In May 2000, the very first geocache was hidden in Oregon, United States. Now, 20 years later, there are 2.5 million geocaches hidden worldwide over 180 different countries. A geocache is a secret treasure box that is hidden waiting for you to find. They aren’t full of golden coins, however. It’s all about the adventure of finding the boxes and recording your visit. The wonderful thing about geocaching is that it can be enjoyed by all ages from 5 to 105. Planning a vacation around geocaching is a great way to bond with your family and have your own treasure hunting adventure.
What do I need to bring?
Getting started with geocaching is easy. The first thing that you will need to do is create an account on the geocaching.com website. This will give you access to a map and the locations of the worldwide geocaches. You can use the app to find any geocaches nearby, or alternatively, you can use any GPS device, like your Sat Nav or your smartphone. When you are out geocaching, make sure that you take supplies, plenty of water and wear some good quality walking boots – many of the geocaches can be found in rough terrain, so you may have to go off the beaten track a little. There are caches in Antarctica; there are caches in deserts; and there is even a geocache on the International Space Station. On your adventures, make sure you take a pen to record your visit to the geocache’s logbook too.
Plan your geocaching route
If you are planning a vacation around geocaching, it is essential to plan your travels first. Working together with your family can help build bonds: this is why geocaching is often used as a team building activity. For management and their employees, geocaching can really help improve communication skills by encouraging them to work together to achieve a shared goal. Sit around the table with your family and decide how many caches you want to find in a day and the sort of distance you want to travel. Perhaps you only want to walk a few miles, or maybe you can go further if you are cycling or driving from one place to the next. You should also work together to find geocaches that need puzzles solving in order to reveal the location of the box.
Travel bugs and trackables
Inside the majority of geocaches, you will find a logbook for you to record your visit in. You may also find some items of interest – geocoins and travel bugs. These trackable items are not yours to keep, but should be moved from one geocache to the next. You should log that you’ve found one on the geocaching site and also say where you have moved the trackable item. Many of the items have a mission – for instance, to travel India – or to visit as many countries as possible. One of the most successful travel bugs has covered a distance of more than 6 million miles. If there are any other items in the geocache, you are welcome to take one, but you should replace it with an item of equal value. Pin badges and trinkets are common geocache finds.
Planning your vacation around geocaching is a wonderful way to bond with your family. You can see the world and enjoy a treasure hunt at the same time.
