Boy meets girl. Boy falls for girl. Girl forgets about boy. Boy asks girl on yet another ‘first’ date. Multiply this by 50 and you get the plot of the Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore chick flick sensation 50 First Dates. Sometimes – between stumbling across a less-than-spectacular geocache and  landing a poorly-timed DNF – getting your friends and family to share your love of geocaching can also take 50 first dates.

Or at least it used to. We’ve asked the geocaching community for their best advice on how to turn 50 first dates into geocaching love-at-first-sight.

The first step is simple: Let us help you tell a friend! Because geocaching can at times be tough to explain (it’s…uh… finding tupperware in the woods?), we’ve created a tool that removes the awkward and allows you to send a message to all your friends explaining the game and inviting them to join you on your next adventure. Tell A Friend About Geocaching lays the groundwork to make your first geocaching outing together a success.

From here, the key is to plan well so that you know your friend’s first experience will be a great one! Geocachers (like you!) reported high success rates using the following strategies:

1. Go to one of your favorite geocaches. This guarantees the “wow” factor and removes the risk of  having a frustrating DNF experience.

2. Start off your trip by watching a few inspiring geocaching videos. Geocaching isn’t always easy to explain in words. Videos, like those on the GoGeocaching YouTube Channel, can help set the stage for your adventure.

3. Combine geocaching with another fun activity. Casually guide your friends on a mind-blowing treasure hunt during your work lunch break or after a dinner party. Hint: Secretly plan out this adventure in advance so you know it will be a good one, but act like it’s no big deal (e.g. “What this? I do stuff like this all the time. Just comes with the hobby”).

4. Start ’em young. Kids take very little convincing….and their parents will naturally follow along.

5. Attend a geocaching event! What better way to introduce your friends to geocaching than to show them how awesome other geocachers are. You can check out the new Events & Groups tab on the Geocaching Facebook page to find an event near you.

Now that you have all these tips and tricks up your sleeve, we have one final (not-so-secret) secret for you. The timing is right! 31 Days of Geocaching kicks off in just 5 days. This is a golden opportunity to get your friends and family out geocaching…so get on it!

Did these strategies help you get others out geocaching? Do you have any pointers that we missed? Tell us in the comments below.

Deciding the size of your geocache can be a bit like ordering a coffee drink from your local coffee-snob barista—overwhelming!  Before you’ve even had your caffeine pick-me-up, you are forced to decide whether you would like a Short, Tall, Grande, Venti, or even Trenta (yes, “Trenta” is now a real size). Choosing the correct size for your geocache can be just as tricky. What is the difference between “Regular and Small”? What in the world is a “Nano”? What does it mean when a geocache is labelled as “Other”? Knowing the answers to these questions can make all the difference in getting that smiley, so we’ve created the following geocache size-guide to give you the answers to the ultimate questions of life, the Universe, and geocache sizes. And no, the answer is not 42.

Traditional Sizes

While these may seem straightforward, it can be a tough call when your geocache falls somewhere in between. 

Micro –  Tiny containers that most likely will only hold a log sheet, e.g. a film canister.

Small – Just big enough to fit a sandwich. Holds only a small logbook and small items, e.g. a small plastic container. Note: Please don’t put a sandwich in your gecoache.

Regular – Think shoe box. If you could fit a pair of shoes inside, you’re golden, e.g. an ammo box.

Large –  Think Bigfoot’s shoe box. If he could fit his hiking boots inside, it should probably be labelled as a Large, e.g. a 5 gallon bucket.

Other Categorizations 

For times when the traditional categories simply aren’t enough, you might need to use the following:

Nano – For the very tiniest of geocaches. ‘Nano’ is not officially listed on geocache pages, so players should mark Nanos as Micros, e.g. a fake bolt.

Other – Unusual geocache containers that just don’t fit into other categories, e.g. a magnetic strip.

Unknown – For when a little extra surprise is needed, e.g. when knowing the size of the container would completely give away the find.

What benchmarks do you use to size out your geocaches?  Tell us about them in the comments below.