(link to podcast)

[music]

0:00:16.2 Chris Ronan: Hey there and welcome to Inside Geocaching HQ. This is the podcast where we talk about what is happening at HQ in Seattle with the folks who work here. I am Chris Ronan. My geocaching username is Rock Chalk. Thank you for having a listen to our podcast. Today I am chatting with two of my fellow HQ lackeys, Bri and Gia, about favorite points. As you likely know, favorite points are a premium member feature. Premium members get one favorite point for every 10 caches that they find. But how does one decide to use those favorite points? And how do you work favorite points into your geocaching plans? Those are some questions that I have personally been asking myself a lot about lately during my geocaching journeys. And so I wanted to have a conversation with somebody about it. And that is how we arrived at this talk with Bri and Gia. Enjoy.

[music]

0:01:19.3 CR: Okay. So Gia and Bri are here and we are going to talk about favorite points. And before we get into that, I would love to. Neither one of you have been on the HQ podcast before and so we can first talk about what you do at HQ and how long you’ve been here and all kinds of.

0:01:36.8 CR: And since Bri has the seniority of everybody in the room. Well, we’ll start with you, Bri. What is your day to day? Your. Well, what’s your title and what’s your day to day like at HQ?

0:01:48.2 Bri Suffety: Sure. My title is Senior front end web Developer and I’m on the engineering team. Yeah, my day to day generally track our triage board. Cause I run that process and kind of I like to keep a pulse on like what’s coming in. We evaluate those twice a week.

0:02:05.1 CR: And a triage board is.

0:02:07.8 BS: A triage board is like anytime somebody in the company or like if you go to the website or the apps and you contact us, it goes to our CE team and they’ll kind of look at it and collect details and then they send us a ticket for the engineers to look at. We get tickets for both the web and for the mobile apps and then we kind of filter them to the two teams or the two departments respectively.

0:02:32.1 CR: And so an example of a ticket would be that I was using the app and something doesn’t work the way I wanted to or I expect it to, or the website similarly, something looks broken.

0:02:42.2 BS: Absolutely.

0:02:42.7 CR: Those are the kind of tickets we’re talking about.

0:02:44.6 BS: Yes. Like our work comes from two parts is like bug fixing or like improvements we want to make on the site that kind of come from around the company or the community that get prioritized and then we have product roadmap work. So those are the things that our product team decides like ahead of time.

0:03:00.9 CR: And you’ve been here for more than 10 years, right?

0:03:02.3 BS: Yeah. April will be 11.

0:03:04.2 CR: 11 years. Wow. Gia is also here and not quite as long as Bri at the company, but a number of years and a number of different roles. So let’s talk about that. What are you doing now at HQ?

0:03:17.4 Gia Rassier: My current role at HQ is marketing associate. So I’m on the marketing team. I work on the blog and the newsletter, engagement campaigns and yeah, just a bunch of random projects. So every day is a little bit different, which is what I like. My team gets to collaborate with a bunch of different teams to work on putting out things for the community.

0:03:41.5 CR: And before that you were on the business development team at HQ?

0:03:44.9 GR: Yeah, I started on business development, or biz dev is what we call it here. So prior to becoming a lackey, I had put together a GEO tour in Fargo Moorhead, and that’s how I met gear guru Jeff. He runs the GEO tour program. And I was always kind of like, if there’s ever something open at HQ, let me know. And that’s kind of how I got here.

0:04:06.5 CR: Yeah, so you’ve both been here for a number of years. And so this conversation that I wanted to have, I just wanted to somebody about favorite points. You know, I’m very selfish and I so wanted to have this conversation as I was recently traveling and going to a block party event. I was, it just occurred to me how often I think about favorite points as a player, how I use them and how I don’t use them. And I know it’s different for everybody. And so I was just curious to pull a couple of lackeys into a conversation and talk about how people use favorite points and maybe how it’s changed for you over time. And so, so this isn’t about a project or, you know, we’re not announcing a new feature. This is literally just lackey’s talking about favorite points. So favorite points at its most basic. You see how many favorite points a cache has. And for me as a player, when I first started, that was a really, really important number. Like that guided me quite a lot. Like if I saw a cache that had, where I lived, 50 favorite points, that to me meant it was a really, really great cache and I needed to get to it.

