Geocaching: Frugal Family Fun!

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Living in Florida we are blessed with EXCELLENT weather almost year round.

Aside from beaching ourselves, what can we really do outdoors with our families?  One way you can take advantage of beautiful weather and have family fun is with GeoCaching.

Never heard of GeoCaching, it’s no surprise.  The activity is fairly new but becoming even more popular with the growth of smartphones ( did you see it mentioned in our 2014 Family Bucket List post).  All you really even need is a smartphone, a free app and a sense of adventure and you have all the elements you need to start geocaching!  If you like scavenger hunts, mixed with treasure hunts, and a couple riddles you’ll love geocaching.  You have probably walked past HUNDREDS of caches and not even realized it.  People cleverly hide  “treasure” and leave clues and coordinates on geocaching websites so other people can find the cache.  Some people use a GPS device you can buy in stores to find the coordinates others simply download free Geocaching apps to their smartphones that utilize the built in GPS functions.  Once you have your GPS set up you’ll join a site (there’s lots!) that gives you coordinates and clues to find geocaches near you.  Gather up the family, some water and snacks, your smartphone or GPS device and head out.  Follow the coordinates to a local park, beach, even the shopping mall (there are indoor caches too).  Sounds so simple but geocaches are not so easy to find.  People disguise them to look like trees and rocks or hide them in inconspicuous spots.  It’s a lot of fun to have everyone searching high and low for the hidden cache.

Once you find it you “check in” on the site or forum and leave the cache where you found it for other families.  Sometimes you trade “tokens” or little non-valuables.  You remove the token in the cache and leave your token in its place.

More and more people are geocaching as a means to combine exercise and family fun.  Searching for hidden treasure can usually interest most kids and since you already have much of what you need to geocache it costs no extra money.  A frugal hobby that promotes family fun and good health seems like a GREAT idea to me.  So why not grab your smartphone and check what treasures are hiding near you!

 Have you geocached with your Family?  Share tips on our Facebook page or Community Chat page.  Get inspired to craft and cook frugally on Pinterest

Happy Hunting!