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 also active players, a large portion of the community hasn’t yet had the chance to meet them.

Here’s a brief introduction to volunteers you might have seen in your community!

1. Gregor – Cenarius

• Location: Slovenia
• Reviewer since: 2018
• Behind the username: “Cenarius is Lord of the Forest and patron of many druids in World of Warcraft franchise, which I used to play back in 2000 and I’m still fan of it. Since my favorite hikes (and geocaching) are in forests and mountains, name like that is more or less obvious.”
• Fun Fact: When he’s not reviewing, Gregor is still geocaching—he’s even an active member of the Slovenian Geocaching Club! In the rare times when he’s not geocaching, he brews homemade beer and makes his own chili sauces.
• Why he volunteers: “To be honest, I never thought about being a reviewer… From the beginning, I didn’t even know what I was getting myself into, but I accepted the job not just because I love this game but also because I think that Slovenian cachers deserve a reviewer who understands local language and customs. My communicative nature and my love to help others is just an added value to this role. And I still enjoy in this role and hobby.”

2. Joy – Melos (Geocaching Taiwan)

• Location: Taiwan
• Reviewer since: 2021
• Behind the username: “The username ‘Melos’ is from a book called ‘Run, Melos!’ written by Dazai Osamu, who is also one of my favorite authors. This is a story about waiting and being waited for. As a cache owner, we have all experienced the anxiety of waiting – waiting for the listing to be published, waiting for the cache to be found. But when I put myself in the reviewer’s shoes, knowing that there are geocachers waiting for me to publish their caches might also evoke a little bit of anxiety, but it also brings a sense of anticipation.”
• Fun Fact: Joy is an avid collector of trackables and is a book lover. She has participated in Postcrossing longer than she has geocached; as she puts it, it allows her to “capture pieces of different countries by collecting postcards and stamps. [She] still send[s] postcards to [herself] when geocaching abroad; now, the postcards capture [her] memories of exploring the world.”
• Why she volunteers: “Why not? Geocaching has taken me to many amazing spots. I enjoy solving puzzles and learning new things, and geocaching has provided me with numerous wonderful experiences. It’s my pleasure to help others learn more about the guidelines and assist them in getting to know geocaching more.”

3. Manuela and Peter – Thomson und Thompson

• Location: Germany—Baden-Württemberg and Nordrhein-Westfalen
• Reviewers since: 2012
• Behind the username: “We both grew up with the Tintin stories by the Belgian comic artist Hergé. Our first (failed) attempts at geocaching reminded us strongly of the two clumsy detectives from these comics and the name for our player account quickly became clear. We then used the English version of the name for our reviewer account to keep it simple.”
• Fun Fact: Besides being a reviewer duo, Manuela and Peter’s introduction to geocaching is unique: “We have a passion for lighthouses and this has led us to geocaching. In 2005, Google Earth was a relatively new tool and the creation of KML files for certain topics was a challenge, but we still wanted to enter the positions of the German lighthouses there. However, as we were missing some coordinates, we searched the Internet and came across an Excel file that contained the positions of some lighthouses, but mainly listed places with unusual names.This aroused our curiosity. As it turned out, we had found a directory of all German geocaches and a new hobby.”
• Why they volunteer: “We have been active as volunteers in various areas since we were young because we generally enjoy working with others to achieve something that is important to us. Geocaching has been an integral part of our lives for a long time. Even after many years, it still takes us to unknown and sometimes fantastic places and we enjoy meeting like-minded people. Many friendships have developed across national borders. So it’s kind of logical for us to support this great hobby with our work.”

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.