Cachevolution

While 8.5 years is a blink of an eye in the grand scheme of things, I've noticed some distinct and evolving patterns in the way I geocache, between when I started in 2003, and today. Like a lot of people, I started caching with my kids, who were "tweens" at the time, as geocaching was a great way to get them, and me, off the couch and exploring the outdoors. Plus, my kids loved it, and I loved spending time with them.

As they got older, they became, as most teenagers do, less interested in doing stuff with their dad. As my oldest daughter likes to say, "No thanks, dad. Geocaching is for nerds." For those of you lucky enough to be caching with your young children, all I can say is enjoy it while it lasts.

This mini-evolution didn't cause me to stop geocaching, however. In fact, I found I was able to go caching in more remote areas requiring longer hikes or bike rides than would have been feasible with my kids. This has allowed me to see and explore areas within my home region that I'd never been to before in my life. Another of my favorite aspects of this hobby of ours.

In the more recent past, I've become friends (again, through geocaching) with a couple of local cachers. The three of us have taken several road trips over the past couple of years in an effort to satisfy the requirements of different challenge caches, including various California DeLorme challenges, County challenges, and Quad challenges.

Having lived in California my entire life, I am amazed at how much of this beautiful state I have never seen before, until now; all thanks to geocaching.

While everyone's reasons and motivations for geocaching are different, if you are just starting out caching with your kids now, don't be surprised if your "cachevolution" follows a similar pattern as that described here.

Cache On!