You won’t find GOTW and GOTM in any “normal” dictionary, just like your won’t find TFTC or BYOP. But we geocachers speak our own language of adventure. GOTW and GOTM are what you need to stay on top of the latest hiding and finding trends and to see the adventurers who are shaping our growing geocaching community. GOTW and GOTM stand for “Geocache of the Week” and the “Geocacher of the Month.”
Every Thursday, Geocaching HQ selects a much-loved and creative geocache from the 2.2 million active geocaches hidden around the globe. It’s then featured on The Geocaching Blog. The Geocache of the Week is a great way to explore the world and discover new potential geocaching adventures. It’s also an inspirational resource for geocache makers to discover new ways to hide a clever geocache.
Once a month, the worldwide community also meets three amazing geocachers. They’re nominated by their friends or family to be the featured Geocacher of the Month. You help select the outstanding geocacher who receives the award. Each nominee walks away with worldwide recognition and a prize package from Geocaching HQ.
Now it’s your turn. To nominate an outstanding geocaching hide for Geocache of the Week, leave a comment on the latest Geocache of the Week blog post. Find details here on how to nominate the next Geocacher of the Month.
Click on the image to learn more about the Featured Geocacher of the Month
Editor’s Note: Gary, Geoaware, placed the very first EarthCache on this date in 2004. Today there are more than 17,000 EarthCaches around the globe from the peaks of mountains to the desert floor. This is Gary’s story of that first EarthCache.
Gary aka “Geoaware”
By Gary, Geoaware: Ten years ago I was a lucky guy in the right place at the right time. The Geological Society of America (GSA) had just employed me to work on education and outreach programs, a GSA member mentioned the new game of geocaching to my boss, and I was on holiday here with my kids looking at the rocks in Australia.
So that day we wandered around a rock platform that I had been on a thousand times before but now with a new purpose. How could I bring others here geocaching so they left learning something new about our amazing planet? Fossils, evidence for glaciers, weathering – so much in such a short walk. This was the perfect place. And so EarthCache I GCHFT2 was born—and so was the concept of an EarthCache: a place where the Earth was the treasure. A place where you would learn about the geology of the planet while you geocached. If you have not experienced an EarthCache, its time you tried. It’s a different experience – but who would ever not enjoy learning when it’s fun!
Since then we have gone through many changes, twists and turns – always in partnership with Geocaching.com and always edging forward so that we can add to the game of geocaching as well as teaching people about our Earth. We even now have a Mega-Event held each year just for EarthCachers (GC4JD1B).
What an amazing ten years the EarthCache program has had. Since the first EarthCache was placed, four million people have visited over 17,000 EarthCaches in 165 countries around the globe. It is a truly outstanding impact to get people outside, have fun and learn about our dynamic planet all at the same time. And all of that amazing credit goes to the whole community that visits, develops and loves EarthCaches and the wonderful group of community volunteers – the ‘geoawares’ that work with EarthCache developers to get the very best EarthCache submissions published.
EarthCache: Gullfoss (Golden Falls)
Finally, I can’t ignore the amazing support of The Geological Society of America, who sees this program as the jewel in its outreach to the wider community.
I hope you will all celebrate the amazing 10th year of EarthCaches by finding and logging an EarthCache or even joining the next 3rd International EarthCache Mega-Event!
The year is now 2014. You probably know that. If not, well, let us be the first to wish you a Happy New Year! And what’s a new year, without a few new goals? For 2014, we’ve collected 14 New Year’s resolutions for geocachers from the global geocaching community. Everyone’s resolution is different, but we bet there’s at least one for you. We hope this list inspires you to push yourself to explore more, see new locations, meet new people, and of course, find more geocaches.
1)
Host or attend a geocaching event
2)
Create a creative geocache that will earn (many) Favorite Points
3)
Find a minimum of 365 geocaches
4)
Have one day where you find 24 geocaches in 24 hours
5)
Solve the Puzzle Caches that stumped you in 2013
6)
Log DNF’s (Did Not Find)
7)
Add 5 more countries to the list of places where you’ve found geocaches
8)
Spend more time geocaching with family
9)
Forget about the numbers, just have fun geocaching
10)
Reach a milestone that ends in three zeroes (like 2,000)
11)
Fill your Difficulty and Terrain chart on your statistics profile
12)
Be the First to Find at least once
13)
Find a Terrain 5
14)
Discover a geocaching location that makes you say “wow” once a month
We’d love to hear what your goals for 2014 are. Share your resolution with the geocaching community in comments below.
The earned, never for sale, Geocacher of the Month geocoin (sun flare optional)
This blog post is perhaps the perfect way to wrap up an amazing year in the world of geocaching. We’re announcing the featured Geocacher of the Month for November. Each of the nominees is already a winner, with a prize package headed their way. The nearly 800 comments from supporters of the three nominees are a must-read for anyone feeling a little bit down, or who doubts the impact one person might have on their community. The comments are a testament to the giving nature of geocachers.
All the nominees contributed to their local communities and inspired the worldwide community. Each will receive special recognition for their contribution to the global adventure of geocaching. Before naming the Geocacher of the Month, Geocaching HQ reviews community input and blog comments. Each comment is read. This was one of the most difficult decisions for Geocacher of the Month in the history of the program.
A geocacher from an island with just 1,100 geocaches stood out. She’s found most of those geocaches on Puerto Rico and united a community to explore the world around them through geocaching, hosting Event Caches and leading by example.
Janizy has been named the 2013 November Geocacher of the Month. One geocacher who commented wrote, “Of all the events that have had the opportunity to participate, my favorite was the Geoweekend Camping in Adjuntas (GC4FPJC), organized by Janizy. She, along with her colleagues, saw to it that all who attended passed unforgettable moments. During that weekend I spent spectacular days. There was everything, varied activities for adult geocachers and for geocacher kids. They were days of doing interesting stuff and share what we like: Geocaching! My vote is for Janizy!”
Janizy – November 2013 Geocacher of the Month
Janizy will receive the earned, never for sale, collector’s edition Geocacher of the Month Geocoin, along with a Geocacher of the Month hat and a certificate acknowledging his contribution, signed by two of the founders of Geocaching.com.
Click on the image to unlock an EarthCaching video
Celebrate the 10th birthday for a geocache type that often takes you tens of millions of years into the Earth’s past. For a decade, EarthCaches have delivered adventurers to the tops of mountains, to strange and unusual rock formations and into the the steaming, bubbling processes that created the Earth—all without a geocache container. Instead, geocachers must use their geological detective skills to uncover the answers to specific questions about the location.
EarthCaching in 6 Bullet Points:
16,600 active EarthCaches worldwide (there’s probably one near you)
