Geocaching was something that I knew existed but really had no clue what it was and how people did it. And honestly I thought it was a little nerdy and something that losers did. I know, I was quick to judge. Now I am still of the opinion that it’s a little nerdy (haha) but it really is a wholesome activity and I’m glad we have found it. Last year E came home talking about it, one of his friends had downloaded the app and found a few geocaches with his dad. So E downloaded the app and started finding a few.
The app is found Here. It’s basically a map that shows all of the geocaches near you. If you buy the subscription, then you can get access to more and bigger finds. We got the subscription for E for his birthday.
There are several different sizes of geocaches - from micro to large. The app shows the general location, and is accompanied with a clue. There is also information that other people have provided that you can read for more clues. When you find it, you can log the find on the app, and then the icon for that cache turns into a happy face.
The cache itself is a container of some sort and inside is usually a slip of paper where you can physically write your name and date of the find. As the cache sizes increase, there might be little toys or keepsakes. The idea here is that you trade for something you’ve brought with you.
In our family, E is the one with the app on his phone so he usually decides where we are going and he reads the clue and gives us the information. He tends to slowly share the clues which may be on purpose so he can find it first, or he is just slow at getting through the thread of comments.
E has a little baggie of stuff that he brings along to trade, along with a pencil, since not all caches have room for their own pencil. We have stickers, little toys, pins, things like that. As we have gotten more experience with finding them, we have a better sense of where they could be. They aren’t on private property and they can’t really be in a place that can be disturbed easily, or that could be too obvious and taken by someone who doesn’t know what it is (referred to as “muggles”).
Sometimes we go out with the goal of finding some geocaches. This means we get out for a walk or bike ride for some fresh air and the boys are motivated because we get to go geocaching. Other times we are out already for something and then one of us will think, “maybe there is a geocache nearby” and E will check. We have looked in a park forest, in neighborhoods, and on city streets.
We don’t always find them, even with all of the clues, and we have to give up. It’s usually me saying “Okay, let’s go, we can’t stay here all day”.
E has also made two of his own geocaches to hide. He had to find a spot, come up with a name and a clue, and then submit it to the “geocache community” with the coordinates. Then I think someone goes out to check it and approves it. Now E can check on his phone to see if someone has found it, and any comments people have left. If they go missing or need new paper for the log, he can go and check on them.
What I think is neat is that these geocaches are all over the place and most people would never know they were there, or even if they saw it, they wouldn’t know what it was.
Finding a geo with Nana Anne.
Going into the woods in the park by our house.
Finding a micro in New York.
This find was in a library in New York. We had to follow a couple of clues to get to this one.
Another one in New York.
Going up the hill to find one.
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