Category: 7 Souvenirs of August

/ Eric Schudiske /

7 Souvenirs of August FAQ

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I found all six souvenirs, but my achiever souvenir wasn’t issued?

Visit your 7 Souvenirs of August Trophy Case to unlock your Achiever souvenir.

I can’t see my friend’s/spounse’s/brother’s/pet’s 7 Souvenirs of August Trophy Case. What’s up with that?

You can see all of the souvenirs that you friend/spouse/brother/pet has earned on their Public Profile under the Souvenirs tab. You can find their Public Profile using this tool.

How do I delete these souvenirs?

You can hide a souvenir from your Public Profile on Geocaching.com by selecting the “Hide This” button below the souvenir you would like to remove on your Private Profile. Please note that this will not remove the souvenir from your Private Profile or the mobile app. You can make the souvenir visible again at any time by selecting “Show This”, underneath the souvenir in your Private Profile.

Oh no, it’s the end of August and I just signed up. Will there be another opportunity to earn the 7 Souvenirs of August? 

Well, well… we have no plans now, but who knows? This challenge might come around again.

There’s no way I can find them all. Can I have an exemption for X souvenir?

Geocaching is about exploration and discovery. Unfortunately, exemptions are not being issued.

I have the Geocaching Intro app and I can only see traditional geocache types. How can I participate?

You can earn the Explorer souvenir by logging a Traditional geocache in the Intro app. You’ll then be able to see this souvenir in your Trophy Case, which is mobile-friendly. To earn the other souvenirs and unlock the special 7th one, you can use the website or upgrade to the Geocaching Pro app.

I found all the souvenirs in August, but I didn’t log my geocache finds until September. Do I still earn the souvenirs?

You’ll be able to receive the first 6 souvenirs by back-dating your logs to the correct date. However, the Achiever souvenir will only be issued to those who have earned all 6 souvenirs and then visit their Trophy Case during the month of August.

Break it down for me. How do I earn each souvenir again?

  • The Nature Lover = Log a Found It on an EarthCache or an Attended for a CITO event.
  • The Explorer = Log a Found It on a Traditional geocache.
  • The Sightseer = Log a Found It on a Multi-Cache.
  • The Puzzler = Log a Fount It on a Mystery Cache.
  • The Socializer = Log an Attended for an Event Cache, Mega-Event, or Giga-Event.
  • The Collector = Log a Found It on a Virtual Cache, Whereigo, Letterbox Hybrid, or Webcam Cache.
  • The Achiever = Visit your Trophy Case after earning the 6 other souvenirs. To learn more about geocache types, go here.

What’s a souvenir, and why do I want one?

Souvenirs are virtual pieces of art displayed on your profile page that you can earn for various geocaching achievements, like finding a geocache in a new country. The 7 Souvenirs of August are extra special, as they only available during the month of August. To learn more about souvenirs, visit our Help Center.

Do I need to find the souvenirs in a specific order?

Nope! Bonus points if you do though! (Just kidding. There are no bonus points for earning the souvenirs in any particular order.)

I’ve heard rumors that Geocaching HQ has developed a very scientific quiz to reveal my geocaching alter-ego. Can you confirm these rumors?

Yes! The rumors are absolutely true. (Well, not the *very scientific* part.) Discover what type of geocacher you are: http://bit.ly/1z8vjKz.

When exactly will I be able to start earning the souvenirs?

August 1st at 12 AM your local time!

/ Paige Edmiston /

The Madness After Maker Madness

Get ready to find some amazing geocaches this summer!

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A Maker Madness event log!

When geocache makers go mad, you’re the real winner. Get this.  From March 28 – April 7, over 21,000 geocachers in more than 50 countries took the Maker Pledge.  By signing this pledge, geocachers around the world promised to “live and breathe by Favorite Points, obtain joy from long and in-depth logs, perform maintenance when it’s needed (and before), inspire geocachers with photos and stories of your hides, and most of all, hide innovative and creative geocaches.” When these new pledges hide a geocache, there will be thousands of mind-blowing, stunning, life-altering (too much?) new geocaches out in the wild, just waiting for you to discover them.

It’s true, the 11 days of Maker Madness have come to end, but that doesn’t mean we are done saying “hurrah” to great geocaches and their makers. Say thank you to a great geocache maker today, ask them to show you the geocache hiding ropes, and sign your own Maker Pledge. Here are a few resources to keep your creative juices flowing, get inspired, and share the Maker Madness all year long:

danbrown

This geocache is featured on Creative Geocache Hides on Pinterest. Your amazing geocache can be too!

What are you waiting for? Go forth & create! And tell us, should we revisit Maker Madness in 2015?

/ Paige Edmiston /

Geocaching HQ joins in the Maker Madness

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Celebrating Maker Madness – Geocaching HQ style.

By: Maria McDonald

The Seattle geocaching community came through strong with over  100 attendees at the recent Maker Madness event hosted by Geocaching HQ. This HQ sponsored event added to the 970 other Maker events spanning more than 50 countries around the world to celebrate something truly special – the amazing ingenuity of our geocache makers! Here’s a quick re-cap on the HQ Maker Madness event in Seattle.

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A geocacher admires one of Goblindust’s many mysterious creations.

