Geocoin Addict Geocoin

No matter where I cache I often run into other cachers out enjoying the hunt. Talk to any one of them long enough and the conversation always goes to the question “So how did you get into geocaching?” The stories that are told are often entertaining, funny, and in a few cases awe-inspiring. This coin’s current mission is to travel from cache to cache worldwide collecting stories of how cachers got into the game/sport/hobby of geocaching. Please post your story of how you got into geocaching when you log this coin and enjoy the stories left by others. In the spirit of the game please do not keep this coin any longer than is necessary to move it from cache to cache. Thanks.

***Update: Sept 9, 2018***

This coin has been travelling for some time now but has never made it to the South Pacific or Australia. I would love for it to collect stories from this region as well. 

As I am asking for your story I will also share mine – it’s only fair.

I began caching in March of 2010 after hearing about it from a complete stranger that I have never actually met. At the time I was helping my aunt try and track down a link to our family history in England. Having traced an ancestor to Lancashire England I started searching for other people in the area that shared our last name. I came across one gentleman who was also into genealogy and e-mailed him to see if he might be able to help. His reply came quickly that he would but he would have to get in touch with me in the coming weeks as he was off to Scotland for a caching weekend. I responded thanking him and wishing him luck on his “cashing weekend.” I had no clue what geocaching was at that time. I received another e-mail from this man as he was waiting at the airport explaining to me what caching was all about.

It sounded intriguing so I followed his advice and looked geocaching up online. Within an hour I had signed up as a basic member and had planned out my first caching trip to the park less than 500m from my house. My only issue was that I had no GPSr. At least that was the only issue I knew about at the time – turns out there were lots of issues I didn’t know about. After a quick search I discovered I could use my Blackberry. I went to bed early so I could be up before the muggles (of course I had to think in the official terms if I was going to be a cacher so people were no longer just people they were cachers or muggles now.) and I was up and out the door bright and early.

Nose to the blackberry I entered the park and followed the phone right out the other side to the front yard of a house with a huge garden, not yet planted. The only place I could see where something might be hidden was under an upside down planter in the middle of the garden. New to the game and ignorant of what to expect I went to the planter and lifted it up. At that moment I heard the tap, tap, tap of a knuckle on a window. I looked up to see a woman in her house coat, hair a mess, coffee cup in hand standing in the window looking at me like I was nuts. I did the only thing I could…put the planter back down and beat a hasty retreat back into the park – but not before checking under the planter for the cache.

After wandering around for the better part of 2 hours I decided to check the cache page again to see if I could figure out where the cache was. It was then that I learned what a bison tube was and that the additional hint can be very helpful. Another hour and the cache was in hand. As I signed the log I knew I was hooked. Unfortunately it would take another week or two to learn that the GPSr on my Blackberry was only good for +/- 75m from GZ. That’s a lot of area to search. Turned out the gentleman in England could not help with the family history but he was helpful in creating my addiction. It didn’t take long for me to get my aunt into caching too.

It’s been a wild ride since then but I am addicted. So what’s your story?