/ Eric Schudiske /

The Four Types of Geocaching Texans Who will Rule the Universe

I’ve thought about how to rule the universe since I started writing this sentence. I’m therefore an expert. I believe it takes only four types of people. (Are you writing notes?) 1) The Genius 2) The Champion 3) The Mad Scientist and 4) People Who Really Really Like Each Other

We’re traveling around the world shooting videos showcasing the best of geocaching. On a trip to Texas to shoot video for Geocaching.com’s Lost and Found stories, we met all four types of people. Watch out universe.

The genius is Mikal Hart. He invented a device that’ll change the face of geocaching by putting the game in reverse. Hard to imagine? It’s not for a genius, and soon it won’t be hard to imagine for the rest of us.

The Mad Scientist is Richard Garriott, the best type of mad scientist.  His innovative video games like Ultima kept us entertained and on the edge of madness for decades. He not only went to extremes, like space and the ocean floor, to place the highest and lowest caches. Garriott is also about to launch one of the most imaginative (and potentially frightening) caches on earth.

The Champion is known as Mrs. B. She’s a school teacher in McKinney, Texas. Mrs. B is using geocaching to teach her 5th graders about coordinates, distance, geography, math and interactive learning. The kids love her and learning, and that’s tough.

The final and possibly most important type of people are those that really really like each other. Dillar and Karen are those people. Karen proposed to Dillar by using stealth and their favorite hobby, geocaching. Dillar unsuspectingly opened the cache “All the little things I love” and by the time the cache closed, was engaged.

Yeah, watch out universe they’re all in Texas. Thankfully I believe they don’t want the administrative hassle of running the universe. Imagine the paperwork, the meetings, the power mongering. If you want to watch their stories (and others) you don’t have to wait long. Lost and Found launches this May.

/ Eric Schudiske /

Geocachers Deep Clean Mother Nature

So, your TV stops working. Just stops. What do you do? You take the 42″ TV to your pristine local park. You quickly swivel your head around. There’s no one there. Then you clumsily dump the TV in the deep brush. Done. Maybe it’s biodegradable?!?!

Wait. Wait. Wait. That’s not YOU. You’re the person who’s waist deep in thorny brush pulling out the battered (and NOT biodegradable) TV. And there’s also a lawnmower and another TV and even more trash. Whew.

Carnation, WA USA – COWWS CITO Event

You’re not alone. Thousands of Geocachers around the world took the weekend of the April 24 th and 25th to clean their local parks and trails. It’s called Cache In Trash Out (CITO). It’s a little payback for what has been a couple pretty rough centuries for ol’ Mother Nature. And we’ve seen what happens when Mother Nature doesn’t get the respect she deserves – cue the volcano.

Good choice in helping cleanup the place. If you didn’t help yet, don’t fear the volcano. CITO events happen throughout the year. Find your opportunity here. If you did a CITO let’s see some of your pictures and video on Facebook. And Thank YOU!

/ Eric Schudiske /

A Travel Bug Dream 29,157 Miles in the Making

"Riding with Judi" Travel Bug

You don’t know Judi Nordgren, but at the same time she’s probably as familiar as a favorite aunt. She’s described as a loving second mother to many, a woman with a heart as big as all outdoors and an avid motorcyclist. While you may know someone who fits Judi’s description, you’ll never have the pleasant opportunity to meet Judi. She passed away unexpectedly in 2005. She was 42.

Even though you can never meet her, Judi’s family wanted you to know her. They created a Travel Bug, “Riding with Judi.”

Netherlands- Team Friedeljan

Its mission is to do what Judi had only dreamed. The Travel Bug wished to go around the world. The directions were simple, the message powerful and the act of those who helped “Riding with Judi” travel 29,157 miles can only be described as beautiful.

It took more than four years and 60 stops. But riding with Judi is now in the same state where the Travel Bug started its journey. All those who touched “Riding with Judi” with their hands, they also felt it in their hearts. Judi’s family felt it too.

They tell me they’re excited Judi has returned home and her wish to see the world honored by those who never meet her, but now know her.

Australia -
Australia - RottenWood
/ Eric Schudiske /

They Say Your First Million is the Hardest

We’re not talking money. Get this. There are more than a million (pronounced: milllllllllion) geocaches hidden around world waiting for you to discover. It’s a big deal.

Right now there are 1,057,398 caches out there somewhere. Remember, just short of a decade ago there were only 75. You’re now truly within minutes of a geocache almost anywhere on earth (and beyond).

Find yourself in Libya for a conference on shoe-repair? Enjoy finding all ten geocaches there. Traveling around the Indian Ocean collecting bacteria spores and you’re sitting out a long layover in Seychelles: 17 geocaches. Christmas Island? The International Space Station? Kyrgyzstan? The moon?

Yes. Oh Yeah. Yep. Errr… No (not quite yet).

The first million geocaches took about a decade to accumulate. The second million will be outside your door before you know it. Some geocachers are really racking up the numbers. It takes more than all your fingers and toes to count the people who found more than 15,000 geocaches.  And more than 100 people have 10,000 finds or more.

However, the best of anything (geocaching included) can’t be measured by numbers, but in moments. You might want to cue the violin music. Cough. Cough. “…Right now, Catch a magic moment, do it right here and now. It means everything …” Did I say violin music? Maybe I meant the rock ‘n roll stylings of 80’s super group sensation Van Halen.

You get the idea. Still… I’m sure there were plenty of “moments” while you’re logging more than 15,000 geocaches.

A Promise NOT to be “N 45° 25.9 W 122° 22.4”

Not many people can make the promise not to be “N 45° 25.8 W 122° 22.4.” But I do. However, I won’t promise to not make you work. Sure you could click this, and find the answer. Not you though. Your voyage of discovery is true… wait… you’ve already clicked the link. Okay, the link goes to Boring, OR, USA. Okay. So I won’t be “boring.” I might take away hyperlinks in clues though.

Here’s something you can do to keep “boring” far far away and the adventure of geocaching close at hand. Stay in touch. Look to your right. “Like” our Geocaching.com page on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, YouTube and Flickr. Share your geocaching world of discovery through Tweets, pictures on Facebook and Flickr and video on YouTube and maybe I’ll keep posting the hyperlinks (just maybe).