Geocaching: Priceless Treasure Hunting

By Diane Kollman on September 30, 2012

You’re a poor college student. You have no cash to spare and now find yourself surfing websites like Uloop just to pass the time. Have you ever wanted to participate in something easy, addictive, endless and FREE?

And, to top it off, what if I told you it is always available and can be found just about anywhere? No, this perfect formula of awesomeness I’m describing is not sleeping (although one could argue it as a close second). The activity I’m actually referring to is geocaching, a global treasure hunt that anyone can participate in.

Photo Credit: The Outdoors Guy

What is Geocaching?

So what the heck does a “global treasure hunt” look like? Gone are the days of pirate ships and treasure chests. That was child’s play. This is geocaching. This is the real deal. Geocaching uses the power of personal GPS devices to track your location in reference to a hidden “cache,” often a small container such as an Altoids tin or a film canister, that could be anywhere on the globe. The whole world is the playing field and it has been thoroughly covered with these caches. In fact, several caches call Antarctica home. There’s even a cache on the International Space Station. On the OSU campus alone, there are about three dozen caches waiting to be found, meaning that you probably pass at least one every day on your way to class. The cache has been placed by anyone willing to take the time to create one and hide it. With the cache locations already preloaded into your GPS, you select which one you want to seek, travel to it, and find it where ‘X’ marks the spot. Waiting inside the discovered cache is a piece of paper for you to sign and often collectables like toy cars, foreign coins or gold (if you ever find any of this gold, let me know).

The Process

As you will discover upon starting, geocaching is more of a process than anything. First, to get full enjoyment out of the experience, grab a friend, family member, or your significant other. Once you have a device with a GPS, whether it’s a dedicated GPS unit or an iPhone, go ahead and create an account to get started (if using an iPhone, download the geocaching app first). Use the device to search for caches in your area. Once you find a desirable option, use the GPS (and your favorite form of transportation) to navigate to it. Each cache will have a description, hint, logs and pictures associated with it to aid in your search. If you’re lucky enough to find the cache, open it up and sign your account name on the paper log with a pencil or pen. Once you replace the container exactly how you found it, post a log online to tell everyone that you found it and to keep track of which ones you’ve found. Congratulations, you just logged your first Geocache! Now try for another. As you start, just go out and have fun. If you can’t find your first few caches, don’t let it discourage you– you’ll get the hang of it really quickly. Happy Caching!

For everything you’ll ever need to know about geocaching, visit www.geocaching.com. 

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