Throughout the years of my childhood and young adulthood there has been one game that everyone seems to love and continue to play no matter what his/her age is. The scavenger hunt. I understand why this game is timeless to play. Scavenger hunts are flexible. You can change how difficult the scavenging is by making the clues just a plan list or having them all riddles, making the players solve those first before finding the items they are looking for. You can make the game timed or first-come-first-severed with all the correct answers as the winner. You can have the players work in teams or go solo! You can even make them find random items or you can make the scavenger hunt with a theme in mind, like Hawaiian themed or Halloween themed! The possibilities are endless! As great as scavenger hunts are however, they can be pretty frustrating.

For one, you can't really enjoy the game while you are playing it. Since most scavenger hunts I've been in are the first-come-first-served with all the right answers, you, or your team, are so focused on being number one that you don't have time to stop and just enjoy your surroundings. For example, I went on a scavenger hunt that it's theme was based off the Three Rivers Art Festival in Point Park, which is located in downtown Pittsburgh, PA. It has a lot of cool art vendors and bands playing there. But when I was on the scavenger hunt, I really couldn't enjoy any of the festivities because I had to keep my head in the game if I wanted to be the winner. And once the game was over, no one really wanted to walk around and enjoy the festival because we were all exhausted from the scavenging.

That is the second frustrating point about scavenger hunts; you're always exhausted after them. Even when they are easy, you still wear yourself out from walking all over the place. And the mental strain that you put on yourself trying to stay on top of the hunt and become number one! I drive myself crazy sometimes trying to figure out the riddles and then staying on top alert to find the items on the list. Sometimes I wonder why we put ourselves in these situations! Why do we enjoy the pressure of winning?

That brings me to my final, third point that frustrates me about these hunts: winning. For real though, why is winning a scavenger hunt such a big deal? Most scavenges I've been in the winner doesn't even win a cool prize, just personal satisfaction (as my dad always says). They get to rub it in everyone else's faces that they were better then everyone else because they found all the right items first on a list? Wow, I am sorry, but that's not really the best prize in the world, at least in my opinion.

All this said, I do generally like scavenger hunts. They keep you on your toes and make you think one step ahead. Even though I do get frustrated with them, I would play one any day. The real fact here is that it's just a game, nothing more, nothing less. Once you have that mindset, it doesn't really matter if you win or lose, it's just about playing with friends and making fun memories with each other. So the next time you are in a scavenger hunt, don't hold a huge grudge against the winner or be the winner that ribs he/her victory in everyone's faces. Just have fun with each other and enjoy the time you shared together.