Geocaching: A Fun, Free, & Unique Family Activity
This Hip2Save.com Deal was hand-posted on Monday, January 31st, 2011 at 10:40 am.
Many of the emails I receive on a regular basis ask for suggestions on fun, family activities that involve very little expense out of pocket. Personally, one of my favorite activities is to pack a picnic and head for the park (not very creative but usually lots of fun). However, if you want to embark on a unique (and FREE!) family activity, you may want to consider geocaching.
What is geocaching you ask?! Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers (young and old!) equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online.
My kids, hubby, and I recently had the opportunity to go geocaching and it was a ton of fun! We found a geocache that was hidden about 25 miles from our home so we all piled into the car with our GPS system in hand and headed that direction. Once we were within walking distance of our “hidden treasure”, the kids jumped out of the car and used the GPS device to find the geocache. It took about 30 minutes of avid searching to finally discover the geocache cleverly placed underneath a pile of rocks. The kids were so excited to open the geocache and fill out the logbook (i.e. a tiny notebook) with their names, ages, and date that they located the geocache (it was really cool to look back in the logbook and see that this same geocache had existed for the past 5+ years). They then were able to choose a special “treasure” from inside the geocache (i.e. a small plastic dinosaur) and they also left a “treasure” of their own (a plastic spider) for the next person. All in all, we had a great day on our geocaching trip and spent nothing out of pocket other than the gas… it was well worth it!
Check out this cool video below which explains even more about geocaching…
Do you want to go geocaching? Here’s what you need to do…
* Head over here to register for a FREE Basic Membership.
* Click “Hide & Seek a Cache.”
* Enter your zip code and click “search.”
* Choose any geocache from the list and click on its name.
* Enter the coordinates of the geocache into your GPS Device.
* Use your GPS device to assist you in finding the hidden geocache.
* Sign the logbook and return the geocache to its original location.
* Share your geocaching stories and photos online.
Have you been geocaching? If so, did you enjoy the experience? Let us know in the comments below.
(Thanks for the reminder about this great activity, Holly!)
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Meg says:
I have never heard of this! I must be totally living under some rocks, just like the hidden treasures
I definitely want to try it!!
Kiyon says:
I’ve heard of this before but never really researched or take action on it. I think our family will really love this activity too. I just went to the website and there are tons in our town including the one near our backyard, walking distance. Quick questions on the map, what are those legends, some cache icon has white background and some gray, what is the difference??
Angela says:
Awesome to see this on your site! My husband and I do a lot of Geocaching. We often take family members when we go to visit them in their hometowns and when we go on vaccation we take our GPS in case we have time.
My favorite experience is when we went to Haiwii last year and hiked to find 2 caches in places we would have never gone if it weren’t for geocaching.
katie says:
YES same here!!! even in your own hometown, it takes you to places you otherwise don’t visit and gets you off your butt.
Jess says:
We have been geocacing since July of 2007. It is awesome! We have two sets of twins and it’s an activity we can all do together. To date we’ve found over 2,000 geocaches. If you have a GPS (or you can buy one on ebay or Craigslist) I HIGHLY recommend this family friendly activity. If you have any questions about it you may email me at jesskeddy@msn.com
Sheila says:
what kind of things to you find when you go “caching”?
katie says:
depends on the size of the cache. often it’s just little trinkety things, and some really tiny containers have only a log (a sheet of paper that you write your name/date on to record your visit). i’ve been to a giant cache that was like a treasure box, that was huge, but rare. one cache had a disposable camera in it so that every person finding it could take a picture of themselves, i thought that was a cute idea. but most are small containers (so they can be well-hidden) and so it’s not much – the point is the hunt really, not the stuff. and the hunt is fun!
Dana says:
My husband and I used to geocache when were dating, 7 years ago. At one point, he supposedly created a new cache, dragged me to another state to find it with him, and that’s where I found my engagement ring! His brother was guarding it until we “found” it, not to worry
Lorrie says:
I did this with a visiting friend several years ago when she was here with her kids. I REALLY liked it and wanted to do more but didn’t have the right type of GPS system. There is a less techno type called Letter Boxing and you can find out more at http://www.atlasquest.com/. You don’t need any special equipment, just a rubber stamp and pad I think. It is fun to do this while traveling to other areas. I had forgotten about all of this until now, maybe I will make the fam do it with me again on my birthday in 2 weeks. I will be 50 but you’re never too old to go on a treasure hunt!!
katie says:
ok sorry to make tons of comments here… but wanted to add that you can also get the Geocaching.org App for your phone (my husband has the iphone app and it’s GREAT!)… much cheaper than buying an additional gadget.
Anonymous says:
Thanks. Got the app. Can’t wait to try it with my son!
Shanan Osinski says:
We love geocaching! We just discovered it last summer, and with living near Chicago the winters are very cold! Haven’t done much caching since November, but can’t wait til it warms up!
There are over 15,000 caches in a 5 mile radius around me. It is so weird that this subculture exsists and the caches are all around you, you don’t even know it!
Rachelle says:
We have been caching since Oct. 2009. It has been a complete blast!! We have around 1100 finds. Great activity for the whole family. We started caching with a few of our friends and I cant tell you how much fun we have together. Great way to get off the couch and be active with little to no money. It is crazy how many geocaches are around you and you never knew they were there!
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Carolyn says:
My husband was really into geocaching about 10 years ago. He loved to find them and to make them! He hasn’t been out geocaching in a long time though. I bet this post will spark his interest again!
Tracy says:
My husband and I have been doing this since October. It has been one of our favorite past times. We do it every weekend now. We have even put an additional 3 caching out in our area. I would suggest this activity to anybody. It is a very frugal (if you have the GPS), and since doing this I don’t shop as often.
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