0:05:16.0 CR: And of course, as time has gone on and I’ve been playing the game longer, that number maybe has changed for me. But for each of you just at its most basic, what does a favorite point mean to you and how much, I guess, how much stock do you put into it when you’re getting ready to go cashing? Is it like a high thing on your list of what you’re looking for as you’re planning out your cache outings?

0:05:40.7 GR: I think a lot about favorite points. Actually, I tend to be running low on favorite points. I think I give them out maybe more than others. I’m very curious to hear how many favorite points available each of you has to give out.

0:05:55.3 BS: But yeah, I think that’s valid. Like everybody approaches it differently and I like, kind of admire that you give them out. I like partly when I looked at my favorite points this morning and kind of how many and then how many I’d earned over the course of my time playing. Like I’ve given out 75%. Which if you look at that, you’re like, well, that’s pretty good. But then if I’m like, I have saved 25% of the favorite points that I have earned. And like, I think I have a tendency just personally like across the board in my life if I view something as special. And I do view favorite points as like this special thing, like both. When I receive them on a cache I own, when I’m giving them out, it kind of feels like I’m giving like a little gift or a little like token of appreciation. But I know like at home, like I’ve been given like a really nice chocolate and like I’ve saved it ’cause I’m like, oh, like I want to savor this. And sometimes you wait so long to savor the thing that it goes bad. Like it’s gotten hot, it gets funny.

0:06:46.4 BS: You’re like, oh, I should just throw this out. It’s like two years past the expiration. How did I let this happen?

0:06:51.8 CR: Yeah, I don’t save chocolate for that long.

0:06:54.3 BS: Well, I don’t anymore. But I have like a couple things are like, yeah, my mom tends to. My mom’s a gift giver and she gives like real special things. And there’s, I’ve just, there’s been things that I’ve coveted or like the snack that I like brought back from a trip and I’m like, this is my last one. And then sometimes I just like wait too long and then I have to like toss it or I eat it and it’s sad. And so…

0:07:14.9 CR: Do you save frequent flyer miles? I’m just curious, is that something that you hoard those to. And then you realize I have too many of them.

0:07:23.0 BS: What’s your definition of hoarding?

0:07:24.5 CR: Well, just as you were talking there, I started thinking, I wonder if it’s similar to, like, I save. Like, I build up loyalty points at a restaurant that I like, and I’m like, I’m gonna use this on something big someday. And then one day I wake up and I’m like, I could, like, eat out for free for the next couple years because I’ve been saving so many points and why don’t I use them? I should be using them.

0:07:44.1 GR: Yeah. I. Yes and no. I have one travel credit card that, like. Yeah, I feel like I just saved the points. It’s usually like, every couple years, I’ll be like, oh, I should use it, and I’m gonna get a nice thing.

0:07:54.4 CR: You get something big with this someday. Yeah. And when’s it gonna happen?

0:07:57.2 GR: I’m like, great. That hotel we will use, like, yeah.

0:08:00.6 CR: So now we’re getting into a psychological discussion of how humans value points. And that could be really interesting, but we might also be here forever. But that probably goes in. There’s a psychological thing that goes into it, probably with favorite points, too, that’s similar to these other.

0:08:15.9 BS: Yeah. So.

0:08:16.2 CR: These other things. Because I even feel a little. I don’t feel this way with favorite points so much because. Yeah, I just don’t. But if talking about loyalty points, it’s kind of like when I do use them, it’s like, am I use. Is this something. Am I using this for the right reason? Maybe that’s some. Maybe it’s favorite points, too, to some degree. Like, okay, is this one. But I don’t know late. I think I was like that earlier in my geocaching. Whereas now I’ve gotten to where I’m pretty liberal with when I use them. They’re pretty freewheeling, like, and we can get into that later. Like, what makes something that’s favorite point worthy for us? But yeah.

