Get a life?

[+ToneScale]

Dear GC fans,

 

I am new to the concept of GEOCaching. Like it very much but I am not able in all cases to find the cache so I truthfully fill in: "Not found" and try it another time.

 

Now some of geocachers have baffling statistics. And then I'm talking about someone who is actively for, example, 8 years and has found 5000 caches. Now when I use a little bit arithmetic, I notice that such a person would have found almost two caches every single day for a period of 8 years. (5000/8=625). Excuse me?! As much as I like Geocaching, I cannot imagine that someone is actually GeoCaching for 8 year, twice (or even more) a day!! Or am I incorrect and are there GeoCachers who collect thousands of caches and must travel thousands of miles to get those caches??

 

Kind regards,

 

NanFaye

 

<typos>

Edited April 7, 2014 by NanFaye

[+Great Scott!]

Could you imagine that same person finding 14 caches over a two day period (like a weekend) for 8 years?

[+Semper Questio]

Dear GC fans,

 

I am new to the concept of GEOCaching. Like it very much but I am not able in all cases to find the cache so I truthfully fill in: "Not found" and try it another time.

 

Now some of geocachers have baffling statistics. And then I'm talking about someone who is actively for, example, 8 years and has found 5000 caches. Now when I use a little bit arithmetic, I notice that such a person would have found almost two caches every single day for a period of 8 years. (5000/8=625). Excuse me?! As much as I like Geocaching, I cannot imagine that someone is actually GeoCaching for 8 year, twice (or even more) a day!! Or am I incorrect and are there GeoCachers who collect thousands of caches and must travel thousands of miles to get those caches??

 

Kind regards,

 

NanFaye

 

<typos>

 

Statistics and reality are not the same thing. Your 2 a day every day for 8 years brings a couple things to mind right off...

 

1. That is not that big of a deal. Some places are so cache rich that you would actually have to hold yourself back to only do 2 a day. I have to take my daughter to an appointment every week. While she is there for an hour, I go find a quick 8-10 caches.

 

2. Back to the stats thing. I think it is safe to say that very few cachers actually cache at some magic set pace. Back to my weekly caching for example, I may have a really bang-up hour and get 14 park and grabs. But then I don't get any more the rest of that week. Sure, I average out to 2 a day, but that is far from the reality.

 

Getting 2 caches in a day is not a big deal at all, depending on the 2 caches. If they are two urban park and grab hides, that could take all of 10 minutes or less. However, if they involve scuba, kayak, mountain hiking, or something else more intense, you could be sorely tested just to get those 2 in a day.

 

And don't be so impressed by the numbers. 5,000 in 8 years is not such a big deal. I have about 5400 after 10 years and my caching buddy, who started after me, is nearing 50,000. Others have more in less time. But even that means nothing except to them. I know people who have logged hundreds, if not thousands, of caches in such a way I would consider improper. But everyone plays their own way so each person's find number really only means something to them and should in no way be used as a measure of their skill or success unless you know and agree with how they play.

 

I guess what I am saying is don't be unduly impressed or amazed by others' numbers. Just go out and have fun.

[+The Leprechauns]

I'm one of those geocachers with more than 5000 finds. It's no big deal - I'm not even in the top 100 geocachers in my state, ranked by find count. I've traveled to more than 40 states, planned all my vacations around geocaching, and right now I'm in the middle of finding a cache every day for a year. Still, that makes me a lightweight in comparison to people who have achieved find counts of 25,000 or 50,000. The number one geocacher is closing in on 100,000 finds.

 

Thanks for telling me to "Get a life." I did, and it's called geocaching. My adventures and the people I've met along the way have greatly enriched my life.

 

I hope that this perspective will help you get an attitude adjustment.

[+Walts Hunting]

Don't forget the power trails where you can grab 1500 in 24hours. For some people this is their life. I just spent three months in the southwest for winter vacation and had no problem grabbing 600 while bicycling around.

 

Yesterday biking around locally I grabbed fifty easily.

Edited April 7, 2014 by Walts Hunting

[+ToneScale]

I'm one of those geocachers with more than 5000 finds. It's no big deal - I'm not even in the top 100 geocachers in my state, ranked by find count. I've traveled to more than 40 states, planned all my vacations around geocaching, and right now I'm in the middle of finding a cache every day for a year. Still, that makes me a lightweight in comparison to people who have achieved find counts of 25,000 or 50,000. The number one geocacher is closing in on 100,000 finds.

 

Thanks for telling me to "Get a life." I did, and it's called geocaching. My adventures and the people I've met along the way have greatly enriched my life.

 

I hope that this perspective will help you get an attitude adjustment.

 

I am sorry if I offended you and I apologize. Reading all the answers, I understand that caches in the order of 5000 to 10000 and more are maybe an exception but are possible without the cacher being busy 24/7 8 years long. I probably used a wrong type of mathematics.

 

Again my sincere apologies!

 

NanFaye

[+J Grouchy]

There IS a high school aged kid in my area of town who somehow has time to cache almost every day...often in the middle of the day. He's over 5000 finds now and I honestly don't know how he has time for school or is even able to get to these caches because I don't think he's older than maybe 17.

