Happy New Year :)

Jan. 1, 2016

Re-re-restarting

A new year, and a new start :) I'm still active with geocaching and have been thinking of some tips for newbies. There are various guides out there, but I hope to add a new perspective on some of these things. I also plan to talk about some of my caching outings and post photos from them.

Geocaching Events

There is a kind of geocache called an "event". It shows up on the geocache map, and has its own page just like a regular cache, but it is simply a gathering of geocachers. They can last as little as 15 minutes, or as long as a weekend. There may be some that are longer than that, but I haven't seen them. That doesn't mean they aren't out there, just that I haven't seen them. When you attend an event, you log it on the cache page just like a physical cache, but you choose "Attended" instead of "Found it". You get credit for a cache, and a smiley shows up on the map where the cache icon is. [I often refer to a "found" cache as a "smiley"]

Here is an event planned in my area for Jan. 9th as it shows on the geocache map:

It's the speech bubble icon next to the green box "traditional" geocache

Event caches are open to all cachers that care to attend, their guests, and anyone interested; anyone, really! When I really started seriously geocaching, I was nervous to go to an event. I wasn't sure if anyone would talk to me, or what I would have to talk about if anyone did talk to me! But I went to one and had a great time :)

Back in 2013, Groundspeak (the company that runs geocaching.com) ran the challenge of "31 Days of Caching" during August, to find a cache every day in August. There were several events planned in town during this time, and the first one was a meet and greet at Cold Stone Creamery on a Saturday afternoon. I showed up a little late, but everyone was really nice and I chatted with many people. It was neat meeting people whom I had only previously known as names on a cache log, or as cache owners on a cache page :) 

I soon became a regular at events in Gainesville. After that, I started looking for events whenever I was traveling out of town, and then planning trips because of events like the Florida Finders' Fest Mega event (a "mega" event is when 500+ people attend), held in the Ocala National Forest every October.

Most of the events in my town were at a local bar with a limited menu. I enjoy going there and hanging out with local cachers, but I had heard some other people saying they wished there were more family-friendly events. I decided I would host one, and in Jan. of 2015 I hosted my first event in a nearby park. I held it on a Saturday afternoon at a park that had what I dubbed the 3Ps:  Parking, Playground, and Potties :)

There were about 20 people that attended and I think it went pretty well :) 

Most of the group

My intention was to host an event at a different park with the 3Ps every other month. That didn't happen, but it's ok. I ended up hosting 5 events in 2015, with my 6th being today--Jan. 1, 2016.

My point is, if you're wondering about attending a geocaching event, DO IT! Worst case scenario: you have a bad time but get a smiley out of of it ;) Best case scenario: you have an excellent time, meet new friends, maybe get a caching buddy, and get a smiley out of it :)

Happy New Year Everyone :)

Cache count: 1605