Getting to know me: Geocaching

I started Geocaching nearly five years ago.
A German comedian (Bernhard Hoecker) wrote a book about it. I read it, and was immediately hooked.

Geocaching is a worldwide treasure hunting game. The first cache was placed in the year 2000 in the USA.
It's difficult to explain, but very easy to do.

The most popular website is www.geocaching.com. Currently, there are over 1 million geocaches hidden.

What the heck are you talking about?
Geocaching consists of the words geography (caches are hidden outside. You have to go out in the nature!) and caching (cache is a term for computer memory. A way to store things easily).
All you need is a computer with an internet connection, and a gps device (it's similiar to a navigation system).

The so called owner places a cache somewhere, writes down the coordinates and information.
You - the finder - take these coordinates from the webpage. Copy them to your gps device, and go!

Caches are hidden. You have to search them. Sometimes it's pretty easy, sometimes it can be annoying.
Once you've found a cache, you have to sign a logbook (tell the person, who put it there that you found it). In bigger caches there are trading items. You can take what you like, but you have to leave something in return.

You place the cache exactly where you found it, go home, and tell the owner that you found the cache (and what you liked / didn't like).

That's it! =)

Where are these caches?
Everywhere. Literally.
You can find them in forests, parks, near streets, in cities, at places of interests, at memorials, in ruins (or the so called lost places), on hills, in caves, holes, tunnels, underwater, in trees - the possibilities are infinte.

Of course, there are certain rules (don't bury them, not near railroad tracks...stuff like that), but you can play with your imagination.

Types of caches
The most common one is called "Traditional". That's the one I described earlier.
Then there are Multi-Caches. They have different stages. You find clues, riddles, tasks at them, and have to find your way to the final. Like a scavenger hunt.

Mysteries are riddle caches. You have to solve different puzzles to find out the coordinates.

A cool thing are the Earthcaches. They show special greographic characteristics, things that our Mother Nature created and changed.
You don't find a box, but you have to answer some questions and take a picture of you.

Oh, and of course there are different sizes of containers from nanos (1cm) to big boxes.
And there are different difficulties from 1 to 5 (that involves diving, climbing, stuff like that).

Meeting people
Although geocaching sounds like a secret society (we try to be careful, so that Muggles - non-cacher - won't get suspicious), we like to meet others.
Where I live, we meet at least once a month. It's always fun. Most people are really nice.
And nobody cares, if you're a woman or a man, if you're white, brown, or green, if you're rich or poor, if you're pretty or ugly...
the only thing that counts is that you love geocaching.
We try to support each other, create new ideas, go out together, and just have fun!

Impressions

That's how a cache container can look like...

Scary, isn't it?

Signing the logbook on a ship!

Caching with friends

me, my friend and the geocache

solving a riddle

car wreckage

an old tennis court

that's a mini logbook

a micro cache container

me :P

my friend and I...having fun

Celebrating ten years of geocaching in my hometown

If you didn't understand what I tried to tell you...

here is a short video that explains everything.