Prologue
I last posted in May. I’m not sure why I stopped then. I can explain my more recent inactivity. It’s going to sound stupid, but that’s okay. I’m not the kind of person who shies away from sounding stupid every now and then. Also, I can’t explain why I’m suddenly back in October 2022. Maybe that will come through as I write this post.
I haven’t been geocaching since early in September. After successfully finishing my 365 day streak…I got absolutely nothing for it. I thought they might give me one of their virtual souvenirs for completing the streak. Nope. All I get is a mention on my statistics page about my streak.
And, so, I got frustrated by that development and got out of the habit of finding geocaches. I also said to my wife yesterday that I don’t have the same kind of time this year that I did last year. I took on two new clubs and am team leader. The only days that I get out close to on time is every other Monday and Friday. Even so, I am currently at 693 geocaches found this year. While exploring the boat ramp where Liam got his senior pictures done, I came to the realization that if I find 7 more geocaches this month, I’d only have to average about 5 per day over the last two months to get to the 1000 I hope for this year.
The Adventure
Mathematically, the more geocaches that I find in October 2022, the less I will have to average over the rest of the year. However, now that I’ve completed two of the longest “power trail” series of geocaches, it now becomes more difficult to find clumps of 5 to find every day. Therefore, I need to do some research and planning to properly utilize my free time.
Luckily, now that I know that the Geocaching web page doesn’t offer any souvenirs for streaks, I don’t have to kill myself finding caches every single day. I can find some on every other Monday, Friday, and maybe pick up some of the slack on the weekends. True, by taking off most of September and October I made things difficult on myself. But, aren’t comeback underdog stories the exact type that Americans love?
So, stay tuned as I figure out how to get these 1000 caches. As this post shows, I already have some ideas to get me to at least 700 by the end of October. I can go back to Pisgah State Park in New Hampshire for about a dozen. After that, things start to get difficult and that’s where I need to sit down with the map and put together a plan.
Epilogue
Truth be told, I don’t know what I will do if I actually succeed in finding the 1000 geocaches in 2022. The streak kept me interested and I can find inspiration to push through the end of the year for 1000. After that, though, what goal can I come up with to keep getting outside and keep this page alive?