Geocaching is an enhanced outdoor treasure hunt activity in which adventure enthusiast from all corners of the world can participate. The primary idea behind geocaching is to locate geocaches, which are basically hidden boxes containing treasures, and share the experience in online platforms. Those who participate in geocaching adventure are required to have a GPS unit, which helps them to trace down the geocache. The GPS unit provides the latitude and longitude of the site and the participants subsequently search for the exact position of the hidden cache. The following is key information relevant to geocaching for beginners.

How to Begin?

To initiate your geocaching adventure, you are required to complete a checklist and sign up for free membership. Subsequently, you will need to acquire walking or hiking gear, refreshments and a GPS device to track geocaches. For this purpose, you may use a unit that is purely dedicated to geocaching, or merely a GPS enabled smartphone. The former connects directly to geocaching database and enables you to choose the required cache and monitor it while the latter requires you to install an app. Every weekend I put my little daughter in her baby seat and we start a cache.

What is a Geocache?

A Geocache or Cache is the treasure you need to find by the end of your adventure. The treasures come in different colors, shapes and worth; these are usually items that hold a particular level of value like an ornament. Geocaches also come in different sizes with the bigger ones including “swapsies” that are left by Geocachers who found the treasure ahead of you. The swapped items are often valuable ornaments. As a rule, you have to leave an item that has an equivalent or higher value than what you discovered. This rule ensures that everybody ends up with a fantastic souvenir by the end of the day. However, you are not required to trade if you don’t like what you find. In your adventure, you might encounter geocoins, travel bugs or a log book where you can record your name to show that you have discovered the cache.

What To Do After the Adventure

At the culmination of the adventure, most people choose to share their experiences by reporting what they found at Geocaching website. You can log on to the site you registered and key in the same information you wrote on the logbook. This part is completely optional, and some people prefer to participate in their geocaching adventure discreetly.

Geocaching is a combination of physical activity, puzzle solving, adventure and computer gaming. The activity has a certain level of mystique that makes it very enticing. It basically entails venturing into the unknown with nothing more than a map, courage, navigation and a high level of determination. Geocaching helps people to find and trade some of their goodies with items that they deem valuable. This game is suitable for people of all ages, including groups of families and friends.