[+The Leprechauns]

As of last Friday there are more than 6,800 geocachers worldwide who have found more than 5,000 caches. 240 of these geocachers live in the Netherlands, where the OP has posted their first finds.

[4wheelin_fool]

Someone could go caching once a month and achieve those numbers by finding 60 in a day, depending on the area. I believe there are plenty of powertrails which could make it even higher. Near me there is a parking area with over a dozen hides in it. Just doing that one hour per week would be enough to get those numbers. There are also plenty of people who are retired and travel constantly. High numbers are really not that impressive.

[+luvvinbird]

The incredible trails and parks right here in my own backyard would have been missed if it weren't for geocaching. I also really enjoy and, in my opinion, get a lot more out of vacations and visits to other cities and countries because of geocaching. Great pastime and great people!

Edited April 7, 2014 by luvvinbird

[+BAMBOOZLE]

The incredible trails and parks right here in my own backyard would have been missed if it weren't for geocaching. I also really enjoy and, in my opinion, get a lot more out of vacations and visits to other cities and countries because of geocaching. Great pastime and great people!

 

+ 1 BIG TIME

[+T.D.M.22]

Could you imagine that same person finding 14 caches over a two day period (like a weekend) for 8 years?

 

Or finding 500-600 in one day? There are 1300 caches in my area, and you it is very easy to get 500 in 24 hours. Some people are retired. Some people mix it into their daily routine-go to the bank, get the cache nearby. Go to a wedding, get the cache in front of the church. Your job involves driving out of town, leave early and get caches along the way.

 

You call this thread "Get a Life" yet at least these people are outside doing something. There's people who spend 30 hours or more a week watching TV or playing video games. Some people get drunk or high every day. So tell me how people how actually go and do something are the ones who need a life?

 

 

I am sorry if I offended you and I apologize. Reading all the answers, I understand that caches in the order of 5000 to 10000 and more are maybe an exception but are possible without the cacher being busy 24/7 8 years long. I probably used a wrong type of mathematics.

 

Again my sincere apologies!

 

NanFaye

 

No, your math was right-well the theory of it was right, I didn't check the math. You assumed they cache every day, and find the same number of caches every day. I personally found 100 caches in about 2 hours, and that included doing maintenance and checking co-ords with the CO, so that means I could go 49 days after that without finding another cache. The people who find 500 caches in one day can cache 2 or 3 days a year and still get 8000 in 8 years. Doesn't seem to take that much time now does it?

Edited April 7, 2014 by T.D.M.22

[+dprovan]

There are some prolific geocachers. In fact, from what I've seen, 5000 in 8 years is fairly normal for someone that's embraced the hobby. Alamogul's got about 100,000, and there are a few others in my area well into the 10s of thousands. While your math is correct, I agree with others that your distribution is unlikely. Much more common for the regulars that have found a few thousand caches to go to a area with plenty of caches and find 10 or 20 in a day on the weekends than to find a couple every single day. In an area with plenty of caches -- the San Francisco Bay Area where I cache (and Alamogul caches) -- 5000 in 8 years doesn't require any traveling further than an hour drive. The really high numbers cachers do travel a lot, and I think thousands of miles is likely accurate for many of them, but I think that's mainly because they like to travel. You could get quite high numbers by just traveling only a few hundred miles up and down the west coast of the US, and probably even higher numbers with even less traveling on the east coast.

[+dprovan]

You call this thread "Get a Life" yet at least these people are outside doing something.

Your reaction is too kind, I think. Geocaching is a hobby. Many people have hobbies, and I worry about those that don't. Some people spend more time on their hobby than others, but the 5000 in 8 years class is probably spending no more time geocaching than your typical gardener gardens or your typical knitter knits. Furthermore, 5000 in 8 years is easily accomplished by someone whose hobby is hiking with, just as a side activity, picking different places to go for every hike so they can find the new caches. Geocaching is a great way to encourage yourself to explore new areas instead of going to the same park over and over.

[+basscat5]

I see quite a few Gang up on the Caches and log in as a group...Geocachers are logging finds that they never see because they are knocking them out in a "Group"..Some of those astronomical numbers happen when they drop a bunch of bike riders at different points on a power trail or whatever and they all log the finds at the end of the day wether they actually signed the log or saw the caches themselves or not....To me that is not the way that I would want to do things but everyone plays the game differently.....

[+Wacka]

The #1 cacher in the world is in my area. He is les than 500 shy of 100K. He has been retired for his 11 years of caching. Right now he is on the Rhine on a geocaching cruise with others. I have about 9250 finds n almost 11 years. It's not hard (much easier now) to get an average of10 on Saturday and Sunday for about 1000 a year. My best day was in November when I got 63, including a power trail of 55 caches on two roads. With a cache every 528 feet, It took 5 hours with a stop for wine tasting. I travel all over my area for work and in the summer,I will cache after 5 until sundown (I'm single). avoid the rush hour and enjoy the extra sunlight.

 

It is not hard to rack up the numbers and the more you cache, the easier it is to find caches.

Edited April 9, 2014 by Wacka