Situational awareness is an important skill in many facets of every day life. Situational awareness is the ability to perceive, understand, and effectively respond to one's situation. It involves comprehending a given circumstance, gathering relevant information, analyzing it, and making informed decisions to successfully address any potential risks, hazards, or events that might occur. Situational awareness aims to enable quick and safe responses to disasters by informing human decision-making.
Situational awareness is important in geocaching to have fun and be safe and also avoid muggles. There are a number of ways you can improve your situational awareness and practice being passively more aware of your surroundings all the time. For example:
- Assess your surroundings for threats or danger. Could there be bees? Is there barbed wire to watch out for?
- Use your imagination to plan for different situations and what they will do if they arise. Will you be able to get back up that ravine, or should you take a safer path to the cache?
- Trust your gut feelings! Your brain and body will alert you when something might be off. Its a good idea to listen or at least hear it out before dismissing it.
References:
I have permission from a nearby business owner to place this cache. Nearby business owners are aware of the cache placement if you go hunting for it.