If you want to visit the Tampa Bay Geocaching Store in Land O’ Lakes, it’s easy to find. Just go to
N 028 13.552
W 082 27.421
And, you’re there.
If using a geographic coordinate system to find a local business seems unusual, it is.
But if you’re geocaching, it’s actually the best way to find where you’re going.
(Michael Murillo/Staff Photo)
So, as a tribute to the hobby they serve, the store lists its coordinates on its website, along with its traditional address, 4710 Land O’ Lakes Blvd.
Geocaching isn’t easy to describe by comparing it to other outdoor activities.
Part treasure hunt, part sightseeing trek and part community bonding experience, it’s a game you can play close to home or just about anywhere in the world.
“It’s fun to do and gives you a chance to get out of the house, get into nature and see different things,” said Elaine Erickson, owner of the Tampa Bay Geocaching Store.
Erickson has found around 1,200 caches from more than a dozen states during the last seven years, and she never tires of the thrill of finding a new one.
Participants leave small geocaches (waterproof containers) at random locations across the planet. They’re hidden, but only to people who aren’t geocaching. The goal is to make them available to other players, so they post the coordinates on list sites and mobile phone apps used by those who want to find them. Players then input those coordinates, and after a little snooping, usually find the geocache and the logbook that’s placed inside. The logbook reveals how often the site has been visited and how far people have traveled to find it. And, once you find the geocache, you can record your name in the logbook.
There’s also usually a small prize associated with finding a geocache.
It’s customary to take an inexpensive trinket from the site when you find it, and leave a small trinket for the next person who finds it. The items can be as creative as the locations in which they’re found.
There are a few rules, though.
For instance, you can’t plant them on private property and you can’t place them near a school or anywhere else where activity near the cache may prompt concerns about suspicious behavior.
You can’t litter, either. In fact, many geocachers take the time to clean up litter in the cache area when they see it. It’s part of the community philosophy, Erickson explained.
Not surprisingly, geocaching took hold only when technology allowed everyday people to find specific locations across the globe with relative ease.
In the past 15 years, it’s grown to include millions of people around the world, with several websites and clubs devoted to playing.
There are more guidelines and details, and it’s not surprising that it’s unfamiliar territory for many people.
“I get people all the time coming in here going, what’s geocasing?” Erickson said, noting their inability to pronounce the hobby’s name. People also think it has something to do with rocks, she said.
To help explain things better, Erickson is hosting a free geocaching class on May 9 at her location from 6 p.m. until 7 p.m. She’ll go over the basics, answer questions and even take the group to their first cache.
She’s hopeful that new geocachers come out of the group and participate in the activity. Erickson goes geocaching with friends and on her own, sometimes finding just one in a day and other times dozens — her record is more than 50.
It’s a pursuit that appeals to people of all age groups, abilities and schedules, and is only limited by a person’s free time and interest in looking.
“It’s a family friendly activity,” she said. “Anybody can do it.”
For more information about geocaching or the free class, call (813) 335-6787 or visit TampaBayGeocaching.biz.
Published May 6, 2015
