{"id":62709,"date":"2019-01-15T09:32:08","date_gmt":"2019-01-15T17:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/blog\/?p=62709"},"modified":"2019-01-22T10:51:53","modified_gmt":"2019-01-22T18:51:53","slug":"rock-chalks-2019-geocaching-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/blog\/2019\/01\/rock-chalks-2019-geocaching-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"Rock Chalk\u2019s 2019 geocaching goals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chris (Rock Chalk<\/a>) has worked at Geocaching HQ since 2014. He loves climbing and paddling for geocaches, and has gone caching in 14 countries and every U.S. state.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

One of the best things about geocaching is there are so many ways to play the game. It\u2019s the same with geocaching goal setting. Goals can vary widely depending on your experience level, specific interests, and other factors. <\/span><\/p>\n

Like many geocachers, when I first began playing, I was attracted to the <\/span>Fizzy Grid and 365-Day Challenge<\/span><\/a>, as well as <\/span>the Jasmer<\/span><\/a>. Those challenges kept me motivated (and busy) for quite awhile. But if you play the game for a long time, you may find yourself searching for new goals to help direct your caching.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are a few of the things that keep geocaching fun, fresh, and exciting for me:<\/span><\/p>\n

Challenge caches
\n<\/b>A challenge cache requires seekers to find an associated physical cache, and to find an additional set of geocaches as defined by the challenge owner. As of this month, there are <\/span>nearly 25,000 challenge caches in the world<\/span><\/a> waiting to be found! I keep a lengthy list of the many challenges I\u2019m working on, as well as bookmark lists of caches that will help me qualify for those challenges. This helps me decide which caches to attempt both in my home area and when traveling. Tools such as <\/span>GSAK<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Project-GC<\/span><\/a> are invaluable for keeping track of progress on challenge caches.<\/span><\/p>\n

Visiting new regions
\n<\/b>You know how they say geocaching takes you to places you may never have visited? It\u2019s <\/span>really<\/span><\/i> true when you start \u201ccollecting\u201d countries, provinces, states, counties, and other regions. Here\u2019s an example: while driving through California, I realized I had not found a cache in a county \u201cnear\u201d our driving route. By \u201cnear,\u201d I mean we only had to detour for an hour, and then hike for 20 minutes to find the cache along a desolate creek! I certainly never would have seen that place without geocaching. You will probably have similar moments if you experiment with finding caches in new regions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Achievements I\u2019ve dreamed up for myself
\n<\/b>Don\u2019t let yourself be constrained by the \u201cusual\u201d geocaching goals. What may seem crazy to someone else might be tons of fun for you. For example, when I was working on completing my Fizzy Grid, I met someone who had completed the Fizzy Grid more than 50 times. That is, he had found at least 50 caches for all 81 fizzy grid squares. I thought that was sheer madness. Who could be so crazy to do such a thing? Well, after I completed the Fizzy Grid, I decided to keep going and try to find at least 2 caches for each grid square. Then 3. And then it just got out of hand. Today, I\u2019m four caches away from completing the grid 50 times. Madness? Maybe. But it\u2019s a lot of fun for me because I enjoy the Fizzy Grid. There are so many aspects of geocaching that your imagination is the only limitation to creating a goal that is especially meaningful to you!<\/span><\/p>\n

And now that you\u2019ve learned what will motivate me in 2019, I\u2019d love to hear about the goals that direct your geocaching!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chris (Rock Chalk) has worked at Geocaching HQ since 2014. He loves climbing and paddling for geocaches, and has gone caching in 14 countries and every U.S. state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":62795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[134],"tags":[158],"series":[],"class_list":["post-62709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-weekly-newsletter"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/d3mo08i005h0zn.cloudfront.net\/blog\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Geocaching_Goals_011519_vFINAL_Blog-Mailer_800x450.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/blog\/feed\/podcast\/inside-geocaching-hq-podcast","embedCode":"

Rock Chalk\u2019s 2019 geocaching goals<\/a><\/blockquote>