For the past few years, we’ve caught up with Marcellus Cadd (atreides) of Geocaching While Black to hear where geocaching has taken him lately, and this year, there’s a lot to talk about.

We talked with him about his latest travels, balancing community service with caching for yourself, Treasure collecting, the enduring appeal of Traditional Caches, and what he wishes he could tell his 2018 geocaching self.

Geocaching HQ: This is our sixth annual interview together! What have you been up to in the geocaching world since we last caught up? Any memorable adventures, milestones, or projects you’d like to share?

I’ve done quite a bit over the last year. I just got back from a trip to the Manitoba border by way of Nebraska, the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Iowa! At the end of last year, I took a trip through the Deep South, starting in Atlanta, driving back to Texas through Birmingham and Jackson!

Of course, while I was in the Atlanta area, I picked up Lake Lanier, making it possible for me to finally complete Jasmer this year! And then, of course, I and my great team successfully put on the 24th Annual Texas Challenge in Taylor, TX! It has been quite the year for me!

Geocaching HQ: Last year, you were busy helping organize the 24th Annual Texas Challenge & Geocaching Festival (GCB4F75) as the Central Texas Representative. Are you organizing any events this year, and what do you enjoy most about bringing the geocaching community together?

This year I’m taking it easy. There’s nothing wrong with setting that burden down for a little while.

While it’s important to give to the community, not just because it helps it sustain and grow things or because the local community has given to us in the form of events, friendships, Megas, and in other ways; sometimes it’s good to step away and take time caching just for yourself.

While I have a few personal events that I will be hosting because they’ve become annual things, I’m not doing as much service this year. That said, I plan on taking part in this year’s CITO Across Texas. This will be the third year that the TXGA has put it on, so the least I can do is host one locally.

Geocaching HQ: A few years ago, you told us that the Earthquakes in Istanbul EarthCache was one of your dream caches to visit. Is it still at the top of your bucket list, or have any other must-find geocaches joined the list?

It still is. I’ve wanted to visit the Hagia Sophia for a very long time, and I might as well pick up an EarthCache while I’m there, right?

That said, my must-find list has expanded a bit. Now that I’ve completed Jasmer, I’m thinking about doing it for a second time. Consequently, Potters Pond is on my mind more these days.

The last cache I needed for Jasmer was a November 2000, so it got me thinking about other November 2000 caches and, as fate would have it, the oldest caches in Indiana, New Jersey, and Minnesota all have that date, so I guess they’re all on my list now!

Geocaching HQ: One of your long-term goals has been finding a geocache in every U.S. county. How is that challenge coming along, and has anything surprised you during the journey?

It’s going along nicely. Not as quickly as I would like it to, of course, but I’m pretty far beyond where I ever conceived I would get to!

Thus far, out of 3,144 counties and county equivalents (and if you don’t know about county equivalents, it’s an interesting subject), I’ve officially cached in 961. I’ve got caches in four more counties that I don’t claim, though (two in Arizona, one each in Vermont and Rhode Island) because I haven’t been to their county courthouses yet. I’ll get to them, though. Just give me time!

The most surprising thing about my travels thus far has been my travels in the western US. You hear all the time about the wide open spaces out there, but until you’ve experienced them you don’t really know.

I got my first taste of it in West Texas and New Mexico, but it didn’t truly sink in until I was driving in Wyoming, Utah, and Arizona. In most of Texas, Arizona, Louisiana, and points east, I drive for thirty minutes to an hour, and I’m at a new courthouse in a new county (or equivalent), ready to find a new cache if I hadn’t already.

When I was driving in Wyoming, though, I could drive for two to three hours just to get to my next county over. I’ve got sixteen counties left to visit in Wyoming, and I project it’ll take almost the same amount of time and travel as the fifty-five I’ve got left in Nebraska!

Geocaching HQ: Treasures and souvenirs have become a fun way to celebrate milestones and inspire new adventures. What role do they play in your own geocaching experience, and do you have a strategy for tackling the new Bingo 2026 Treasure Collection?

Treasures don’t motivate me the same way they do some people because I have a very specific goal I’m trying to accomplish, and that goal provides a lot of my motivation. However, I am a bit of a completionist. When I see that shelf of Treasures waiting and incomplete, I can’t resist the urge to finish it up!

I actually finished a collection on my trip north; I completed Origami Animals, which had been sitting for a while because I’d long since gotten all the small caches with four or more Favorite points around Austin. Whenever a new collection begins, I just keep caching, thinking that I’ll eventually pick them up as I go along. Over time, however, those remaining Treasures become an itch in the back of my head, and I have to go out and get them done!

The new Bingo collection will be a little different because it’s time-limited. Therefore, I think I will probably gather together a group of friends and hit a power trail or a geoart. If time is an issue, I guess I’ll just have to confront the collection head on!

Geocaching HQ: Traditional Caches have been your favorite cache type. Is that still true today? What keeps you coming back to them, or if your favorite has changed, what inspired the shift?

Traditional Cachesare still my favorite! I appreciate Mystery Caches and Multi-Caches, but I have rarely seen one that is as creative as a well-done Traditional.

Besides, the Traditional is still the backbone of this hobby. Without the humble Traditional, it all falls apart, no?

There is still nothing as seductive to me as pitting the Mark I Brain and the Mark I Eyeball against the environment and revealing the treasure (not to be confused with Treasure) that lies hidden. Even after all these years, it’s still a bit of a rush.

Geocaching HQ: If you could give your 2018 geocaching self one piece of advice, what would it be?

If I could tell 2018 me something, it would probably be “Turn back now! This way lies madness!”

But seriously, I would tell myself to spend more time planning and then stick to the plan. I probably could have finished Texas months earlier if I had invested more time in planning than I did back then. And if I had started planning more exhaustively, I could have avoided a few bad outcomes such as the Debacle of Arizona.

Further, after making a plan, I needed to stick to it better. If that was more deeply ingrained, I could have avoided a couple of missteps on my trip north and, again, the Debacle of Arizona. I think I would be quite a bit farther along with my goals if I let 2018 me know that.

Geocaching HQ: Looking ahead to next year, what geocaching goal, adventure, or accomplishment are you hoping to reach?

I have two goals in mind to complete in 2026. The first is to reach a thousand counties. Assuming no huge complications happen in real life, I expect to hit that goal.

The second (somewhat related to the first) is that I am in the very preliminary stages of a trip to place the Virtual Cache I was given by HQ in February. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what I wanted to do with it, and now that I’ve decided, I need to go get coordinates and walk certain sections so I can figure out exactly how to finish it.

And while I won’t say what I’m planning, I will say that I expect to get a good handful of new counties while I’m out there!

As for the top half of 2027, I expect to focus on two states in particular, [REDACTED] and [REDACTED]. I have pretty good reasons to focus on them and get them done. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to focus on either of them in 2026, so they’re my goals for 2027.

And, of course, I will need to attend the 25th Annual Texas Challenge in San Angelo! I hope to see you all there!

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From completing the Jasmer Challenge to nearing 1,000 counties, Marcellus continues to find new geocaching goals. A finished challenge can become the beginning of a second attempt, a long drive can reveal just how big the country really is, and even after years of finds, a cleverly hidden Traditional can still deliver that familiar rush.

We’ll have to wait and see where his mysterious new Virtual Cache takes him and which two states are calling his name next.

Until then, there are still counties to visit, Treasures to collect, and, somewhere in Istanbul, an EarthCache waiting to be found.

What’s a geocaching goal are you working toward? Share it in the comments!