What is Geocaching?

These days so many things have gone high-tech. Most people in today's society don't even remember a day without television, not to mention a day when cable television was unheard of.

In today's tech-savvy world even treasure hunting has taken on a whole new meaning. Instead of wandering the sandy ocean beaches looking for buried treasures to take home as souvenirs, some people now use high-tech computer gadgets and specialized topographical software or GPS mapping software to locate purposely hidden containers full of gizmos and gadgets in the latest high-tech, community-based game. The goal is to find as many geocaches (small, hidden containers) as you can. In essence, geocaching is a modern version of hide-and-seek for the technologically inclined.

Geocaching has been around since the year 2000, but very few people know about it. Today the sport has grown to an estimated 5 million geocachers worldwide. These modern-day treasure hunters are a mixed variety of old and young alike. Many geocachers are families looking for an outdoor activity that everyone can enjoy. After all, is there anything better than being outdoors with the ones you love on a warm spring day? Add to that the excitement of finding a buried treasure that could be as simple as a pen or as intriguing as a stash of old baseball cards and you've got the perfect family outing.

The basic code of geocaching ethics states that if you are going to take the new-found treasure, you replace it with something of equal value. However, most fans of this sport agree that the best reward of this modern game of hide-and-seek is the thrill of actually finding the cache and visiting new places they have not yet discovered. Geocaching can take you on a great discovery fun treasures as well as new and exciting places to visit.

Geocaching is also an environmentally friendly sport. The geocaching community is dedicated to preserving the earth and keeping the parks and cache-friendly places clean and free of litter and graffiti. At the same time they also make sure these places are in tip-top shape. Each year geocachers celebrate the international "Cache in Trash Out" event. This is an event where geocachers worldwide commit to cleaning up their local environment using targeted coordinates while at the same time enjoying searching for geocaches.

All that is needed to begin geocaching is a GPS unit and access to the internet. Coordinates for caches are located on line. There are many websites that host a plethora of information on locations of caches. It doesn't matter how fancy your GPS unit is, as long as you are able to plot your coordinates you are on your way to enjoying the exciting sport of geocaching.

For those who are interested in digging a bit deeper into the software apps you need to start geocaching, we recommend you take a look at our GPS Mapping Software Reviews.

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