How to Begin Geocaching

Anyone who either loves the great outdoors, or is just needing an excuse to get away from every day life, needs to take a look at geocaching. It is a great pass time activity that gets you outside and staying active. There are two questions that tend to come to mind when someone first here's about geocaching. The first being, "What is it?" While the second being, "How do I get started?" Those questions will be answered so that you may begin your very first geocaching adventure.

Before you can begin geocaching, you need to first know what geocaching is. To put it in a nutshell, geocaching is like a modern day treasure hunt with a GPS. People around the world hide geocaches in different places, use their GPS to get the longitude and latitude of the location, and then post it online at www.geocaching.com. What is a geocache? From ammo cans to film canisters, a geocache is something hidden by one geocacher and meant to be found by other geocachers. The geocaches will have a log book to log your visit, and then you also can jump online to long your visit there. Now that you get the gist of what geocaching is it's time to find out how to get started.

The first thing you'll need is to get, if you don't have one already, is a handheld GPS. You can find a really nice GPS for a decent price on www.ebay.com but if you would rather get one form a store, then take a look at Best Buy, Circuit City, or any sporting good store. Because you are just starting out, it's quite alright if you want to stick with a cheaper GPS, but as you begin to use a GPS more and more, you'll soon find out they come in handy for many things. Whether you are camping, hiking, or going on road trips, a GPS can be fun to use and very helpful.