Geocaching (1 Viewer)

Surprised not to see a thread about this, maybe there was an older one that got disappeared.  My kids and I started doing this last summer and have had a blast, and it's something you can still do now (assuming you follow all local laws and sensible practices about social distancing, etc.)

Figured I'd fire up a thread for tips, questions, stories, whatever.  I'll add a follow up post with some of my experiences but hope there are others here who will share as well.  

https://www.geocaching.com/play/search

Don't eat the candy. 

Did it a lot with my kids when they were young.  It was a lot of fun.    Looked into placing one of our own with a travel bug (are those still a thing?), but never did.

WDIK2 said:

 travel bug (are those still a thing?)

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They are - I actually picked one up a while ago from a cache and haven't had an opportunity to move it to a new cache yet, good reminder that I should get out this weekend and find a suitable place for it.  IIRC it originated in Switzerland and was trying to get back there.  I picked it up in Delaware and was going to leave it in NYC but now will likely drop it somewhere in NJ.  

Following

Checked out the site briefly today.  There's one right up my street, but it's a puzzle or something.  Not sure I understand what I'm supposed to do.  Put in an answer to a riddle to find the thing?

The crab cake factory is down the road from my ocmd place. We decide to eat outside and notice that people keep going over to this Bush in the middle of the street. 
 

we decide to go check it out before we walked home. It was some little thing you would get at an arcade with instructions on how to play inside. My kids were like this is lame. I thought it was a cool idea but didn’t feel the need to go any further with it

shuke said:

Checked out the site briefly today.  There's one right up my street, but it's a puzzle or something.  Not sure I understand what I'm supposed to do.  Put in an answer to a riddle to find the thing?

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I think you have to solve the riddle or riddles to find the correct coordinates. 

We never did one of those.   

I personally wouldn't find the appeal if it wasn't out in the woods.   Part of the experience was being out in nature and the kids leading us along using the gps device we had at the time.   From what I recall, most of the destinations were something like a box (typically a lunch box) that had a variety of trinkets (the kind of crap you'd find in one of those quarter machines at the supermarket).  The kids would bring a few of their own things, they'd spend time looking through what's in there and then deciding which item they'd take and which item of their own they would leave.   My kids loved going through that decision making process at those ages (between 5 and 10).

shuke said:

Checked out the site briefly today.  There's one right up my street, but it's a puzzle or something.  Not sure I understand what I'm supposed to do.  Put in an answer to a riddle to find the thing?

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Yeah, some are puzzle caches where you have to solve whatever to get the coordinates of the actual physical cache location (which may or may not be up your street).  Should be a way for you to verify that you've correctly solved the puzzle before you go out searching.  These types are denoted by different markers on the map, I think a blue question mark or something?  Those are just a subset of caches, most don't require you to solve a puzzle or anything, those are just a different kind of challenge.  

There are other types as well, some are like a trail where the first cache you find includes the coordinates or a clue for the next, etc.  And as I said they run the gamut from hard terrain, really outdoorsy locations, to more urban caches that you can find hidden under benches in your neighborhood park.  All are fun in different ways, but obviously it's up to you what you prefer.  

NutterButter said:

I personally wouldn't find the appeal if it wasn't out in the woods.   Part of the experience was being out in nature and the kids leading us along using the gps device we had at the time. 

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Those have been some of our best experiences as well, although I'll say some of the ones around town have been great too.  They make you look at everything in different ways and notice things you haven't before.  We've found some near historical monuments in our downtown, for example, that we've walked past 1000 times and never stopped to read.  I've literally learned at least a few things about the history of my town from geocaching that I otherwise probably wouldn't have.  Of course there are also low-effort ones that are just hidden under a lamppost.