“Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. A geocacher can place a geocache in the world, pinpoint its location using GPS technology and then share the geocache’s existence and location online. Anyone with a GPS device can then try to locate the geocache.”
A while ago Shannon posted about Geocaching and I thought it sounded just plain awesome. I love maps and I love scavenger hunts and such. I actually used to compete in orienteering as a teen. Surely geocaching would fit me perfectly :)
So, I checked Geocaching.com for caches in my town. I didn’t really think I would find anything since living up here, in a small town in north Sweden, means you’re always hundreds of miles away from anything remotely interesting and exciting. But I was wrong! There are lots of caches here! My jaw dropped when I saw that there’s one in the woods just a few minutes from my building 8O
I pitched the idea to Markus who also thought it sounded great. So this Saturday we decided on two caches we wanted to find and went on our first cache hunt! We don’t have a GPS device, but figured Google Maps and a printer would work. The caches didn’t seem too difficult to find.
We actually found the first one only a few minutes after arriving at the location. I was thrilled when we opened the container and signed it, like we were a part of a secret society or something! Especially with the whole “trying to look normal in front of the muggles” business :P Yeah, non-geocachers are called muggles. As corny as it sounds I actually think it’s hilarious.
The second cache took us down to the river. It was a little trickier since it was placed in the woods and we had to look under trees and rocks and such before finally finding it. This one had some souvenirs in it as well, but we didn’t take anything. I must remember to bring some trinkets in the future, it would be fun to leave something behind.
Since it’s Easter the office has been closed today, so we went for another cache hunt. This one was the trickiest so far, we searched for almost 30 min before finding it. It was really tiny and very cleverly hidden.
So… I’ve found 3 caches in my first 3 days of being a geocacher, and I love it! I think both me and Markus are already hooked :D All the way home today we talked about which caches we’d try for next and about placing our own cache and where we would hide it. And our town seem so much more interesting now. It holds secrets. Secrets that only a few of us know about. It’s fascinating :)
If you haven’t tried geocaching yet you should, I can definitely recommend it!
Oh my goodness! I think you have started some trouble here! There is a cache within 2 minutes of my house. O_O;; I’m going to try to find it tonight after class.
Dooooo iiit! :D
Geocaching kan verkligen vara riktigt kul! :D Fast det blir ju roligast med sällskap tycker jag ;) Lär nog bli mycket sånt i vår :)
I really want to do this!! There are quite a few near my house and one is at a store I visit often! Thanks for sharing the link!
That sound so cool!!! I want to do this too hehe. My friend has been talking about it for years but I never got the nerve to try it. Sounds like you two are hooked though :P
Jag läste också hennes blogg för några dagar sedan och bestämde mig också för att försöka mig på geocaching! :) Jag har inte haft tid ännu men jag ska kolla upp ifall det finns några i Västerås nu till helgen. Verkar som en väldigt rolig sysselsättning!
I saw Shannon’s post about this and now that I’ve read yours too, I’m just all the more excited to find a day when I’ll actually start doing this. I’m glad you had a good first experience and found more than one. :D
It doesn’t sound corny to me, but it is amusing after all. XD I’m not sure if I’ll find any around my area because of the lack of “nature” and places to hide these things… but who knows!
Oh, I love yours layout! It’s lovely.
I love glitter too! I love it only shirts, bags, shoes, everything. Haha. There’s nothing wrong with being girly!
I’m not a big fan of earrings, I mean I have my ears pierced but I always lose my earrings. EVEN when I’m wearing them! Is that weird or what…?
Wow! Geocaching sounds really fun. I must try it out.
Thank you ^_^ Sounds like you have very disobedient earrings XD
You should definitely try Geocaching, it’s really fun!
!! Awesome! (Should have seen this sooner, but I got behind on my blogroll. XD) I’m definitely hooked (horrible weather here aside). AT&T being AT&T, I have virtually no signal in wooded areas, so I’ve been going the saved-or-printed photos route as well, at least until I get a few more caches under my belt so as to justify getting a handheld GPS. So far, so good! I can’t wait to find a good spot to hide one! It makes me see parks and public areas differently now — every time I pass a park or anything approaching one, I think “Hmmm. Wonder if there are any caches….” Glad you like it! :D
I have always thought it would be interesting to try this, but never got around to it. Now your post is making me think about it – apparently there is all sorts of stuff around me and I never knew about it.