Geocaching 101: Couples Travel Caching!

Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunt! Geocachers use a GPS to navigate to a set of coordinates, and then attempt to find the geocache (container) that’s hidden at the location. It’s amazing because geocache locations can be found all over the world! Many “caches” are hidden in locations that are important to people, have historical significance, or are
just pretty cool places to visit!

Clever Geocaches in the woods

Geocaches are found everywhere!

Liz and I discovered Geocaching several years ago on a whim. A friend introduced us to the hobby and we have been using geocaching as a way to discover new lands and cultures around the world. We tested out geocaching while on a boring road trip one day, and it added so much excitement to the drive. From then on we were hooked on incorporating Geocaching into
everywhere we traveled. One of the things that we love about our hobby of Geocaching is that you can only do it outside, and we enjoy the outdoors! So Geocaching gives us purpose to get up and get outside.  Besides being a way to keep physically active, Geocaching as a couple has given us the opportunity to explore nature, culture, and history together, as well as having spontaneous adventures all over the world!

Central Park New York

Geocaching in Central Park

Geocaching & Travel

Geocaching and road trips go hand in hand with us. We love planning little trips around our state of Georgia. In fact, Georgia has a Geocaching Tour of its state parks and historic sites. They have placed a series of caches in all state parks and you can achieve different levels as you discover more caches in the parks. This is a fun activity that we do locally, when we don’t have time to travel long distances. This Geocaching Tour has taken us on many beautiful hiking trails all around the state, and we have also learned so much about Georgia’s history through Geocaching.

Geocaching in Dublin

Geocaching in Dublin

Geocaching is a big part of our adventures when we travel abroad. Once we have decided on a travel destination and booked our travel, we go to the geocaching website (www.geocaching.com) and search for interesting caches in the areas we are visiting (we like to go for the caches with a lot of favorite points). Since most caches are hidden by locals, this is a great way to get to know the area and the sites that locals want to highlight. So besides seeing the main tourist sights, Geocaching will also take you off the beaten path and give you a chance to find hidden gems that most tourists don’t know about. We experienced this first hand when
we discovered a cache on a hidden hiking trail in the Scottish Highlands, which had a beautiful few of a Loch & a local monument to mark a historic event. This site was no where to be found on any tourist map.

Geocaching is not for Dummies

If you go in search of a Geocache, be sure to bring your thinking cap! There are some creative people out there hiding caches all over, and some are very cleverly hidden & disguised. It’s fun to solve the clues & try to figure out where they hid the cache. We had to think carefully while in Malaysia as we were trying to find a cache located in the local park near the Patronas Towers.
The saying is true, “two heads are better than one,” as we both worked hard to make the find. The view was well worth the effort.

Geocaching is also a great way to break up the regular tourist sight seeing itinerary. While walking and discovering Dublin, Ireland we used Geocaching to break the day up. After visiting so many museums and cathedrals, taking some time to hunt out a Geocache added a little adventure while we explored this beautiful and historic city.

We love what Geocaching has brought to us as a couple who travels. We started on whim with a friend, and now it is a big part of our travels around the world. We use Geocaching to help plan our trips and to seek out adventure in foreign lands. It’s a great activity for couples, families, and also for yourself as an independent adventure-seeker! It has gotten us out and more active and has taken us to places we wouldn’t have known about otherwise.

With over 2 million caches hidden all around the world, there is an adventure around every corner of the globe. We hope to see you out there Adventure Caching with us around the world.

1000Fights:  What a great idea!  Thanks to Liz and Josh for introducing us to this great couple activity.  You guys must promise us to take us on a hunt!

Liz and Josh

Guest post by our friends Liz and Josh of Peanuts or Pretzels.   For more on Geocaching around the world checkout Peanuts or Pretzels Geocaching Page.

, ,

5 Responses to Geocaching 101: Couples Travel Caching!

  1. Contented Traveller December 29, 2013 at 2:08 am #

    Awesome, brilliant, wonderful – we are in. Thanks to 1000 Fights and Peanuts or Pretzels for bringing this to our attention. This is like your own little amazing race. We will be ‘playing’ when we go away. I am going t email this to friends who will just love it. Thank you

  2. Jennifer December 30, 2013 at 11:23 am #

    I’ve heard of geocaching before but never really looked much into it. Sounds like it could be fun!

  3. Jennifer December 30, 2013 at 11:24 am #

    I’ve heard of geocaching before but never really looked much into it. Sounds like it could be fun!

  4. Laura December 30, 2013 at 11:27 pm #

    We discovered geocaching a few years ago and really enjoy it. It’s a fun way to add a new dimension to travel, or just do something interesting on a lazy weekend. We’ve picked up caches in Egypt, at the Grand Canyon, and numerous places in between.

  5. BillyG! and GgWhizz October 13, 2014 at 1:48 am #

    Great to read about your experiences. We love caching as a couple too. And ther are so many of all over the planet!