This blog post was written by geocaching veteran, Geocaching HQ employee and purple enthusiast, MissJenn.
Are you one of the people who recently received a souvenir for completing the HQ GeoTour? Congratulations! We hope you enjoyed the surprise. Do you have questions? We have answers.
First things first:
Souvenirs are virtual pieces of art displayed on your public profile. GeoTours combine geocaching and travel to uplevel your vacations. With this latest update, we’ve combined them for a WIN-WIN-WIN combination!
On May 8, 2018 Geocaching HQ is testing the process of awarding a digital souvenir for the completion of a GeoTour. Before we roll this out globally, we are testing it locally. Our own HQ GeoTour in Seattle, Washington, gives us the critical mass needed within just one small GeoTour composed of nine caches.
GeoTours are official collections of geocaches that serve as self-guided, themed tours around historic sites, parks, cities, and more. They are often sponsored by local tourism boards, historical associations, or national park systems. Local experts pick out the best places to visit. Players using the official GeocachingⓇ app while on location enjoy the dedicated section that makes GeoTour completion easy to track (see image above).
How did I qualify for the HQ GeoTour souvenir?
You found all the caches on the HQ GeoTour at some point in the past. Woohoo!
Do I get to keep the HQ GeoTour souvenir?
Yes! You’ve worked hard to earn it so it’s yours to keep.
One of the caches on the GeoTour was disabled when I was there. Do I still get the souvenir?
Sorry, but no. You have not completed the GeoTour. You’ll have to try the cache when it can be found again. We understand that a return trip to Seattle may be very difficult.
Do you plan to expand souvenirs to other GeoTours?
Our goal is to offer a souvenir for the completion of every GeoTour. The results of this test will determine how attainable that goal is. Our fingers are crossed for good luck. Are your fingers crossed, too?
How would I qualify for future GeoTour souvenirs if they were to become available?
Find all active caches on a GeoTour to earn their unique souvenir. Archived caches would not be part of the requirement. However, temporarily disabled caches are active cache listings, so you would need to find them once they are available.
What is the “acquired on” date?
The “acquired on” date is when you receive any digital souvenir. Although you completed the HQ GeoTour sometime between 2013 and May 8, 2018, the “acquired on” date will display as May 8, 2018 and cannot be adjusted. If we keep this test feature, the “acquired on” date will be the actual date that you completed the GeoTour.
What about the numbers?
The total number of caches on a GeoTour may increase or decrease over time. Your friend who completes the GeoTour at a different time than you may earn the same souvenir by finding a different number of caches. You’d both get the same completion souvenir.
What about the physical prizes?
Some GeoTours offer geocoins and/or other prizes. Those are unrelated to the completion souvenir.
Did you know?
Both Basic and Premium members can find and log GeoTour geocaches of all types and difficulty and terrain ratings! See the Premium vs. Basic membership features chart.
The HQ GeoTour souvenir became available to geocachers on May 8th. The square image will be used as the preview where a smaller version is needed.
