Geocaching

Today I have mostly been planning my first cache placement.

Geocaching, for those who don't know, is kind of a high tech treasure hunt. Over 10 years ago the American military opened up their satellite network to the general public. This mainly led to the growth of sat navs but also to a game called Geocaching. All over the world (and even one on the international space station) are hidden little containers with logs, travelling game pieces and treasure in them. You then use a GPS devise to find them and log your visits on a web site. You can find out more here. They explain it far better than I can.

I started doing this in September when I finally worked out how to use GPS on my phone. So far I have only found 15 caches but I'm hooked. It's a great excuse for a walk and it opens your eyes to the environment so much more than you would have done otherwise. Little i loves finding the treasure and choosing what to leave in the caches for other children. She doesn't like leaving dinosaurs because she's worried they would scare anyone who found them!

The other side to the game is hiding caches. This takes a bit of planning and understanding of how the game works. So I decided it was about time I had a go at hiding a cache. I got my Tupperware box, a few toys for any kids that might find it and a travel bug.

A travel bug is a dog tag that gets moved from cache to cache by fellow geocachers. The new location is logged on the website for another cacher to find. Some travel bugs have missions. This is also the first travel bug I have owned. It's attached to a keyring with a picture of my girls on it and it's mission is to teach the girls about the world. I'm hoping that through the comments people leave on my bugs web page and tracking where it is going, little i and m will get a wider understanding of the world.

I placed the items in the box and have hidden the box in the countryside. So there it is, ready to be found, the information and co-ordinates are on the website. I can't wait to see what the geocaching community make of my first attempts at a hide.