Welcome to your geocaching mission this summer. During the month of August, earn six new Geocaching souvenirs by finding specific types of geocaches. Only by finding all six souvenirs do you unlock a special seventh “Achiever” souvenir. And we always knew you were an achiever.
Check out your personalized 7 Souvenirs of August Trophy Case for details. It’s a page that’s worth adding to your bookmarks. You’ll need it. Once you’ve collected all six souvenirs, visit your 7 Souvenirs of August Trophy Case to unlock the rare 7th “Achiever” souvenir. If you’re new to geocaching, a souvenir is an exclusive digital reward for your online profile.
While your journey to find the 7 Souvenirs of August begins on August 1 and lasts through August 31, you can start the adventure right now. Take the new Geocaching Personality Quiz. Each of the six personality types in the quiz reveals a souvenir you’re challenged to discover in August. Questions? Check out your 7 Souvenirs of August Trophy Case for answers. Ready to begin celebrating? Check out the new 7 Souvenirs swag on sale now.
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?
RandolphAgarn and I camped out to (sneakily) watch the FTF in action.
2 x 2 Makers and Hiders Unite
It takes all kinds to make geocaching the quirky, wonderful, interesting hobby/game/community that it is right now. Some like to solve puzzles, others like to trek across mountains; some are serial geocache finders, and others are serial geocache hiders. Altogether, these different types make for a healthy (and fun!) geocaching ecosystem.
Within this geocaching ecosystem, I’ve always considered myself your everyday, traditional finder—like moss (a little bit boring), but surely important for some unknown, ecological reason. That is, I used to think of myself like moss. Then, a few months ago, I attended a Maker Madness event hosted by Geocaching HQ. I walked out of the event knowing that I too wanted to create great geocaching experiences for others to enjoy… But I didn’t want to hide just any old geocache. I wanted to hide the Mona Lisa of geocaches.
There was, however, one small problem. When it comes to any and all geocache making skills…well, I don’t have any. I never took woodshop. I don’t know anything about Arduino computers. And (much to my puzzle-loving grandfather’s disappointment), I cannot solve the Monday crossword puzzle, let alone design a worthwhile puzzle of my own.
Hiding without Making
So how does one hide a masterpiece geocache without having any relevant Maker skills?
Luckily, I discovered that geocache hiding, like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, has a built-in Phone-a-Friend option. You see, like the broader geocaching community, geocache hiders come in all shapes and sizes. There are the Makers, who imagine (and implement) the future of geocaching containers; then you have the location hiders, who have a knack for finding breathtaking hiding spots; and finally, there are folks like me. I am nothing if not reliable, which as it turns out, is a key ingredient to a great geocache. (Ahem, you’ve heard of a little thing called geocache maintenance? No one likes a soggy log.)
RandolphAgarn makes final adjustments to our geocache.
So, I used my Phone-a-Friend card to call up my friend and Geocaching HQ mobile developer Arne Moen (Username: RandolphAgarn). He is everything that a Maker should be: creative and innovative with more than a few DIY tricks up his sleeve. And fortunately for me, he enjoys making geocaches more than maintaining them, so we formed a geocache hiding partnership. He built the container and I will be in charge of maintaining his creation going forward.
RandolphAgarn and I were so excited/nervous about putting our geocache out in the wild that we decided to sneakily camp out on a nearby bench to watch the FTF (first-to-find) in action. Given our geocache’s proximity to Geocaching HQ (home to 70 plus geocachers with instant notifications set up), we weren’t shocked to see the FTF go to a couple of HQ staffers within 20 minutes of publication. ScatterMyCaches and ReidSomething were pumped to earn their first FTF (but less excited to FTF the giant spider that had been quick to make the geocache its home). A big congrats also to MedicineManOfSeattle and TrailGourmet for the STF (second-to-find).
Okay, so our geocache may not be the Mona Lisa of geocaches, but it sure feels good to have played a part in creating a quality experience that many will be able to enjoy. And, unlike moss, it’s nice to know that we all have the ability to choose what role we’d like to play in our geocaching ecosystem.
3 reasons to hide a geocache with a friend
It’s more fun. ‘Nuff said.
You can share the workload. From building a container to maintaining it, hiding a geocache can be a lot of work! Splitting up or sharing responsibilities makes it a whole lot easier.
Collaboration inspires creativity. The brain is a wonderful thing. Two brains are even better.
The FTF team!RandolphAgarn and I talked the FTF’ers into taking a celebratory selfie with us!Early finders Jwlatona and COOP.
There are plenty of log types out there, but none more fun than earning a smiley by logging a “Found it!” Check out 5 quick tips to inspire your fellow geocachers with your next log entry.
Tell Your Story – The geocache log you write is like the preview to a movie. You’re telling geocachers about an adventure they could experience. Maybe your journey involved seeing the first leaves of spring, looking out from a mountain top or meeting other geocachers on the trail. Your logs help other geocachers decide if the geocache looks fun and exciting enough for them to find.
Add a Picture – A picture of a geocacher’s crooked smile after a find says a lot about a geocache. It’s easy to upload pictures on the fly with a Geocaching mobile app. If you’re wondering about the power of a picture in a log check out the 1000 most recent log images. It’s an ever-changing visual gallery of geocaching pictures from around the globe.
Name Some Names – Geocaching is all about community. Share the geocaching usernames for those who joined you out in the field. It’s a quick way to help build the local geocaching community and it makes meeting people at Geocaching Mega-Events or Event Caches easier.
Add a Favorite Point – Geocaching Favorite Points let you compliment the geocache hider and nudge other geocachers to check out this geocache. While only Premium Members can earn and reward Favorite Points, every can see them.
Say Thanks – It’s easy. Watch this, “Thank you for reading this Geocaching Weekly Newsletter.” It feels good. When you log a geocache and say “thank you” it means so much to the geocacher who hid and maintains the geocache. And don’t forget if the geocache needs maintenance leave a “Needs Maintenance” log.
