Frivlas asked in a GBA forum why people geocache, which caused me to dig a little deeper into my motivations. Reasons others gave included getting into the outdoors, finding new places, learning about new things, and meeting new people. Those are benefits that I resonate with, but all those are possible without geocaching.
There must be more to it than that. I enjoy problem solving. In my day as a hardware/software designer, I loved debugging. I got a real sense of satisfaction from knocking out a bug. (Which leads to the obvious question, would my designs have been more reliable if I had hated debugging?) I like the challenge of the hunt in geocaching. I like the satisfaction of finding a cleverly hidden cache.
In addition, I’m somewhat competitive and compulsive. I like to see the log numbers get bigger. I check the Bay Area leader’s page to see if I can move up another spot or two. I have felt out of sorts when other things keep me from going geocaching (and maybe that’s actually moving from compulsion to addiction).
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