0:08:53.0 BS: Yeah, I feel like I’ve. I mean, I feel like most things in life is like a cycle. Like, you’ll go through one and then you kind of re-evaluate. And I feel like I’ve treated favorite points as being kind of precious lately. When I first started, I think I gave them out more freely because I was also just new to the game and, like, amazed by everything. And like, in LPC, the first time I found one of those, it, like, blew my mind. I was like…

0:09:13.9 CR: Who thought about putting something in a light post. Oh, my Gosh.

0:09:17.3 BS: Yeah. Except I didn’t like, how loud. Like, when they screech, it makes me. I get, like, real real nervous in that kind of situation.

0:09:24.5 CR: Everybody in the parking lot looks at you.

0:09:26.0 BS: Like, I swear it’s okay. But then I think I hit a point as I, like, found more. I’m like, oh, but I’ve seen so many things. So, like, do I want to save it for, like, the really, like, the top? But, yeah, then I got into this period where I’m like, well, I just. I now have close to 100 favorite points that I could give out. And, like, they’re not doing me any good. Just, like, sitting there accumulating. Like, I should be dispersing them. So I feel like in the I cache on a more casual basis, I feel like it’s, like, a regular part of my life, but it’s not like, every weekend out there that. But I kind of want to get into a period where I’m, like, giving them out a little bit more freely than I have been the past couple years.

0:10:02.6 CR: So, Gia, are you as precious as Bri is with your favorite points?

0:10:06.3 GR: No, I would. I hoard airline miles. I do not hoard favorite points.

0:10:10.7 CR: Okay.

0:10:11.2 GR: I tend to run low on favorite points, so I am excited for this conversation.

0:10:16.7 CR: So let’s get into what makes something favorite point worthy to you. So you are saying, Gia, that you are running low usually. So what is a guaranteed favorite point for you? I guess let’s start with guarantee, and then we’ll work down from there.

0:10:33.3 GR: Guaranteed favorite point. Gosh. I mean, a really cool creative cache in an interesting location. I mean, on a very high level, we’ll do it. But I’ve also, like, over the years, given favorite points to things that are, like, not something that other people have favorited. Like, I favorited a park and grab LPC once, because I was the first time I met another Geocacher in the wild, and it was, like, super exciting and, like, something memorable.

0:11:05.7 CR: Yeah. So you’re, like, giving a favorite to the memory.

0:11:07.9 GR: Yeah, And I like to. When I look back at caches that I favorited, a lot of times I’ll remember, like, oh, yeah, that was, like, you know, I ran into someone on the trail there, or, like, I saw an otter while I was going to that paddle cache. And so it’s like, kind of like a journal in a way of, like, looking back at cool caches that I found.

0:11:30.3 CR: Which is kind of a little bit frustrating for me sometimes, because I will look at this list of, I think well over a thousand favorite caches for me, and I’m like, God, what was it about that one? There was something obviously about it was cool enough for me to give it a favorite point. But because I didn’t make a note, just the cache name doesn’t always do it for me, which I wish it did, because a lot of times it was those kinds of experiences that, that, yeah, the cache was cool maybe too, but it may have been an outside thing that influenced me, and I wish I remembered what it was.

0:12:06.9 GR: Yeah, I think I’ll try to. When I’m writing the log and I’m giving a favorite point, I’ll write like adding a favorite point here because this was super creative or like, because I saw an owl or ran into someone on the trail. So kind of helps me keep track of what I have favorited and why.

0:12:27.0 CR: As I was on this trip recently, I realized that an ammo can is enough almost because I’m so. Especially if I get into a thing where I’m finding a lot of smaller, basic light post caches. For instance, a pill bottle here or, you know, a little bison tube if I’m finding a lot of them. Like, I just want to find something bigger. And so if I find a big ammo can, it’s like, all right, that’s good enough. So I’m kind of wondering if I’ve reached that point now where ammo can is enough. And that’s what I’m kind of talking about. Like, what is a guarantee? And then what are some of the other factors that go into it for you?

