Here is the bare audio for my proposed Geocaching Podcast. I will probably go back and add music to make it more podcasty but right now it is just the edited audio with a little bit of noise reduction.
Geocaching is a real world ‘treasure’ where you utilize a GPS device or a smartphone app to get close to an object hidden in the real world. They can range in size from a 22 shell casing to a 40l tub. I thought I would try documenting my search for geocaches as a podcast
There are over 1700 geocaches in the Kamloops area.
Transcript:
Okay, So geocaching, What is it? I’ve been geocaching for quite awhile, it’s something I’ve done with the kids as way of kinda keeping them interested in being on hikes and something fun to do while we’re waiting for maybe another child to do something else. Geocaching is basically a treasure hunt it’s, kind of… there’s maps online, but the maps are basically GPS coordinates. So you use some kind of device, like a phone that is connected to the web, that can actually use the GPS on your phone to tell you when you’re in close proximity to the little hidden geocache. Geocaches can range in size from, I’ve seen them as small as a .22 shell or your fingernail to as large as like a big 40 litre tub in the woods.
So I started geocaching as way to kinda entertain the kids. And I definitely got the bug and I like doing it more than the kids. My children are older now and they’re just not interested in poking around underneath bushes. They have other things they want to do. But I’ve continued to do it. And one of the things I like is wherever you go in the world, basically, you’re going to be able to find a geocache, and they’re not supposed to be on private property unless you have specific permission from the owner of that property. But that being said, I mean, I’ve seen them on the strip in Vegas. I’ve seen them in the middle of the woods. I’ve seen them in an alley on Victoria Street in Kamloops. Parks are really good locations for them.
The thing I like about them is the challenge. There’s some geocaches that are very straightforward. It’ll be just be a small container like the size of the old film canister. Maybe with camouflage tape on it. Hanging off a tree branch in the thick of a tree to others that are actually built and designed to look like something else. Or are a bolt on a sign that’s actually a magnet and not just an actual physical bolt. So the idea of that kind of mental puzzle, trying to figure out these… where somebody would have hidden, these caches is really fun to me anyway.
Some of the caches are just sign only like they will just have a little roll of paper and you sign them. Other caches will actually have items to trade in. The main idea is to have a container that’s big enough to have a few little trinkets that you can put in and trade with. So that was the other thing with kids is we would bring a little handful of toys, like little cars or something. And when we found a geocache, they were allowed to take something, but they had to put something back in for the next next you put something back in for the next child. So anyway, been doing geocaching for quite a few years, at least. Maybe even ten years, maybe longer than that. I can’t even remember. Have to check. Maybe I can check the app, for when I downloaded the app originally.
It’s been fun, it’s been geocaching with other people. We’ve had drunk geocaching, we are bombing around in a park at night with flashlights. I’ve done it with the kids, have done it with my parents, and a lot. just by myself, just when I have some time to kill. So I wanted to kind of incentivize myself to look for more geocaches. And so I thought, let me do a podcast on this. And I had this idea before of actually doing a roving recording. So actually recording while I’m actively searching for the geocache and talking about it. So I think we’ll try that format. We’re going to… I’m going to pick a couple geocaches and I’ll describe them as I’m walking up to them and kind of talk about how I can find them without necessarily giving too many spoilers cuz I don’t want to spoil the I don’t want to spoil it for anybody else, right? You don’t want to tell somebody exactly how to find the geocache, but I’ll I’ll play with that, that aspect of getting to it, finding it. What clues I used, that kind of thing. And, or maybe I will spoil it and just put a spoiler warning at that. All right, so let’s go on our first hunt.
Jon, I really liked this intro to the idea of geocaching (it has genuinely piqued my interest, and I need to take you up on your offer to show this world to Groot).