Curricula and Learning Links - Hobbies
Geocaching
An Interview with Patti P.
How did you get started?
I saw articles now and then in the newspaper about it - asked for a GPS for Christmas or my birthday (can't remember which) - got it - and it mainly sat for a year+ as we were busy traveling and hiking (1 month Hawaii, 2 months in the Western US, 3 weeks in FL). I WISH we'd gotten into it sooner - 'cause if so, we'd have cached in many more states when we traveled there - including Hawaii. We finally really got started with it when we were finished with our travels (needed to refill the bank account) and needed free entertainment. We did it as a "well, we can afford to do this now" cheap alternative to long distance travel - and got hooked.
What materials and costs are involved?
A decent GPS is going to run about $250 - though "ok" ones can be had for close to $100 - or there's always used. Besides that, there's gas money - and typical day trip types of money needed (like lunch), though we tend to minimize those by packing picnics. Unless you're doing totally urban caching (which some people do), hiking boots are a nice asset - and required for many "back in the woods" types.
Before investing in a GPS, we recommend people find others who geocache to head out with them for a time or two. You'll soon know if this is for you or not. If so, then invest. Just remember geocaching varies from urban to back woods, from underneath bodies of water to on top of mountains, from finding extremely small "nano" containers to "large" containers to "earth" caches. It's varied - and your "niche" that you prefer might be different that those who you go out with. We love long hikes and mountains. Others we know love small town urban...
After the initial investment, the "sport" is incredibly cheap. It also gives you a great place to get rid of the many small toys and trinkets that have collected in your house... (In many caches, you trade trinkets, etc).
How does it bless you or others?
In ways we can't even count. We go as a family - taking turns leading. Each member has had times of making the find for difficult finds - which makes a great ego-boost. We tend to go once a week - and everyone looks forward to it. It's extremely cheap and extremely good for family building. It gives our hikes just a little bit extra that everyone loves. It's also taken us places we'd have never discovered - and taught us history we'd have never known about. We've seen gorgeous rocks, old turnpike tunnels, caves, mountain views, civil war sites, old foundations of houses and factories, gorgeous wildflowers, ice falls on a creek, even sites of tragedies like an Indian schoolhouse massacre site we visited yesterday - more things that I can ever list here. It's kind of like the Mastercard commercial... priceless. Our only wish is that we'd started about 3 years sooner than we did.
For more information see Betty in Vegas's article on geocaching in HomeschoolChristian.com's Geography Section.