0:13:06.8 GR: Interesting. I think that we should make stickers that say ammo can is enough or something that feels like an opportunity. I think I’m kind of with you with the ammo can. Like, there’s something so satisfying, especially like when you’re on a hike or something, just finding the kind of classic ammo can in the woods. Like, I love that.

0:13:28.4 CR: Right.

0:13:28.8 GR: Favorite point.

0:13:29.7 CR: Any cache is great, and I appreciate that somebody put it out there, but sometimes I’ll be on that walk in the woods and I’ll see a pill bottle just out in the middle of nowhere. I’m like, why couldn’t this have been a lock and lock or an ammo can or whatever? But when somebody does take the time to haul that ammo can up the mountain or up into the forest, I’m like, yep, okay, that’ll work. And I kind of had that experience on this trip that I was on recently where, especially if I see one, if I see a bigger cache in kind of an unexpected location, like where I would have thought, oh, it would have been really easy to put something smaller here and. But somebody made an effort to put something bigger. So I have two thoughts. Number one, I hope this lasts here and that it doesn’t get muggled. And number two, favorite point, because I appreciate that you made that extra effort to do something that was just a little bit more. So, Bri, for you, what are some of the factors that go into it? I’ve already said ammo can.

0:14:29.2 CR: Is maybe. And we’ve got a T shirt in the works now. So for you, are there are there certain things that if it meets a criteria or checks a box, that it’s going to elevate it and make it more likely to be a favorite points for you?

0:14:41.3 BS: Yeah, I mean, I, I love a good gadget cache. Like, I’m just such a sucker especially there’s so much time and work that goes into a lot of them. And I just like what people can come up with and also make it so it like, can exist out there. Right? Like it’s weatherproof. There’s so many factors that go in, so those are almost always a guarantee. I also love a good, like, viewpoint. I’m big in hiking and, you know, there’s that’s also I’ll use these them to kind of like mark a memory. Like if you do a backpacking trip and there’s like the one cache at the top of the ridge line before you get into a valley or something like that. So that’s probably gonna to earn one from me. Otherwise, just like, small surprise and delight moments. Like, I am a big fan of the little. Like when they have the critters with like the bison tube stuck into them, those kind of caches that you’ve seen or like if they’ve got them like glued or just something really like, creative and unique about the. Like, maybe they’ve glued stuff into the side of the lock and lock.

0:15:40.5 BS: And it’s just like that moment of like, oh, I wasn’t expecting this. And it brought me delight. And so I love those little moments.

0:15:47.6 CR: Something I’ve experienced and I think maybe you guys have too, since you travel quite a bit as well, is that favorite points tend to be used differently depending on where you are. And the first time I went to Germany, I was just like, oh my gosh, look at all of these favorite points. I mean some caches have hundreds of favorite points. And how am I going to get to all of these caches? They’re just, they look so. And then when I was actually there, what I realized was that not that these weren’t great caches, but a 500 favorite point cache where I’m from in the state of Kansas is a whole different thing maybe not always, but maybe than a 500 point cache in a place like Germany where there are so many 500 point caches or 500 favorite points caches. So for you all, is that something you’ve noticed, Bri, as you’ve been in the game now for 11 or more than 11 years, that it’s something that varies when, when you go from place to place and maybe your, your mind has to get used to that when you’re in other locations.

0:16:48.1 BS: I would say yes. Like, I think every place has its own kind of flavors, whether that be like the cache containers or how people like what cache types are like favored. I feel like around Seattle we have a ton of traditionals and I don’t know if that’s like I’ve noticed sometimes when I travel like there’ll be places with more mysteries than like I’m used to or things. So yeah, I definitely think it varies how people decide. It’s like a cultural thing and like what you learn from those around you. So if your community is playing differently and you’re new to the game, then you’re generally gonna kind of like take note of how others are like distributing favorite points. Another thing I’ve noticed is like, if it’s one of the old ones, doesn’t matter what it is. That’s usually, that’s actually sometimes how I realize if I haven’t thought to pre-plan for a trip is that I’ll be like, oh, why does this have so many favorite points? And sometimes you’re just it’s because of the year. And I think that’s also kind of a cool thing. Even if it’s not like a gadget cache, you know, something like flashy like that.

