What is Geocaching?
The Geocaching web site says the following:
"Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location."Geocaching is the world's biggest scavenger hunt. Containers of all sorts are hidden all over the world; there are over 30,000 caches hidden in my home state of Pennsylvania alone. Each container contains a logbook, and larger containers also contain small items to trade. Using the Geocaching web site and a GPS receiver or a smartphone, people travel to all sorts of interesting locations looking for these hidden containers. Once found, they sign the logbook, trade trinkets, and record their finds on the web site.
If you have Geocached before you already know about caching, and the wonderful mix of joy and frustration that is its hallmark. If not, I urge you to check it out. It's free to play, and you don't even need a smartphone or GPS if you just want to test the waters a bit. Try it out!
Who are you?
My name is Jason. I turned 40 years old in October of 2012. I'm married and have a son who is 7 years old at the time of this writing (January 2012). I work in IT. I have been working with computers most of my life, and at various points have had as many as 11 computers in the house (my wife loved those days). I'm approximately 6'8" tall. I live in Southeast Pennsylvania (Delco), but was born in Delaware and grew up in South Jersey. I have many other nerdy hobbies, though the only other one that comes up on this site is Kite Aerial Photography.
I can be contacted either through comments on this blog, my Geocaching profile, or via Twitter.
How long have you been caching?
I actually signed up on the Geocaching website way back in 2005, but as I did not have a GPS I would only occasionally log on and stare wistfully at my monitor at the list of local caches that I wouldn't be able to find. It was only in 2011 that I found my first cache, and even then it took me another year to actually get out caching for real.
In July of 2012, my father got my son Jack a Travel Bug, which we placed in the cache we had found back in 2011. Our interest was piqued, so I started planning short family outings, using Google Maps in place of an actual GPS. I received a Garmin eTrex 20 for my birthday, and since then have cached quite a bit. You could say that I'm obsessed...
From July of 2012 to mid December I found 177 caches, mostly during lunch break at work. I'm on a short caching hiatus as of writing this page (January 2013), but hopefully should be out and about (and caching again) very soon.
What is your favorite aspect of Geocaching?
Discovering new places. I have learned more about the local history of my area through caching than what I learned online and at the library. On top of that, many of my favorite caches are located in places of historical significance. I've found General Anthony Wayne's tomb (one of them, at least), seen one of the largest trees in Pennsylvania, wandered through the grounds of an old 1920's mansion, and found many more spots just like these. I would never have known that these places existed if I never started Geocaching.
Why this blog?
Self indulgence? No, really!
In all seriousness - this is the third or fourth blog I have started over the years, but the first one ever that I was able to dedicate to a topic that I really enjoy. Writing about caching lets me hone my writing skills while going on and on (and on and on and on sometimes) about something I really enjoy discussing.
Blogging also allows me to put some of my free time toward something at least somewhat productive, compared to playing Minecraft or wasting hours on Reddit.
