In 2016, I looked at the types of geocachers you’ll find in the wild, but what about the cachers you’re likely to meet at a geocaching event?

1. The One who Always Wear Shorts

I don’t know why, but there is always one. Or should I say, at least one. No matter the weather or type of event, they will be wearing their shorts with pride.

2. The Smarty Pants

No matter what conversation is going on, this person will interject and enthusiastically orate their extensive knowledge on the topic in question. There is no aspect of geocaching that they are not master of and not an inch of the guidelines that they haven’t studied in depth. They enjoy nothing more than cornering event newbies and educating them in all particulars of the game.

3. The Newbie

They usually appear nervous as they have no idea what to expect or what collection of misfits await them upon arrival. You’ll hear them asking, ‘what does Jasmer mean?’, or declaring ‘nano geocaches are amazing – so tiny!’ They can be quite refreshing to talk to as they haven’t yet become disillusioned by questionable containers haphazardly flung in to bushes.

4. The Hint Seeker

They’re really just there for tips on cache hides or puzzles. They’ll probably feign interest in the socialising aspect of the event, but in reality they’re simply biding their time until they can pounce on a certain cache owner or cache finder to help them with that elusive hide that’s been bugging them.

5. The Trackable Aficionado 

You’ll easily identify this person as they’ll have a veritable horde of travel bugs and geocoins sprawled on a table in front of them, and be busying themselves writing down all the trackable codes in a notebook, photographing them all with their phone, or looking up the bug’s goal online.

6. The Smug One

Smug COs will be puffed up by an impossible-to-solve puzzle or an impossible-to-find hide they own and will delight in the shameless begging of many attendees for a small hint or tip. Smug finders on the other hand will have recently found an impossible cache as mentioned above, or perhaps have finished a difficult challenge like Jasmer, and be feeling quite pleased with themselves for it. Of course, they are often quite right to feel like the cat that’s got the cream in such cases.

7. The One Who Brings Cake 

Cake or cookies or anything with a high sugar content – what would a geocaching event be without it? The One Who Brings Cake will be held in very high regard by most attendees, especially if said treats are homemade. You may not be able to buy friendship but you can get pretty close if you’re paying in cake 😉

8. The Mysterious Visitor 

If you’re a regular event attendee, you will likely know most of the geocachers at an event (newbies aside), but there is often one mysterious person that nobody really knows. The geo-tourist can commonly be found at gatherings near tourist traps like capital cities or locations with a famous cache (like Mingo, for example).

9. The Helpful One

The ‘Baby Bear’s porridge’ of geocaching events: they are juuuuust right. They are friendly but not in an annoying in-your-face, over-bearing way. They are a fountain of geocaching knowledge, will gladly help if requested and not confuse you with too much information. They won’t butt in but are happy to assist if called upon.

10. The Social Butterfly

If you go to an event and they’re not there, you’ll worry – that’s how many events they attend. They will never miss an opportunity for some geochat if they can possibly help it, and can be seen fluttering from attendee to attendee, making sure they chat to everyone. They have definitely attended more than one event in a day and will gladly travel for hours to do so.

Have you met geocachers like this at events? Would you add any other types? Let me know in the comments!

Happy Caching!

Sarah

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