1. Get outside- The world has so many beautiful views and yet people are more concerned with what's going on with the screen in front of their face. The beauty of geocaching is that it can take as short or long of time as you want it to. It can be a quick stop at the highway lookout spot or an all day hike through a national park. You decide. So take a walk around town, finally check out the wildlife reserve on the edge of town or plan a weekend camping trip to a state park.
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2. Connect with your kids- You'd be amazed by how searching for a container in the woods brings people together. If you have a little one give them the GPS and let them lead the way. Even if you spot the cache first, step back and let them search and find it. They may dance around and rub it in but it is a great confidence boost for them. If you have an older kid or teenager plan out a longer hike and use it to find out what's going on at school or with their friends. Don't settle for "Nothing, school's boring." Go beyond "What's your favorite class or teacher?" Find out what it is about the teacher that they like, is it the way the teacher helps them, is it the class content etc.
3. Connect with yourself- For me nothing says freedom like jumping on my motorcycle and hitting the open road. For others it might be hitting the bike trail or just taking a stroll through town. There is something about being alone with nature and your thoughts that is refreshing, exhilarating and therapeutic. Whatever road, trail or sidewalk you're on there is probably a geocache nearby.
4. Exercise!- I think most of us would say that we should exercise more than we currently do, right? And it's definitely easier if we're doing something fun that makes it seem like it's not exercise. That is exactly how geocaching works! Check out this study that Texas A&M did on the health benefits of geocaching.
5. Learn something- There are many ways you can turn geocaching into an educational experience. A couple ways are the mystery/puzzle caches, multi-caches and my favorite, the earth-caches. Mystery or puzzle caches give you clues or a puzzle to solve in order to get the actual coordinates for the cache. Multi- caches will give you the coordinates for the first "cache" then you will have to get information from the location, maybe a sign or historical marker, that translates into the coordinates for the next "cache" and so on until you reach the final cache that has the real cache with the logbook. Earth-caches don't have actual cache boxes, they are just a geological location. Many have placards explaining the history or significance of the location. There are many ways you can use geocaching as an educational experience. Look at how some teachers are using it in the classroom.
Share why you cache in the comments below.
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