0:17:44.2 BS: It is something that people have put years, decades of time and energy in and I think that’s also like pretty cool and special.

0:17:52.8 GR: Yeah, I was thinking about right after we released the highly favorited on mobile with the little hearts so you can see like in an area. And I was attending the KGB mega in Belgium and it was so interesting because there are caches over there, super creative, amazing caches that have like a thousand favorite points. And then like you go to a cache, like, really close to it, and it has 300 favorite points, but it doesn’t show up, like with the algorithm for favorite points. So it’s like just kind of one of those wild, like, wow, this cache has 350 favorite points. But, like, there are so many other caches with more favorite points like that. It doesn’t get the little hearts, which is something that I look at when I’m traveling too, to kind of like, oh, wow, this, this one wasn’t on my radar, but it has a ton of favorite points, so I’m going to add it to my list.

0:18:49.0 CR: And I’ll bet you use favorite point percentage too, don’t you?

0:18:52.8 GR: Yes, I like to look at that. Check out. When you see a cache that has 60, 70, 80% favorited, it’s like, okay, this is worth checking out.

0:19:04.7 CR: Yeah. And that’s definitely an indicator that. Well, you can use it on the website or you can go to Project GC and see more of a list. But that often is something where, if you see if I see something that’s 80, 90%, like, okay, that’s I’ve got to be there for that one. Yeah.

0:19:23.8 GR: Definitely.

0:19:25.6 CR: So as I’m curious then, as you have both owned geocaches, let’s talk about the importance of a favorite points to a cache owner. Because I feel like for myself, if I think I’ve constructed a really creative cache and right off the bat, maybe the first three or four people give it favorite points, and I’m like, oh, my gosh, this is so great. And then somebody doesn’t. And I’m like, well, what was wrong? What was wrong? Well, why wouldn’t you give me a favorite point? Is it just me or do other people think that way, Gia?

0:19:57.6 GR: No, I definitely do that too. Back when I lived in the Midwest and put together a GEO tour, I had on my account created in collaboration with friends some really amazing creative caches. Like one that you could go inside. Like it was an ammo can. Looked like an ammo can, but also a small building. So, like, very cool. And when people wouldn’t favorite that, I would be like, what more do you want?

0:20:26.1 CR: Yeah. And yeah, I’ve had the same feeling. And I’ve also. So I was thinking about your caches for a second as you were just talking, because I know I have not given Gia a favorite points before.

0:20:35.9 S?: What?

0:20:36.7 CR: I know, right? And part of the reason I remember I was doing a grouping, I was. You had a number of caches kind of close to each other. And I was like, wow. Yes, yes, yes. And then maybe there was one that was still good, but it was like. And I’m not just. This isn’t just about you. I’ve had this happen other plate. Like, I’ve been on gadget cache trails before where I’m like, oh, my gosh, this one’s great. This one’s great. And then I get to one that’s like, quote, unquote, normal. Just like a good normal cache. But now I feel like I’m rating it along with these other ones. And maybe if that would have been the only one I found that day, it would have gotten a favorite points. But because I found it with all these other ones that were a little more elevated, I’m somehow giving it less of a. Which isn’t fair to you or to the other cache owners.

0:21:24.2 CR: But it’s like just. Again, we’re getting into psychology. Maybe, but do you run into that when you are out?

0:21:29.9 GR: Totally. I actually have had this conversation recently with people that have traveled to Gilby, North Dakota.

0:21:36.0 CR: Yes. Yeah, we better talk about Gilby.

0:21:37.6 GR: Yeah, we gotta talk about Gilby. I’m the hype girl.

