If
you follow me on any social media, you will have seen that at some time or
another I have spoken about Geocaching.
You
may already know what it is, or perhaps you have never heard of it before.
What Is It?
It
has been called a subculture by some, an insider game by others.
But
what is it really?
In
short, geocaching is an international GPS treasure hunt! The 21st century
version of Treasure Island, using the whole earth (and sometimes outer space)
as your "island of treasures".
You're
already hooked, right? I was, still am.
How Did It Start?
It
all started in 2000 when GPS used to be reserved for only governments and the
armies. But then on 2nd May 2000 they released the technology for use by the
general public. Within 1 week (well actually by 03 May 2000) geocaching began,
with a container left in the woods, a logsheet and a few things (S.W.A.G - Stuff We All Get)
inside with the simple rule "take some stuff, leave some stuff". Only
after a few weeks did it get the name Geocaching and the rest, as they say, is
history.
Are There Rules?
All
geocaches have a few things in common, (1) you can find the information about
them on www.geocaching.com, (2) They
all have a logbook or sheet that you must fill in to prove you were there, (3)
there is never anything of monetary or food value in the cache, (4) they are
fun (ok, most micros and all postbox ones are boring).
You
can view all the rules and how to sign up on www.geocaching.com
How do you start?
Pretty
much you get onto the geocaching website and get the GPS coordinates of a local
treasure (known as a cache), you type those coordinates into your gps and go
hunting for it. Along the way you often see beautiful sights in your very own
city that you never knew, you also often meet new people. But, you try to avoid
looking suspicious because "Muggles" (aka anyone who does not know
about geocaching) may very well imagine you are hiding gold, drugs, bombs, etc.
In the process you learn the art of stealth, and end up looking ten times more
suspicious.
Its
great fun.
Eventually
you find the cache, it may be a film canister with a magnet and attached to the
back of a sign post, or it may be an Ice Cream container hidden in the bush, or
(in rare cases) a large container (think 44 gallon drum size).
Geocaching
can be done solo, however it is much more fun to do it as a group of friends or
family. It can be frustrating, but it is also rewarding.
Its
good to get the whole family (even those addicted to their phones and other
gadgets) out of the house and into the open, with fresh air and excersize.
It
is free to sign up, and you likely already have a gps to use (most smartphones
are gps enabled), so doing geocaching is not expensive.
I
hope you head out to have fun geocaching sometime soon, and don't forget, its
just a game. Although it is severely addictive.
If
you are in my area, look up some of my caches.
