the activity - why do you go? What do you find enjoyable about it? Who do you share the sport with (caching partners, if any), Where do you go (types of caches you go for), etc etc.

 

If the answers to these are "meh, whatever" mebbe your burnt out.

 

For me, I like the hikes, alone, to places I've never been. That's what geocaching does for me. When that fails to enthuse me, I'll move on... But I hope I never have to...

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therapy? dadgum good rock group.

 

do you need to sit on a bean bag and delve into the soul to discover your inner demons? hell whatever you fancy, if you think that'll get something back feel free.

 

sounds more like you need to do an event cache or go do a couple with friends and beers and maybe a barbque! best therapy i ever knew friends and beer!

 

or don't let yourself go cacheing for a few weeks, then when you get towards your deadline you'll be looking forward to it and that should restart the interest.

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I think you'd have better luck if you weren't hanging upside down while you were caching :ph34r:

 

Maybe creating a totally new direction for caches to find in your area would perk ya up. Like those really neat ones that others (in other places from yours and mine) are doing (fake pine cones, fake bolts, etc.)

 

Or, you could just quit hanging upside down while you were caching. :)

 

(I hope you find a "good" answer.)

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Therapy? Not at all, sound's like your tastes have matured and refined as you get older and wiser in cache years.

 

When you're a teen, you probably drink whatever beer/cheap wine you happen to get your hands on.

 

After you grow up, and get tired of porcelain prayers and hangovers, you might pick up (and enjoy) one 6pack of REAL beer, or a nice bottle of dinner wine, rather then the "30 cans for $9.99" special.

 

Caching can be the same way. When you first start, you want to experience it all, and cram in as much as possible. After awhile though, you find out some caches appeal to you more then others. Maybe you focus on hydrocaches. Maybe you like going out at night. Maybe you like being FTF. Maybe you like to grab TBs. Maybe you like to see how many caches you can find in a day. Whatever floats your boat.

 

Sounds like you are finding out what kinds of caches you really enjoy, and skipping over ones that might be just for the smiley. Good for you!

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I think you are just finding what you like to do, and you are becoming more selective with your time. There's nothing at all unusual or wrong about that. After all geocaching is a pastime, not an oath-given or contracted commitment! There's no reason why you should really even care if your interest wanes. If it does - so what?

 

Usually, I cache with my wife. She likes finding the cache if we go through the effort of getting there. So, we hunt together to find it. Rarely, I go by myself. One time was last Sunday. While I found 5 caches before noon (when I fell and tore open my knee), there were 2 others I visited that I didn't even really try to hunt:

  • One where I zeroed out in ivy, and saw logs that said other people spent 15-20 minutes searching in the ivy before finding. I decided it wasn't worth the bother and didn't even begin to hunt
  • One where there was a person loitering nearby and I had no patience to wait for him to leave

I didn't even bother logging not found on these because I have nothing useful to say - I didn't even begin to try finding them, so all I could have left is a not hunted log - which doesn't exist.

 

Am I concerned about this? No. Do I reflect upon it? No. Do I feel awful that I don't seem to have interest in finding these caches? No.

 

I always try to remember my father's advice to me many years ago. I was about eleven years old. We were attending a movie, and after twenty minutes, we both decided we really were bored by the film. When I told him I was bored, he said "So am I - let's go." When I asked him if he was mad about wasting the money on the tickets, and if we should have stayed to the end he said "I wish we hadn't purchased the tickets, but we did, and we were in the movie too long to ask for our money back. We've already wasted our money. Let's not waste our time, too."

 

I've always remembered those words. In this case, take it to mean If you aren't enjoying the pastime, don't waste your time doing it, or especially, don't waste your time worrying about the fact you aren't enjoying it.

 

-J

Edited by TeamJiffy
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I always try to remember my father's advice to me many years ago. I was about eleven years old. We were attending a movie, and after twenty minutes, we both decided we really were bored by the film. When I told him I was bored, he said "So am I - let's go." When I asked him if he was mad about wasting the money on the tickets, and if we should have stayed to the end he said "I wish we hadn't purchased the tickets, but we did, and we were in the movie too long to ask for our money back. We've already wasted our money. Let's not waste our time, too."