0:21:40.3 CR: I don’t know that Gia has a conversation that doesn’t. No, you just be having breakfast with her in the kitchen. And have you thought about Gilby today?

0:21:48.1 GR: It is very relevant for this conversation.

0:21:50.7 CR: It really is. Yes, it is.

0:21:52.1 GR: ‘Cause there are just so many creative caches there, and I think people often run out of favorite points to give them or they run into this, like. Well, it wasn’t quite as amazing as this last one that I just found. And so I better save this favorite point because there’s 20 more that I need to do today. And it is interesting, I think, as a cache owner, because it’s like, if it was just one really cool cache in the midst of, like, a bunch of park and grabs or kind of average caches, it would probably be, like, very highly favorited. But when it’s in a sea of other, like, quality caches, you don’t see the numbers go up.

0:22:33.3 CR: Bri, as a cache owner, when you put things out, is it in your mind that you’re hoping something will get favorite points, or is that more of a secondary.

0:22:42.1 BS: Oh, no, it totally is in my mind. I’m somebody I love praise for, for better or for worse. And, like, favorite points feel like a form of praise. And so it’s especially like when I first put out a cache. I think I play a lot. I pay attention a lot. More closely. Like, do you like it today? Like, I’m kind of. I think it’s also this level of vulnerability. Sometimes you’re like this, like, I. If you put, like, effort into it, it’s one thing. If you’re like, oh, I’m just going to place it here. If you’re like, oh, I picked the spot. I, like, went and spent a lot of time trying to figure out where would be the best location. And I, like, kind of fabricated the container a little bit. Or like, I picked this viewpoint. And yeah, if it’s. If it’s getting favorite point, you’re like, yay. Like, you. You see what I saw or you, like, you see what I did there?

0:23:26.5 CR: Validation. Yeah.

0:23:27.5 BS: Yeah, the validation. And yeah. Then if you don’t get a favorite point, you’re kind of like, but. But why? Like, what about it?

0:23:33.8 CR: Or, like, don’t you like me?

0:23:35.6 BS: Yeah, come on. And then I kind of have to, like. I think it’s usually like, the first week or two, and then I try to, like, detach a little bit because that’s a lot of, I think, emotional energy to constantly, like, hang on to other people’s like. Like to give them that kind of power. But, yeah, it feels good. I love a favorite point. And if I’m not, it’s not hitting the mark, I get kind of like, but why? Like, what. Like, what didn’t I do? What could I have done better? Like, what. As you said, like, what more. What more did you want?

0:24:05.0 CR: And there’s just as many reasons why people would not give a favorite points. It’s some of the stuff we’ve already talked about. I’ve had people tell me that they don’t give any favorite points because they feel very strongly that that word favorite is applies to one cache. I mean, that’s. I’m not going to give it a favorite point if it’s not my favorite cache. So, you know, there’s people that are maybe literalist in that way. And, hey, you know, it’s your favorite points to do what you want to do with them. But, yeah, I think that. But I’m the same way that if I put something together and I really put time into it, and I think, okay, this one is gonna. People are gonna go wild with their favorite points on this one. The first person that doesn’t, or the next Mike, or let me tell you, talk about pet peeves with favorite points. When somebody says they’re gonna give you one in the log, and then they don’t do it.

0:24:55.9 BS: Yes. Yeah, there’s like a small part of me.

0:24:58.0 CR: Like, I should email them and be like, did you forget something?

0:25:02.2 BS: Absolutely. Or, like, hope you run it. If they’re, like, local at an event, you’re like, oh, hey, sew that one time.

0:25:09.0 CR: Right? Or. Or they’ll say, sometimes she’ll see, I don’t have any favorite points now, but I’ll come back. And no, they almost never come back because people forget.

0:25:19.5 BS: Yeah.

0:25:20.1 CR: But again, I’m just. I’m just kind of going off now on my pet peeves.

0:25:24.1 GR: But I have gotten into several, I wouldn’t say arguments, but I wouldn’t. Yeah, not arguments.

0:25:31.5 CR: What would you say they were Gia.

