July 25, 2014 / Paige Edmiston /

7 Tips for Achieving All 7 Souvenirs of August

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This August, your mission is to explore more of the geocaching universe and, ultimately, to become one of the super-cachers who earn the highly coveted Achiever souvenir. To unlock this special geocaching achievement, you’ll need to find 6 specific geocache types in the month of August.

Here are 7 tips to help you achieve, well, Achiever status:

1. Be Prepared

This motto is not just for the Boy Scouts. Finding 6 different geocache types requires planning ahead, especially if you live in Traditional-heavy area. Check to see what souvenirs might require leaving your neighborhood, and see if you can tie them into a weekend road trip or business travel. And, of course, always carry your tools of the trade (TOTT) in case opportunity strikes. (Never, never get caught without a pen!)

2. Start Early

With only 6 geocache finds needed to earn the Achiever souvenir, it can be tempting to put them off until the last weekend. Warning: This is not college. Cramming is no longer a safe bet. Start knocking off the souvenirs early in the month to allow room for error.

3. Partner with Friends

Feeling intimidated by finding a new geocache type? That’s what friends are for! As we learned with the Geocaching Personality Quiz, it takes all kinds to make up the geocaching community. Find someone who has a different personality type than you so that you can each specialize in finding specific geocache types. Friends can even help you sprinkle extra awesome on the 7 Souvenirs of August.

4. Throw a Party

To earn the Socializer souvenir, you need to log an Attended at an Event Cache, Mega-Event, or Giga-Event. Sign up for the Weekly Newsletter to learn about upcoming events in your area, or host one yourself! Remember, hosts can log an Attended for their own Event Caches.

5. Host a CITO

Don’t have an Earth Cache near you? No problem! Every neighborhood could use a CITO event. You’ll earn the Nature Lover souvenir and Mother Earth will thank you.

6. Double Check Your Neighborhood

Partner with friends — Sometimes earning a souvenir will take two… or four!

We’ve all done it. You’ve cleared out all the Traditional geocaches in your area, and you feel like there’s nothing left to find. (Okay, you Puzzlers and Collectors. Some of us have done this. Okay, fine. I can only say with certainty that I’ve done this. Happy?) This is your chance to take off your Traditional geocache blinders and see the Multi-Caches, Mystery Caches, and Letterbox Hybrids for what they are: geocaches waiting for your autograph.

7. Put it in Perspective

Yes, earning the Achiever souvenir can be daunting. But let’s put the challenge in perspective: Traditionals are easy to come by, you can attend or host an event, and if there’s not an Earth Cache in your area, you can host a CITO event. Knock those three out and you’re already halfway there! That just leaves three more geocaches to find: one Mystery Cache, one Multi-Cache, and either a Virtual, Whereigo, Letterbox Hybrid, or WebCam Cache. Take a deep breath… and go get ‘em. (But wait for August 1st of course.)

Tell Us Your Tips

Are you an expert in finding a specific type of geocache? If so, leave your tips for finding that geocache type in the comments below. This is going to take teamwork, friends!

July 24, 2014 / Eric Schudiske /

Geocaching Near the Top of the World – Finnish Style

Mega-Smiles at Latitude 61 in Finland

Editor’s note: Geocaching HQ staff are attending dozens of Mega-Events around the world, shaking hands, sharing stories of adventure, and of course, geocaching. Each person at Geocaching HQ brings their own unique talent to advancing the adventure. Some write code for the website, others design images for the apps, and some shoot videos explaining it all. Cindy or Frau Potter works with geocaching community volunteers. This is her Mega-Event experience.

At Latitude 61, this time of year days are long and nights are short. With sunrise at 4:00am and sunset at 11:00pm, I found this left plenty of time for meeting geocachers at Mega Finland 2014 – Amazing Geocaching. In fact, more than 1,600 geocachers attended this event and I needed all that extra time to meet them all!

My weekend began with a 3-hour train ride from Helsinki, Finland to the event location at Himos holiday resort near Jämsä, Finland. I arrived just in time to witness hundreds of geocachers helping to set up the geo-village, including erecting tents and preparing campfires. It was terrific to see all the collaboration. The event organizers (Gnutcha&Joorz) are veterans at hosting Mega-Events. This was the third and biggest, Mega-Event they organized. They were understandably proud of this free event. The Himos resort supplied the location, showers, toilets and water free of charge in return for the paying campers and cottage rentals. Gnutcha&Joorz said the official expenses for the event came in at about 60 Euros.

My amazing team - Jarom, arnevela, tuulituuli and Gandal491 — My amazing team – Jarom, arnevela, tuulituuli and Gandal491

The primary activity at the Mega-Event were two Adventure courses (one competitive and one leisure) and 10 fun Lab Caches. Geocachers were divided into teams to complete these courses. A highlight of my weekend was working with my team – Jarom, arnevela, tuulituuli and Gandal491 – on the course and Lab Caches. We had a lot of laughs together.