The event kicked off with a quick hello and welcome from Geocaching.com Founders Jeremy Irish and Bryan Roth, who were then followed by nine enthusiastic speakers (including six of our very own HQ staff!) covering a wide range of hider and maker related topics. The presentations included a little something for everyone so that attendees, ranging from potential first time hiders to experienced (and seriously creative!) makers, all got a little taste of the maker magic. We learned about the importance of good coordinates, DIY camouflage (blending yogurt and moss gets you a natural looking fake rock moss coverage… who knew?), how to silence your inner creative critic so your making senses can burst forth and create, and more.

Following the presentations geocachers explored an exhibition highlighting local makers and their most creative caches. Geocachers were able to ask the makers questions and examine all the moving parts on some very unique cache containers.

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Geocaching HQ’er and geocache (and swag!) creator Captain “Wrong Way” Bill of the SalemPirates shows off his Maker Madness pride.

Curiosity reigned and the enthusiasm was palpable. When I asked how specific caches were chosen for today’s exhibition, Mr. Gadget#2’s wife responded, “He ended up bringing them all. Asking him to chose between his caches would be like asking him to choose which child he likes best.” It is this type of dedication and pride in making great geocaches that elevates the game for us all and makes getting to know other geocachers so much fun.

At the end of the afternoon, happy geocachers and  HQ’ers had done what we all do best at events – joined together for a great afternoon of creating memories, sharing stories and inspiring our beloved game to new heights.

My fellow HQ’ers and I all hope that, no matter where or how you celebrated Maker Madness, you now feel a renewed sense of curiosity and creativity, and that you’ve seen the geocache maker inside of you…  now go forth and create!

Editor’s Note: Maria McDonald is Geocaching HQ’s Office Manager. She’s also an avid geocacher, and geocaches under the username AKprincesswarrior.

 

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Go Forth and Create!

How did you celebrate Maker Madness? Tell us about the event you attended in the comments below.

/ Eric Schudiske

New Video: How to Hide a Geocache

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Words, words, words, who needs them when you’re staring at a fresh-out-of-the-oven video about How to Hide a Geocache?Check out the new video from Geocaching HQ that’s full of easy-to-use ideas and tips for placing a well-loved geocache. The payoff for the maker (you?) of a cleverly hidden geocache comes from “Found it!” logs containing heaps of praise for the inspirational adventure and lifelong memories. Well done! Quick check: Still reading? Haven’t watched this video yet? Okay, here are some more words.

After the success of Geocaching Maker Madness, with nearly 1000 events around the world, Geocaching HQ wants to set you up for success with this new How to Hide a Geocache video. Need a little more inspiration? Check out this Geocaching blog post, with ideas to create a geocache that keeps people talking. Okay, and last chance, Watch. The. New. Hider. Video.  And then share your ideas for great hides on the Geocaching Facebook page.

 

 

/ Paige Edmiston

Makers’ Secrets Revealed: Blueprints for 3 Amazing Geocache Hides

3 Amazing DIY Geocache Hides Revealed

 

Geocachers who attended one (or more!) of the 900+ events held around the world during Maker Madness, gained a glimpse into the inner-workings of the crazy-creative minds of geocache makers. They learned how to make clever hides, like camouflaging a container to look like a rock or tree or set up the ultimate Multi-Cache.

A few of these great geocaching minds agreed to share the secret sauce behind their coolest creations with us. So yeah, please DO try these at home.

Fogg working on "Geocache on the Rocks"
Fogg working on “Geocache on the Rocks”

Geocache on the Rocks by Fogg

fogg is a geocacher from Schallstadt, Germany known for his ingenious hides. To make Geocache on the Rocks, Fogg utilized a little thing called “physical computing.” Take a look at what geocachers have to say about this geocache:

rabbitredux: TFTC! What a truly amazing cache. I have never seen anything like it before!

BiblioMo: I thought I’d seen it all in Geocaching until today. WP1 was extremely cool and ingenious.

Check out these step-by-step instructions to recreate your own Geocache on the Rocks.

Click for a PDF of Geocache on the Rocks
Click for a PDF of Geocache on the Rocks

 

 

A SHOCKING Cache by WVTim

WVTim is a geocacher from West Virginia who has racked up an impressive 5100 Favorite Points. He’s known for his gadget style hides, like a SHOCKING Cache. Here’s what geocachers are saying:

smitfam4: Another clever cache, my kids don’t understand how you come up with these ideas.

Steve105: Thanks for the shocking experience.

Check out these step-by-step instructions to recreate your own SHOCKING Cache.

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Click to see a PDF on how to build A SHOCKING Geocache

 

Schrader’s Ode to Dayspring by Herr Potter

Herr Potter is the local, Seattle geocacher featured in Geocaching’s video Thank You to the Geocache Hiders. As its name implies, his geocache Schrader’s Ode to Dayspring was inspired by another awesome Seattle hider, Dayspring, and his Totally Tubular geocache series. Read what geocachers are saying:

wants to fly: Very nicely done. Impressive workmanship.

benandjayme: What a fantastically fun idea for a cache! We had a great time retrieving the cache with our co-workers. There was dancing, singing, worm admiring, and log signing! Thanks for bringing us here and sharing your creativity!

Check out these step-by-step instructions to recreate your own Schrader’s Ode to Dayspring.

Click to see a PDF of "Schrader's Ode to Dayspring"
Click to see a PDF of “Schrader’s Ode to Dayspring

 

Share your ideas for inspirational geocaches in comments below!