0:25:33.6 GR: Discussions when people say that they don’t use favorite points at all, like, they just never give a favorite point. And I don’t like the mentality of, like, that being a point of pride, because I think that favorite points are intended to be given out. And so, like, why not give them out? Like, there’s no benefit to sitting on favorite points. But everyone plays the game differently. So that’s why it wasn’t an argument. It was just a conversation of seeking to understand the mentality of never giving them out.

0:26:07.3 GR: I think another thing with favorite points, because you get a favorite point for every 10 caches that you find. I’ve kind of the way that I think about it is, like, I favorite at least 1 in every 10 caches. Not that I keep track, but, like, I’m aware of how often I get favorite points. And so I kind of think of it like that instead of like, this is my most favorite cache that I’ve ever found. And so I will give it one favorite point.

0:26:37.1 CR: I should think about it more in those terms. I think that sometimes they do kind of build up without me necessarily thinking about it. And not because I’m trying to let them build up, but also I should be thinking, maybe, okay, I found X number. Maybe it’s time to be a little more generous with them.

0:26:55.0 GR: And I. Yeah, I guess it’s not like I’m like, okay, it’s time to give a favorite point, so whatever cache I find next gets one. But sometimes I will. Like, if I’m finding a bunch of caches in one day, I know that I’m kind of accruing favorite points. And then I’ll be ready when I go to an area where there are a bunch of highly favorited caches that I will likely give favorite points to.

0:27:17.0 CR: Will the presence or lack thereof of favorite points on your owned caches impact whether that cache stays around or not, whether you’ll think about archiving it, or does that matter to you? Like, I, Like, I’m just. I’ve had it happen before where a cache that I owned that had the most favorite points that I had, I was almost reticent to think about archiving it, even though maybe it had run its course and eventually I did archive it. But the favorite points aspect of it made me a little more wanting to hold on to it.

0:27:50.9 GR: Yeah, that. I totally felt like that when I archived the Fargo Geo tour, because those were highly favorited caches, and I know that some people will go back and remove the favorite point once the cache has been archived. And I use the Project GC thing. So I get an email notification saying that the favorite point has been removed. Which, as a player, I totally understand why, like, you want that favorite point back, you want to give it to something else, but as a cache owner, it’s like. Oh, like a little bit of a zing.

0:28:25.0 CR: Right? Yeah, no, that’s I’ve personally not taken favorite points back, but I understand the reasoning for some people that do it that they want to bring attention to something that is active and waiting to be found. And if a cache has been archived, it isn’t that anymore. But, yeah, I’m the same way as a cache owner that it’s a little bit, a little frustrating.

0:28:45.4 BS: Yeah. Before you even mentioned that, that popped into my head because I remember a couple years ago or sometime within the past few years, we did a promotion or like a one of the summer challenges kind of things, where one of the ways you could earn points on the leaderboard was to give out favorite points. And there were people who didn’t have favorite points who then started to remove them from other caches so they could give them out. And I think that was my pet peeve. To me at least the way that I interact with favorite points is like currency to me. And if I spent it, I spent it. Like, if I gave it to a cache, like, there’s no way I’m gonna take it back. So that’s not fair to the cache owner, even if it’s been archived, because in the moment, like, when I found it, it was great and I, like, decided to give it a favorite point. I don’t like, personally feel warm and fuzzy feelings about going and like, taking that away again, because it’s still on their account. They can still see it, like, and that just Kind of feels.

0:29:39.7 BS: Yeah, that’s I think that’s probably my pet peeve. Everybody can play the way that they want to play, but I don’t love it when people do that personally.

0:29:47.7 CR: Right. Well, before we wrap up, we’ve kind of talked about what you all do at HQ. We’ve talked about favorite points, but as we move into the hopefully warmer months are coming and we’ll be out geocaching. Maybe you can ask each of you to share a little bit about what kind of geocaches you enjoy the most. What kind of stuff are you hoping to do this year from a geocaching perspective? If you’ve given that much thought, Bri, for you.