My favorite stations were “Flaming Tower, “Robin Hood” and “Bingo”. The Flaming Tower required three geocachers – one to pump water, one to aim the spray at the target and one to grab the container as it floated to the top. What a great activity for such a hot day!

Careful aim brings geocache container floating to the top

Robin Hood looked like a modern practice for Hunger Games, except no one got hurt. And the Bingo activity was a creative Lab Cache that required you to get signatures from event volunteers who had completed certain geocaching accomplishments. The Bingo activity was a brilliant way to make sure participants talked with volunteers.

IMG_4724_1_1 — Galdal491 signs for Bingo lab cache

Queue waiting to sign coffee event logbook

It was terrific to see why geocaching is so popular in Finland and to meet so many new friends. To my new Finnish geocaching friends, I say “Kiitos!”. Thanks for the adventure!

July 23, 2014 / Derek H

Epic Find, Epic Selfie — Kjerag (GCXKXJ) — Geocache of the Week

Perched precariously on a precarious perch. Photo by geocacher dipledocus

Geocache Name:

Kjerag (GCXKXJ)

Difficulty/Terrain Rating:

3/4

Why this is the Geocache of the Week:

When you see a 3, 4, or 5 next to “Terrain” on a geocache, you can usually count on two things: 1) it’s going to be a pretty good hike and 2) there will most likely be an epic photo-op at the end. Sometimes earning the smiley can take a backseat to the amazing photographs that get taken from GZ. Don’t believe me? Just take a look at the Geocaching Instagram or search #geocaching on Instagram. Photography and geocaching go hand-in-hand, so it’s only appropriate to feature a geocache with world-class found it photos.

What the geocache owner, Andix, has to say:

“My first visit at the Kjerag was in summer 2004 and I was led there by a friend not knowing what to see there. I was so impressed by the feeling standing upon the Kjerag stone, that I quickly decided: this is a MUST BE for a geocache. But I had never hidden a cache box and needed a prepared cache box. So I was planning another excursion two years later… Geocaching isn´t only a hobby – it´s a passion! Nearly my whole life has changed between the past 11 years since I got a geocaching-member.”

What geocachers are saying:

“Puh, what a stressful climb to the top. But after seeing the Kjerag every stress was forgotten. What an amazing view. Thanks for hiding :-)” – silkeli53

“This walk has been on our “want to visit” list for several years now, and it was amazing to finally be able to take the amazing hike.” – optimistene

“First time in Norway! What an nice and beautiful country. This one was found easy, TFTC! awesome hike, standing at the Krejag was pretty scary!!” – The Bennies

Photos and Video:

Amazing sunsets are the icing on top of this geocaching cake. Photo by geocacher dipledocus

Sure, this looks like a great place to sit. Photo by geocacher HeideParkSoltau

Epic view! Photo by geocacher dipledocus

We're not saying you should, but there are quicker ways of getting down from this area than hiking. Gif from the trailer for "I BELIEVE I CAN FLY (FLIGHT OF THE FRENCHIES)" movie by sebastien montaz-rosset. — We’re not saying you should, but there are quicker ways of getting down from this area than hiking. Gif from the trailer for “I BELIEVE I CAN FLY (FLIGHT OF THE FRENCHIES)” movie by sebastien montaz-rosset.

Show us your best “Found it” selfie in the comments!

Continue to explore some of the most engaging geocaches around the globe. Check out all the Geocaches of the Week on the Geocaching blog.

If you would like to nominate a Geocache of the Week, just fill out this form. Thanks!

July 22, 2014 / Eric Schudiske /

Airstream Find & Go – A Geocaching Trackable Giveaway

airstream 1

by Christy:

Do you enjoy summer adventures and a good geocaching road trip? We have just the treat for you! Geocaching has teamed up with Airstream for a trackable tag designed for those with a penchant to roam, a heart for exploration and a willingness to Find and Go.

The Airstream Silver Bullet Trackable Tag will make its debut at select Geocaching events in the United States in August. 2,000 tags will be released among the events. If you can’t make it to the events, keep an eye out for Airstream Silver Bullet Trackable Tags in the wild as they make their way from geocache to geocache and travel across the country. Find one and take it some place incredible, whether it’s a big city or the great outdoors, it’s all about having an experience and sharing it with others.

Submit photos of where the Airstream Silver Bullet Trackable takes you for chances to win prizes from Airstream. Photos of the trackable can be submitted to the Airstream Facebook Page. A winning photo will be selected each month starting in August, for Airstream prizes including a t-shirt, a journal, a flashlight, and more! See contest rules for details.

