Living in the Pacific Northwest, I have always had nature around me. Washington is called the evergreen state after all. With so many nooks and crannies to explore, and no idea where to start, my dad would take me and my brother out to go geocaching. The perfect way to explore and find new places you may never have gone before. But what is geocaching?
Geocaching is something that I would call treasure hunting for adults. How it works is you download the program onto a GPS or the app on a smartphone and are given a location. After that, you go to the general location and have to search for the geocache. Geocaches come in all shapes and sizes. They can be mini mint tins or large ammo boxes. When finding the big boxes you are expected to trade a small trinket that you have for one in the box. Some even have items that you can log and track all over the world. There are also picture geocaches that are basically a photo scavenger hunt on steroids. All of these possibilities create many stories and adventures to tell.
Geocaching has brought me to many places. I have explored ice caves and green forests, riversides and sandy beaches; this is even a worldwide event. Geocaches can be hidden in any state, city, country or continent. The majority are hidden in the U.S. and Western Europe but can be found almost anywhere.
I personally have found geocaches in different states across North America, Jamaica, Mexico, Canada and The Cayman Islands. I would love to go explore other countries to find them. Geocaches take you places you would have never dreamed of going. To find them I have crossed rivers and hiked mountains. It often requires getting down and dirty to locate one. Geocaching isn't restricted to nature, though. There are many placed in urban areas all over the place. There is one cache that I found years ago and is magnetically attached under a bridge in my hometown that I check up on every once in a while. To my knowledge, it is still there.
Whether you need an excuse to get outside or are just plain bored I would encourage you to try it out.
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*Disclaimer: This isn't sponsored, I just think more people should know about this.