0:30:13.2 BS: Yeah. Well, in like, two months now, I get to go to Switzerland for the meeting with friends block party, and I’m super psyched. Last time I was in Switzerland, I mean, I was there for, like, max 48 hours, and it was before I was geocaching. And so I’m really excited to get another country souvenir and to kind of experience, like, Switzerland from that perspective, from, like, a cacher’s perspective. So that’s kind of the big thing on my radar. Also hoping to go to another, like, mega event or block party or two this year as timing allows, because I think, like, those are fun for me. I like to interact with the community, and I have friends that, like, that’s the one time out of the year. The couple times out of the years, we’re like, okay, pick a mega. Like, I will see you there. And otherwise, I think just. I want to get.

0:31:01.4 BS: I love hiking last year just had a very busy, like, personal kind of series of events. And so I really want to hit the hiking trails this year and find some caches out there in the woods.

0:31:14.3 CR: You have a virtual cache that’s hiking.

0:31:16.8 BS: Yes, Yes, I do. I actually. I knew when I got the virtual reward that I wanted to do something out of viewpoint because, like, especially, like, if I pick Seattle, like, there’s a lot of virtuals around Seattle and there’s some cool things and I. But just, like, loving nature and also there being points where, like, like, this is so cool. But you can’t place the physical cache here either because, like, I don’t have a car. And so I’m always kind of dependent on somebody else. So I don’t want it to become somebody else’s problem if I’m like, hey, I need to go, like, you know, do maintenance on this cache on a trail or whatnot. And so I was kind of between two locations. One I would have had was in, like, a wilderness area, and so I’d have had to get permission. And then I worried about. It was definitely not that either of the two options were, like, fully accessible, but the other location I was looking at was definitely, like, a harder, like, more intense hike. And I figured that would cut out, like, a number of people. And so I decided to go with something that was a little closer to town, a little easier.

0:32:19.6 BS: So it’s just. It’s a newer trail with, like, a nice little viewpoint that you can get up there. And I think it took us, like, 45 minutes up, and I don’t we meandered down, and there’s other caches in the area, so. Yeah.

0:32:32.3 CR: Yeah. It’s been staring at me for a while on the map. And will I give it a favorite points? That’s the.

0:32:38.9 BS: I don’t know. Will you?

0:32:41.5 CR: Either way, I’ll have to face you in the office.

0:32:43.5 BS: That is true. I know where you sit.

0:32:46.4 CR: You do know where I sit. All right. So, Gia, what about you? What’s. What’s. What’s 2025 looking like?

0:32:51.0 GR: I guess I also need to find Bri’s virtual. I love.

0:32:54.9 CR: Will you give it a favorite?

0:32:57.2 GR: No idea. Maybe? Just kidding, probably. Yeah. I am planning to attend a block party in Norway this year, which is kind of by Sweden, and I need to get match dash for my Jasmer, so that is on my my radar. Other than that just yeah attending events. I really like paddle caches, so I’m looking forward to it kind of warming up here and yeah, being able to spend more time outside.

0:33:28.0 CR: I actually am thinking about going out this weekend on my kayak because the weather looks, you know, in Seattle, you’re like you see sun on the forecast map, and you’re like, oh, my gosh, it’s going to be sunny on Saturday. Oh, my God. And not for freezing. I think maybe I’ll finally. So, yeah, I’ve actually maybe go out and find and get. I haven’t had the kayak out in a long time, so. Yeah, well, a lot of fun stuff sounds like it’s being planned and hopefully a lot of favorite points to give and appreciate y’all talking about it.

0:34:00.4 GR: Definitely. Thanks for having us.

0:34:01.9 BS: Yeah, thanks for having us.

[music]

0:34:09.8 CR: If you would like to learn more about favorite points, there is a lot of information in the geocaching help center, and if I see you out and about, please share with me your own philosophy on favorite points. As always, if you have an idea for our podcast, you can send us an email. The address is podcast@geocaching.com and until next time for me and Bri and Gia and all the lackeys at HQ, Happy Caching.