My dad gave me similar advice when we ate at a smorgasbord. I went back over and over and he had just one plate. We paid a pretty penny for the priviledge of "all you can eat", so I asked if he wasn't wasting money by just having one plate. He told me "If I eat any more I'll be miserable. I paid to eat, not to make myself miserable."

 

Good advice. "If you don't like it get out". A corrolary is "don't send good money after bad".

 

I'm not quite there yet, but if I didn't geocache I'd be a little perturbed about spending $350 for a GPSr that otherwise isn't of much use to me.

 

But realistically it would be only one of MANY expensive hobbies I've taken up, let run their course, and found the equipment a sacred place in a dusty closet. And quite a bit LESS expensive than most of the others.

 

It is interesting that I never SELL any of my old stuff... there's always the hope against hope that "someday" I'll enjoy this and that hobby again. Most of the time, though, all that remains is a longing and a few good stories that get rehashed over and over so often that everyone has heard them all and, like your Dad, are ready to "walk out of the theater".

 

So it goes.

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Thanks Mopar. I think you might have nailed it.

 

Good idea Fortrell, I am presently considering some very unusual cache containers of the "looks like something it aint" genre. Major questions on whether I can get them approved though.

 

I'm not burnt out yet, but it seems the interest has waned or at least concentrated in new directions.

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I agree with Mopar and would add that it's fun to not print out all the stuff and take it along. Jot down a couple of notes if you want or just wing it. Certainly it will make it more interesting - the whole idea is to enjoy this, not to trudge down a trail because you are "supposed to."

 

You might also consider letting some more exotic caches nudge you into new activities. Why not find one that requires you to learn scuba diving, rock climbing, or kayaking? Then you can expand your experiences and have more opportunities to enjoy your time.

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I'm not quite there yet, but if I didn't geocache I'd be a little perturbed about spending $350 for a GPSr that otherwise isn't of much use to me.

 

But realistically it would be only one of MANY expensive hobbies I've taken up, let run their course, and found the equipment a sacred place in a dusty closet. And quite a bit LESS expensive than most of the others.

 

You are suffering from burnout. You get tired of things that no longer pose a challenge and are easily distracted. I, however, am not. I'm easily amused- will you sell your GPSr to me at a sharply reduced price?

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Add: Cronic Fatigue

 

Makes Geocaching more challenging.

 

My cache finds have dropped off quite a bit.

Part of the problem, is that i need to turn off the computer and go outside.

 

I also like to Disc Golf, and havent been doing much of that either due too weather or Cronic Fatique.

 

Beens some pretty severe weather in Detroit Michigan since Friday, which was several storms, and a bit of flooding.

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I agree with Mopar as well when he says that we mature and our tastes change. Perfectly normal being that we are human!

 

I may have missed someone bringing this up but here goes anyways. Do you cache alone? I know that for me, having someone to cache with and/or getting to talk to others in the area about caching is what really makes our hobby so much fun. Ive done a few caches by myself and they were ok, but the experience is usually much better for me when i can share it with someone i love or good people that i enjoy being with. :blink:

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B) Sounds like you need to be FTF on a cache where the map shows it to be in the middle of the river, but the owner tells you you can get to it without getting your feet wet. --LEAD DOG B)

Darn!

Iwas in KY this weekend. Not only missed FTF on yours but on "Don't Rock The Boat" also. I guess it just wasn't meant to be.

 

Got two nice caches in WKY and intruduced some relatives to the sport, though.

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I'm not quite there yet, but if I didn't geocache I'd be a little perturbed about spending $350 for a GPSr that otherwise isn't of much use to me.

 

But realistically it would be only one of MANY expensive hobbies I've taken up, let run their course, and found the equipment a sacred place in a dusty closet.  And quite a bit LESS expensive than most of the others.

 

You are suffering from burnout. You get tired of things that no longer pose a challenge and are easily distracted. I, however, am not. I'm easily amused- will you sell your GPSr to me at a sharply reduced price?

Not yet.

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