A map full of smileys and nowhere to go

This article was originally published on Cache Up NB. It has been mirrored here for archive purposes only.

It’s been a somewhat slow winter for myself with regards to caching. Outside of the odd event here and there, and the caches on the Cocagne trail I did for the Ice Walk event, I haven’t been doing much caching. Despite the wonderful winter contest being held, I find myself not wanting to venture out too far lately. I don’t think it’s a slump as it is just trying to find the time. Between a full day’s schedule for work, and then time with the family, any time left seems to be pointed towards getting a bit of rest. Plus, for myself, I’m not really a fan of the cold so I find myself wanting to stay indoors a bit more. I’ve always been someone who hates the cold so anything associated with it has tended to push me away. In previous years, I have done some caching within the winter months, but not anywhere as much as I do when the snow is gone and the temperatures have risen. I suspect that for some, this is also the case.

Recently however, I am reminded of something Zonker had suggested a few years back. He made mention of an “archive day” where everyone should archive some of their local caches to free up space for new hides. As I recall, the reasoning was more around wanting to try and keep things fresh in the city and give folks new caches to go find. If I recall correctly, this suggestion spawned a whole thread of conversation about whether or not it’s just a way of recycling the same spots over and over again, or whether it really is a good idea to try and keep things fresh in an area that can become stale. I think someone had even made the suggestion of having the ability for a cache to “expire” so that it would get archived automatically after a certain amount of time.

When I open my geocaching map, and I look at the city of Moncton (where I live) I find myself looking at a sea of smiley’s and stars. When I hide my finds and owned caches, the only items that remain are some scattered question marks, and a few isolated other caches. Being someone who does very few puzzles (mostly because I am really awful at solving them, even when they are easy) I find myself not able to go caching in my own city simply because I have already done pretty much everything there is to do. If I want to go out and snag a few caches, I’m left having to leave the city and go somewhere else in order to snag a few finds. I’ve done all the trails, the parks, the parking lot LPCs, and even a ton of the local puzzles. If I want to snag a cache here and there, I’m really forced to start looking at other places that I can go in order to snag a find. Do I head out to Shediac, Sackville, Memramcook, Salisbury, Petty? Although most of these communities are not that far from Moncton, if I’m only interested in snagging a few finds here and there, do I want to take the time and gas to drive to a completely different town just to snag a couple caches?

For someone who really is more of a casual cacher this time of year, I typically end up just skipping the caching, and staying closer to home. It’s not that I’m lazy, or that I don’t like travelling to other places, even if they are close. But what tends to happen is if you need to travel any amount of distance to get to a cache, you tend to want to spend more time in that area grabbing other caches, since you are there. I mean, I’m never in Memramcook, so if I want to go caching, and decide that I’m going to go to Memramcook to cache, I’m not going to drive all the way out there just for a couple of caches. I’ll probably snag a bunch since I’ll likely not be back there for awhile. That then translates into more time being needed to go for a cache run. Instead of just being able to say go for a drive to a nearby park and snag one here and there, you’re having to take more time to travel further, just to satisfy the urge to snag some caches. If you only have an hour of time, you need to really consider where you are going and what you’ll be doing, and whether or not it’s worth it to go.

I think that’s where I start thinking about how Zonker’s archive day may have had some merit. I mean, for local active cachers, once you’ve found the bulk of the caches in your area, you basically HAVE to travel somewhere else if you want to cache. When your map is filled with smiley’s, and maybe you want to snag a cache on your lunch break to get out of the office, are you going to be able to make an attempt? If you have to travel any amount of distance in a limited amount of time, you’re really going to think twice about going out and snagging finds.

I don’t think doing a mass archive of local caches is the answer. I also don’t think that it’s necessary to archive caches just to have someone re-hide one in nearly the same place. But ultimately, what can the caching community do to try and help cachers like myself who love the sport, and want to find caches, but have a very limited amount of time to do so.

Do any of you feel yourselves caching less when your local map is full of smiley’s? If you only have a little bit of time to cache, and you really want to go caching, does it make sense to travel any amount of distance to get your caching fix? What’s your take on travelling to cache versus staying close to home?