Meet your community volunteers—Webcams, flamenco, and old movies!
It’s a well-known fact that geocaching is a community-based game. After all, what would the game be without creative cache owners and the engaged cachers who log their finds?
Another vital aspect of the game is the collection of geocaching community volunteers who dedicate their time, passion, and talent to support the worldwide geocaching community.
- Reviewers review and publish geocaches that meet geocaching guidelines.
- Moderators guide and monitor participation in the Geocaching Forums.
- Translators translate geocaching content into languages other than English.
- EarthCache reviewers use their expertise in geology to review and publish EarthCaches.
The geocaching community currently has nearly 400 volunteers who support geocachers and coach new players—all for the love of the game. Though most volunteers are active as players in addition to their volunteer activities, a large portion of the community still hasn’t had the chance to meet them yet.
For this Thank a Volunteer Day, we’re briefly introducing some of the volunteers you may have seen in your community!
1. Luke – GeoawareUK4
- Location: United Kingdom
- EarthCache Reviewer since: 2023
- Why EarthCaches “rock”: “From a very young age, I’ve been a science geek but gradually developed an interest in physical geography at secondary school. Studying geology allowed me to blend the best of both subjects, and I went on to earn a degree in geology at university. Since then, I’ve been a teacher for over 20 years but have been lucky enough to have some of my geological work published.”
- Fun Facts: Luke loves finding Webcam Caches and has found over 230 in his geocaching career! He often uses geocaching as a travel tool and likes watching the sections of his statistics map get filled in. For him, “the best part of geocaching is the community – in my home area and across the globe, players interacting over our shared interest is just great.”
- Why he volunteers: “Many players tell me that they avoid looking for or placing EarthCaches because they think that they are just too difficult. As an EarthCache Reviewer, I work hard to dispel that myth – Helping more players to engage with EarthCaching as hiders and finders by clarifying the guidelines and coaching players to develop achievable logging tasks. I was honoured to be invited to give back to the game that I love in this way, so jumped at the chance.”
2. Carolina
- Translator for: Estonian
- Translator since: 2010
- Behind the language: “I translate for Estonian language and I’ve learned English since my first grade at school. It was Soviet time then and this was not common to study English from 1st grade. I was lucky to go in special language-class. I have learned several years Spanish, because of my flamenco interest and 3 years German. I know a little bit Latvian and Finnish too.”
- Fun Facts: Before she discovered geocaching, Carolina danced flamenco for many years, even taking dance classes in Granada, Spain! When she’s not dancing, Carolina is working as a librarian and enjoys visiting library caches when she travels. She’s also found more than one type of treasure in her journeys: “My boyfriend’s name is Aare, which means „treasure“ in Estonian and that is what we Estonian geocachers all are looking for in this game.”
Why she volunteers: “At first it was a challenge to have all the webpage translated in Estonian so that it would make sense. Many of the strings we have to translate are like separate sentences and sometimes it’s difficult to put them into correct tense or conjugation. Fortunately Estonian language doesn’t have gender, so my work is a little bit easier than French Translators for example. I remember the thrill of being added to the translator tool and all those thousands of strings waiting to be translated… It was so exciting! Although many Estonian geocachers know English quite well, I’d like to think that my work is also encouraging those who don’t understand it so well. And last but not least – the amazing community of Translators with whom we have become closer in the past few years.”
3. Jason – IgnotusPeverell (@Ignotus Peverell)
- Location: United States—Colorado and New Mexico
- Reviewer since: 2019
- Behind the username: “I was very excited to become a reviewer, and then when I had to come up with a name, my mind just went blank! I was talking with my wife, Sarah (Sissadies), about it and she came up with a great idea. She loves Harry Potter, and geocachers like to use terminology from it. Most reviewers start out anonymous while they learn and get their bearings, so they have a “cloak of invisibility” like the one that was given to Ignotus Peverell in the story of The Three Brothers. I loved it, and it fit perfectly for a new reviewer. Set up an account, and it was available! Kismet!”
- Fun Facts: As fate would have it, Jason started geocaching by accident! While out on a hike, he spotted a cache container in the wild and had to phone a friend who knew what it was. He’s been geocaching ever since as a trackable and geocoin enthusiast, and even a Geocache of the Week hider! When he’s not out on an adventure with his geocaching family, Jason is watching movies, whether it be a recent release or an old favorite.
- Why he volunteers: “Geocaching brings so many people together. Whether you only cache casually, while on vacation, or every day, we are all connected with this game/sport/hobby/addiction. Many of my friendships had their start through geocaching, even ones that I’ve never met in person through geocaching social media groups. The trackable community is amazing too! Even though we have a kindergartner now, I still have a lot of free time due to needing frequent infusions. This offers me the ability to help the community, and I love doing it!”
Tomorrow is Thank a Volunteer Day, and these are just a few of the many dedicated volunteers that we’re grateful for.
While we’d love to introduce you to all the hardworking volunteers out there, that might take a while! Stay tuned for more features where you might see your local volunteer, and check out our past volunteer features.
