What got you started?

[Beach Comber]

I learned of the great fun from one of the Maine's early cachers ......... Noreasta. He explained the concept, which sounded interesting, but I don't think I could really understand what great fun it would be until I went out to find a cache. Imagine this - the first hunt I went on with him was a DNF - too funny - maybe that's how I got headed down that path so easily - LOL. Just the same, it clearly held great potential so I purchased a GPS and away I went. I began an adventure that I didn't even realize was possible - great fun! great people! great places!

[robt]

Hmm How I got started, it was from TAT telling me about it and I am not sure if my first cache was Eartha or some of the caches that TAT did on the way to kentucky. After thinking about it and looking around for a long time I finnally broke down and ordered mt fisrt GPS on ebay and started doing it on my own and have loved it. Now that my daughter is out of the house nadI have time I have found it a great way to get out and explore in the afternoons after work on on the day off when you have nothing to do.

Shortley after getting I did learn a valuable lesson though, Do not plot the shortest route to a location on your GPS in the winter and give it to your daughter and ex-wife when they are driving your car........ almost lost my daughter, car and my GPS to a bay

I have had some great times, met some really cool people, and had some real fun adventures so far and am looking for a whole lot more in the years to come.

RobT

I would tell you when I found my 1st cache but I lost that account so I had to go back and refind a few caches.

[chinacachers]

We first got started when one of my daughter's classmates ( Hanson Rd explorers) told us about it. It sounded interesting. They told us about the cache right behind the China School and the gc website. After, studying the directions, my daugther, myself and my mother (Fairfield Folks) headed out to see what it was all about. Well, we were successful and had a blast. Couldn't wait to do the next one. My son noticed our excitement and said he would go with us sometime. I almost fell to the floor as he thinks everything is "lame." Soon after we changed our name from chinagirls to chinacachers.
We have since acquired a garmin etrex....still trying to figure it out. We look forward to doing lots more. It's been a great way for us to get out as a family and enjoy the outdoors!

[SewN2Cachin']

An ex-boyfriend introduced me to the hobby while we were dating. I think my use of "the force," my "geo-sense" for finding them, ticked him off. I told him it was beginner's luck....

When the relationship ended (his choice), I decided that I would by my own GPSr, as sort of a way to re-claim something I enjoyed from the relationship (though I decided early on that I wouldn't find the caches he owns -- Hey, I may be crazy, but I'm no stalker). To go out and find caches on my own terms has been awesome. I had forgotten how much I loved nature, and Lord knows I need the exercise. Plus the technology is just way too cool for a nerd-girl like me to pass up!! It's brought me closer to other people in my life as I've shared it with them, especially my Mom, whom I never thought would become a geo-addict like me!

So, I guess I've traded one love for another; I lost the boyfriend, but gained a hobby that is really like no other. Strange the way life is, isn't it? Sometimes out of the worst kind of situations, new windows of opportunity suddenly appear....

[vicbiker]

Three years ago my old buddy Don(number seven) and myself made a five mile snowshoe trail up and over Russel Mt. Later we were trying to lay out where the trail was on a Topo map,we weren,t having a lot of luck.The next morning was a sunday so Don shows up at the store and saids lest go to L.L.Beans and get a gps.I have to admit I really didn't know what he was talking about,but we went and he bought a geko 201.He spent days climbing the mt. coming home and putting the waypoints on a map.He was like a kid with a new toy,but everytime I would go with him the batterieswere dead,the reception wasn;t good or he couldn't remember how he had done it before.I wasn't impressed,give me a compass anyday.

This spring his X tells him she and her husband are geocaching in S.Me and its lots of fun.So Dons saids we should try it,hey its outdoors and envolves everything we like to do.You know the rest of the story,he's hooked and I'm addicted.In only a few months I have found so many places in this state,a state I've lived in for 58 years,that I never knew exsisted.I also bought a Etrax and have learned how to use it.Now if I could just learn how to type!!!

[DiverDave1998]

Well Its like this i saw thie thing in the paper. seem liked it would be fun.
and i figured maybe just maybe i would find a lost female geocacher lost and i would lead her to my place opps i mean out of the woods.
but so far all i hjave found is 1 xxx dvd no woman and no blow up dolls but ill keep looking .

[brdad]

Well Its like this i saw thie thing in the paper. seem liked it would be fun.
and i figured maybe just maybe i would find a lost female geocacher lost and i would lead her to my place opps i mean out of the woods.
but so far all i hjave found is 1 xxx dvd no woman and no blow up dolls but ill keep looking .

What about spunky? She seems to have a lot of people talking about her lately.

[Cache Maine]

An ex-boyfriend introduced me to the hobby while we were dating.

My story is vaquely similar....however I introduced caching to the ex-boyfriend. He had heard of it before, but never found any. I had heard of it just a few days earlier and just had to find out what it was about. We set out to find our first cache, Sanborn Pond, without a gps, about two years ago. (Actually, this Sunday, June 11, 2006 will be my 2nd Anniversary for caching.) It wasn't long before I was hooked. We found a few here and there, placed a few and eventually, I started finding caches on my own, more and more of them, and he found less. Caching was suddenly how I wanted to spend my free time so I launched my solo career and it's been non-stop ever since.

[Hiram357]

it's pretty interesting to read how so many people adapted their lives around geocaching... people that were at work, or tromping on the trails now planning their days to fit in some caches. It definitley makes some boring days a bit more exciting. I love it when I'm at work and just happen to be lookin at the GPS and see a cache within a short distance of the route I'm driving. (it's just for that reason that I started enjoying the stop and gos, and the little micros here and there, it's a great excuse to stop and stretch)

[The Family Three]

Hello everyone, we are The Family Three...(old parents and an adult son!) Hubby mentioned a GPS system a few weeks before our 28th anniversary and since he's the hiker in the family I thought it was a great idea to get him one. On Mothers Day we took it out for a spin and we were hooked! And what a plus to have our son along...he says it reminds him of our Boy Scout days! (Long time ago!) Of course, once it stops raining his motorcycle will be calling Last weekend we had one of my sisters and her husband joining us and now another one is interested. People have been so helpful and friendly...thank you!