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| Logging a cache in Aachen, Germany (hint: they're on the bench) |
Geocaching is a high-tech game of hide and seek. Players use technology (mainly handheld GPS devices) to locate objects (caches) hidden at specific latitude-longitude coordinates, and log their finds online. In existence only since 2000, the hobby has grown rapidly. There are now more than 1.5 million caches in more than 100 countries around the world, on all seven continents including Antarctica.
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| Some caches are tiny |
Variations of the game include Earthcaches (locations that are themselves the hidden treasure), Travel Bugs (uniquely tagged items that travel from cache to cache), Puzzle Caches (with a puzzle to solve in order to find the coordinates of the cache), Multicaches (a type of puzzle cache with multiple locations), and Challenges (where you must complete a task at a specific location). So far we've found caches or completed challenges in America, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium.
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| Some caches are in natural locations, others are near interesting city sites. |
There are more than 5 million geocachers around the world, some of whom have logged thousands of caches. Our approach is quality over quantity - to experience new places, and to experience familiar places in a new way.
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| Geocaching Challenge: enjoy a pint of Guinness at the brewery in Dublin |
Even though we rarely meet other cachers, we feel like we are part of a community. We've met and talked with other cachers, including an interesting exchange (through her friend) with a cacher who is deaf. We've also interacted virtually with other cachers. Travel Bugs offer a kind of interaction, as many have a goal such as a specific location they are trying to reach. We picked up a travel bug in Ireland with a goal of visiting Route 66 in the United States. Tim took it along on a recent business trip to Washington D.C. and left it in a cache there, much closer to its goal.
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| A Travel Bug doubling as a dog tag |
There are now applications for smartphones that allow them to be used as handheld GPS devices, making this activity even easier to try ... wherever you are. For more information about Geocaching see Geocaching 101.
