Category: Learn

Whether you’re about to find your first geocache or your ten-thousandth, you’ve come to the right place to learn more about the game.

/ Eric Schudiske /

Trackable Do’s and Don’ts

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There are literally thousands of Travel Bug® trackables bounding around the world right now. They’re powered by geocachers, traveling geocache to geocache. Travel Bugs travel in pockets, backpacks, purses and snuggle up in suitcases for long distance voyages. Sometimes though, their travels stop cold. Standby for a sad emoticon. 🙁

The trackables get stuck in couch cushions, lost in the kitchen junk drawer or simply (and sadly) forgotten.

Here are 3 tips to help Travel Bugs do what they do best: travel. First, if you find a Travel Bug® or any trackable in a geocache, you are not required to trade anything for it. But if you take it, follow some common sense trackable etiquette. It all starts by entering the tracking code here.

•    Log that you have retrieved the Travel Bug or trackable from the geocache as soon as you’re able. By logging that you’ve retrieved it, the Travel Bug owner, geocache owner and all those looking for Travel Bugs will know that this one is on the move.

•   Check the Travel Bug’s goal by going to its page. It’s as easy as typing in the tracking code. Then you can find out if it’s headed to beaches around the world, mountain tops in Austria or somewhere else. The idea is to place the Travel Bug in a geocache that will move it closer to its goal.

•    Drop the trackable in the next geocache and log that you have done so. If you need to keep the trackable for more than two weeks, please email the owner to let them know that their trackable is taking a short rest, but will be on the road again soon.

But wait, etiquette doesn’t stop there. Share this video on Geocaching Etiquette with the new geocachers in your life.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXzIu7p82jg]

/ Derek H /

Your One-Stop Geocaching Resource is Right Here

Sweet! You're on the blog right now!
Sweet! You’re on the blog right now!

You’ve really done it now. You’ve fallen down the geocaching rabbit hole. Suddenly, you’re speaking another language involving FTF, muggles and TOTT’s. But lo’ and behold, there’s so much more to explore in this wonderland of geocaching. Your one-stop shop is right here. Discover an inspiring Geocache of the Week—oddly enough, posted every week. Stand in awe of selfless contributions to the adventure from the Geocacher of the Month—weirdly named every month (and open for votes right now). There’s more though, as anyone down here in the geocaching rabbit hole will explain. You’ll also travel around the world, checking out Mega-Events in Belgium or the logging the First to Find (FTF) ever recorded in SPACE!

So, what are you waiting for? Explore the blog!

 

/ Derek H /

A Geocaching Return From Space After 75,000,000 Miles

Rick Mastracchio and the Travel Bug in Space.
Rick Mastracchio and the Travel Bug in Space.

Finally you’ll be able to post “Welcome Back to Earth” on our Facebook page!

After orbiting the Earth nearly 3,000 times over six months (and about 75,000,000 miles), astronaut Rick Mastracchio (Geocacher: AstroRM) and a very popular Travel Bug® will return home from the International Space Station. Thousands of people, at more than 700 Geocaching in Space events around the world, watched as Mastracchio and a Travel Bug rocketed into space.

Mastracchio has been living aboard the International Space Station since November of last year. He even geocached in space. He logged a First to Find on the International Space Station geocache placed by fellow geocacher Richard Garriott. He used the Travel Bug to teach students back on Earth about science and geography, interacting with them on the Travel Bug page about everything and anything to do with space.

May 13, Mastracchio and the Travel Bug will climb into a capsule and return to Earth. The event will be aired live on NASA TV. Celebrate and remember the epic adventure with the Geocaching in Space patch. And do us a favor, say a very special thanks to geocacher Cizzors for leading the charge for Rick Mastracchio to take the Travel Bug into space.

mastracchio 1

/ Eric Schudiske /

The Fastest 15 Minutes in Geocaching: WWFM

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World Wide Flash Mob – The Spice of Geocaching Life

It’s your time to bask in the geocaching limelight, with fellow geocachers from around the world, for 15 fast minutes. Join one of hundreds of Geocaching World Wide Flash Mob events on June 7, 2014. The WWFM events are Geocaching Event Caches on fast-forward. They’re 15 minutes of fun and excitement, packed with “typical” geocaching event activities like group photos, event meals, prize giveaways and trading trackables.

Hurry up, time is running out to host a WWFM of your own. Events must be published two weeks prior to the event date and your local geocaching community volunteer reviewer will need time to review and publish your event. All those logging an “Attended” for a WWFM event receive a commemorative digital souvenir for their geocaching profile.

Last year, more than 25,000 geocachers attended one of more than 550 geocaching flash mob events in 42 countries spanning the globe. Discover information on attending the eleventh WWFM event this year on the official WWFM website.

From a small beginning in 2007, the WWFM has grown astronomically, spreading around the world to include more geocachers and more events every year. The WWFM events are 15 minutes of fun and excitement, packed with “typical” geocaching event activities like group photos, event meals (usually Hershey’s kisses), prize giveaways and trackable trading.

Check out the pictures below for a look at what you could experience at a WWFM near you! 

WWFM X San Diego
A WWFM X in the United States
A WWFM X in the Czech Republic
A WWFM X in Germany
A WWFM X in France
A WWFM X in Denmark

/ Eric Schudiske /

Announcing Your Newest Geocache Type

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Giga-Event is the Newest Geocache Type

 

Attended by 5,000 or more geocachers, it’s like a Mega-Event of mega proportions. The geocache type shows a new level of appreciation to events that engage, entertain and inform geocachers on a massive scale.

While we know that the metric system prefix giga stands for 1,000,000,000, the name arose from inside the geocaching community and it stuck. So we co-opted the term to stay in line with our current system of events and Mega-Events. And of course, the name Five-Thousand-Event didn’t have the same ring to it.

The first Giga-Event will be held here.
The first Giga-Event will be held here

When is the first ever Giga-Event? Pack your bags, we’ll see you (and more than 5,000 others) at Project MUNICH2014 in August. There will be others, as Mega-Events continue to grow into Giga-Events. We’ve got your attention, huh? Want to know more about this new geocache type? Check out the Giga-Event FAQ.