Geocaching Premium Member, FluteFace, is planning to attend the Airstream event in Redmond, WA. “As both a geocacher, and an Airstream (1984 Sovereign) owner, I’ll be there! What a great combination!!” She adds, “We have enjoyed caching with our Airstream and, since we’ve recently equipped it with a solar panel, we intend to find more caches in cool places, off the beaten path.”

To make things even sweeter, geocachers can earn the Socializer Souvenir for attending an event in August as part of the 7 Souvenirs of August program.

airstream 3 — A photo of FluteFace’s Airstream on a caching/camping trip with other geocachers in Washington State’s Deception Pass State Park, about a month after she purchased the Airstream

July 22, 2014 / Carly /

37 Ways to Spice Up Your Geocaching

What inspires you to geocache? For some, it’s the pure hunt that ignites the excitement. For others, it’s the adventurous and often unusual things one partakes in along the way. Here are 37 amazing ways to spice up your geocaching.

1. Hike to a viewpoint that you never knew existed

1451361_10203232377229684_540645716_n — Geocaching journey to Bariloche, Argentina (GC1M51M)

2.Take care of our planet

Good planets are hard to find. While you’re out on a geocache hunt, make sure to CITO (cache in trash out).

3. Equicache (horseback geocaching)

Jump on up and gallop away. Explore the geocaching wilderness with the help of a furry friend.

872c91af-ab7b-4024-b20d-3182a919b81b — FDR by Horse – Lonesome Dove (GC4AHH8)

4. Make new friends

There are thousands of worldwide geocaching events each year. Join in the fun and meet fellow geocachers. Check out a geocaching event near you.

5. Deep sea dive (divecaching)

Take a deep breath and venture down into deep blue waters to uncover some of the most mysterious geocaches in the world. “Clearwater Paradise – SCUBA” (GC1T16F) by BlazerDiver has yet to be found since it was hidden in 2009. FTF anyone?

6. Complete a geocaching quest

We all have different bucket list items to check off. There’s no better feeling in the world than when you do (and drink an ice cold mini-beer to celebrate).

7. Release your inner artist

“If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced,” Vincent Van Gogh.

Motopony Fan Cache (GC3R8RN) by "HugeBeef" — Motopony Fan Cache (GC3R8RN) by “HugeBeef”

8. Encounter a celebrity

Hugh Jackman (aka Wolverine) geocaches. ‘Nuff said.

The wolverine himself geocaching in Australia

9. Explore by water (kayaking, canoeing, cruise ships)

Some geocaches are only accessible by water. And they are awesome.

10. Propose to that special someone

See how a FTF hunt can turn into a marriage proposal.

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11. Help a newbie find their first smiley

12. Take a leap of faith (literally)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — The Leap (GC16R4B) in Arizona

13. Stumble upon something totally random

78b4a148-438b-4265-bd68-b1b76c574247 — Gnomesville (GCHTN7)

14. Spot an exotic animal

Ever so often, you’ll come across a rare breed…

1008736_10201613695403650_1307216970_o — Lava Iguanas in the Galapagos

But, more commonly you’ll come across…

15. Climb Mount Everest

Many geocachers are unaware that climbing Everest results in (obvious) bragging rights as well as an awesome geocache find.

2985881a-c5e8-42e4-ad5c-d212625cef0b — Geocacher “kenyansherpa” making the impressive climb

16. Reach a fitness goal

A recent study by the Texas A&M Health Science Center shows that geocaching is a great way stay healthy and burn some extra calories. So get off the couch and start hunting!

10537093_10154348313625398_5119008846242761770_n — Washington Coast Camping and Geocaching

17. Travel to a new and exotic place

Get ready to pack your bags. With over 2 million geocaches worldwide, the game can take you anywhere. Oh, the places you’ll go.

Exotic destination — Geocaching in Morocco (GC35436)

18. Venture out at night

19. Photograph your journey and share it with others

Trackable journey — Trackable frame journey

20. Go to the end of the world

Geocachers "apres ski 66" at Fin Del Mundo (GCH7MR) — Geocacher “apres ski 66” at Fin Del Mundo (GCH7MR)

21. Become a historian

Geocaching is a great way to learn about the history of a location. The Star-Spangled Banner GeoTour takes geocachers to the locations of significant historic events during the War of 1812.

22. Solve a puzzle

Release your inner geek and solve a puzzle geocache.

Puzzle cache tBLT - The Klingoni Sudoku (GC53BPD) — Puzzle cache tBLT – The Klingoni Sudoku (GC53BPD)

23. Climb (anything and everything)

24. Taste the local cuisine

Mmm! There’s nothing better than a scrumptious meal after a day of geocaching. Bloggers and geoachers “Peanuts or Pretzels” stumbled upon a delicious Venezualan restaurant while exploring the city of Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.