[Az-Geocaching] Re:sport/hobby/log books

[Bill]

I think this is a good time to comment on another approach to this fun activity of geocaching.
I have been reading with interest the recent comments about writing in log books and exchanging
items, and about whether you can get "credit" for a cache without signing the logbook.  Now we
have the whole misunderstanding about the oasis cache.

Let me tell you what I think on these subjects.  I read this list carefully, but seldom post.
It seems that people here are judged by the number of caches they have logged, and, since I
haven't logged many, I don't know how comments from me would be received.  In addition, after
the newspaper woman interviewed me for the second article, I was told by a friend that several
on the list were unhappy with me about it because I have logged few caches and they didn't
think I had any business talking about geocaching with the reporter, especially since she
described me in the article as an "avid" geocacher.  Well, we are avid.  We just don't log.

We have a great time locating geocaches, but we have no interest in the competitive aspects of
the sport.  When we first got involved, we logged a couple of caches, but then I suscribed to
this list and we saw all the emphasis on totals, etc.  So, we just quit logging caches.  We
didn't quit finding them, but we did quit writing in the log books and we did quit logging them
on the web.  We certainly have no objection to others who enjoy that aspect of the sport, but
we didn't, so we just find them and "log them mentally" for our own satisfaction.  Yes, we keep
a personal list, sort of like a birders life list, or we would have long since lost track of
where we have been.

Unfortunately, this has restricted us from another aspect of the activity that we know we would
enjoy.  We placed a cache very early in our geocaching careers, but then, after getting on this
list, discovered that people think you should not hide caches until after you have found a
bunch, and should keep some sort of ratio between your finds and your hides.  Since we don't
log finds, we felt we could not place any more caches.

Anyway, I thought this was as good a time as any to describe another way of looking at the
sport.  To repeat, I don't think our approach is anything but different.  Certainly it is not
the mainstream.  I just wanted to let people know that there were other approaches out there.

Bill
Team Freeholder