Interesting topic . . . and very timely.

First off, as some other folks have stated . . . for me geocaching is a hobby and as such a discretionary "line item" in my household budget . . . but when I stack this hobby up against ATVing or sledding (costs to register, fuel, eating out, trailering on occasion, etc.) it seems as though geocaching is a real bargain . . . more importantly the benefits for me outweigh the costs (i.e. the views, getting outside, getting some exercise, meeting up with friends, etc.)

That said . . .

1) I've been opting to run my new "beater" car . . . it's not a real beater car like my old 1990 Celica, but nevertheless the Honda does get pretty comparable gas mileage and is a heckuva lot better than the gas guzzling 4Runner. Honestly, I prefer the gas sipping Accord better . . . except when my stupid Magellan takes me down a gravel road with washouts . . . major washouts . . . in the middle.

2) I intend to see if folks might want to partner up and car pool . . . and I should add that other than grabbing local caches near home or at work I tend to wait and do a day or a weekend of caching rather than running out for an evening of caching. For me caching is a real treat and so I tend to go out on just one or two "big" outings rather than lots of shorter ones. Usually I try to combine these outings with camping . . . that way I get a "two-fer" . . . well "three-fer" if you're able to go caching and camping with friends.

3) I often skip meals while caching . . . I know, I know . . . sounds hard to believe. However, this past weekend I tended to snack more than eating real meals . . . although I did run into Parmacheenee while eating my "lupper" near a cache site. I also try to pack drinks in coolers and often stock up on water (even though I'm not a big water drinker) when I find free tap water at parks, springs, etc.

4) Like Squirrelcache said . . . plan out the day. Don't rely on the "caches closest to you" feature on the GPSr -- oftentimes that will direct you to go one way and then the next. Instead use good software or at the very least take a look at gc.com's google maps and plot out your trip.

5) Like Vicbiker said . . . I often look at cache density when choosing where to go on my caching adventures since I'm a pretty busy guy and I honestly don't want to drive several hours to find just one cache (that's just me . . . and my opinion). However, I also don't want to spend all day looking for GRCs and LPCs . . . I tend to pick a location farther from home in a place that looks interesting or with caches that sound scenic, historical, etc . . . so density plays a part for me . . . but it's density + location that really matters (i.e. one reason I went to Eustis last year was due to the fact that a particular gcmainer had put out a lot of caches in an area that appealed to me . . . and there's another gcmainer that put out a bunch of caches in the Abbot area a few weeks back that I noted would be good to check out.)

6) Finally as Native Mainer mentioned . . . I also will try to incorporate caching into my commute . . . but eventually you either reach a point where all you have left are new caches in the area or you end up driving 1 1/2 hours and 66 miles to work for what is normally a 45 minute and 33 mile commute . . . but ah, at least I can justify it to myself . . . it was technically on the "way to work."