January 30, 2025 • 32 mins
Have you ever heard of geocaching?
Whether you’re a pro or a complete newbie, you’ll love this conversation with Lisa Breitenfeldt of Cache Like a Girl!
Join us as we explore what geocaching is, why people get hooked on it, and how you can embark on this high-tech treasure hunt yourself. Geocaching can add a sprinkle of adventure and connection to your life, no matter where you are.
Learn how to get started, what to expect when you find a cache, and discover the community that awaits you.
If you're ready to try something new in your courageous retirement journey, tune in and let’s get started with geocaching together!
00:00 Introduction to Geocaching
00:44 Meet Lisa: The Geocaching Expert
01:47 What is Geocaching?
03:37 Getting Started with Geocaching
04:12 Tips for Finding Geocaches
06:17 Trading and Logging Geocaches
08:57 Becoming a Cache Owner
12:12 Geocaching Adventures and Community
19:09 Geocaching Gear and Subscription Box
23:10 Advanced Geocaching Tips
28:24 Lisa's Podcast and Final Thoughts
31:43 Conclusion and Next Episode Teaser
Connect with Lisa at https://www.cachelikeagirl.com/
Find the podcast at: https://bit.ly/girlcache
Find the audio of this and all episodes on your favorite place to listen at: https://bit.ly/CourageousRetirement
I'd love to hear from you! Send me a text message!
Thank you for stopping by today! Remember to Engage Your Faith and Live Your More as you reap the benefits of Courageous Retirement!
To watch the video, check out my YouTube Channel!
Learn more about the show, author Vona Johnson, and more at CourageousRetirement.com!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Have you ever heard ofgeocacheing?
(00:01):
Maybe you're a pro at it, or ifyou're like me, maybe you had
never even heard the wordbefore.
Either way, you're going to lovemy conversation with my guest.
Lisa Brietenfeldt today.
We're going to talk about, whatgeocacheing is, why people get
hooked on it.
And how it can bring a littleadventure and connection into
your life.
No matter where you are.
(00:22):
Even a remote place like SouthDakota.
Do you fear what lies beyondretirement?
What if it's a gateway to a lifefilled with purpose, meaning,
and adventure rather than anend?
Discover peace and fulfillmentas you boldly enter this new
chapter in CourageousRetirement, a Christian podcast.
I'm your host, author and coach,Vanna Johnson.
(00:42):
Let's get started.
Vona Johnson (00:44):
So I am just really excited today.
ever since I first met you in agroup that we are in together,
I've been just fascinated withwhat you.
And it's one of those thingswhere I've heard about it
before, but didn't know enoughto, you know, and it wasn't
quite curious enough maybe to godigging on my own.
But when we met, it was like,all right, we're gonna, we're
(01:05):
gonna figure this out.
So if you can't tell by Lisa's tshirt, she is a geocacher.
And I am just fascinated withthis.
And I really love the idea thatshe's, she, you know, as her
shirt says, cache like a girl.
Obviously, this isn't just awoman's sport, if men, if you're
listening, you don't have todisconnect now because there's
(01:27):
going to be a lot of goodinformation for you here as
well.
But I invited Lisa here becauseI want to learn about it.
And it just occurred to me thatthis is something when we talk
about courageous retirement,part of it is trying things
we've never done before, doingthings that might get us
excited.
I'm thinking I might want to trythis.
So Lisa, first of all, tell uswhat, what really is geocaching?
Lisa Breitenfeldt (01:52):
Yeah, well, thanks, Vona, for having me on
your show.
So geocaching, in a nutshell, ishigh tech hide and seek.
Geocachers, will, well, there'sa main website called
geocaching.
com, where you can get theinformation, and there is an app
for it as well.
Super easy, and we all havesmartphones these days, and,
(02:13):
that's where you go to find outinformation about how to find
the geocaches.
So
Vona Johnson (02:20):
when, so I do this, I download the app and I
go do my thing.
When I find it, what, what doesthat look like?
What, what, what am I finding?
Lisa Breitenfeldt (02:28):
Yeah.
Vona Johnson (02:29):
What do I do
Lisa Breitenfeldt (02:30):
when I find it?
That's where it gets a littlechallenging for a lot of folks
that are just getting started.
A lot of, People have apreconception that a geocache is
an obvious box.
Maybe it's buried or, you know,tucked in somewhere.
It's going to be very obviouswhat it is.
Actually burying caches isagainst the rules, so they're
(02:50):
not going to be buried.
A traditional type of cachewould be something like this.
This is a lock and lockcontainer.
You know, it really startedwith, you know, Ammo cans and
Tupperware.
Yeah.
so this is a kind of atraditional type of cache, but
they can be many different typesas well.
That can be a rock like this,where, you know, when you found
(03:13):
it, yeah.
So I've got a secret compartmentinside of it.
And they can be all the way downas small as this little guy
here, you can see that in theplastic bag.
I'll see if I can get it out ofthe bag, and these are magnetic.
So this could be, you know,hidden under a park bench or, on
some sort of metal structurecould be anything.
(03:35):
So they can be a littlechallenging and I've got some
really good tips for peoplegetting started, because when
you're just getting started, youdon't know what you're looking
for.
Vona Johnson (03:43):
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And, and that's a littleintimidating.
You know, we don't want to, wedon't want to look like a fool
out there digging around lookingfor under park benches and
things like that, especially ifwe don't know what
Lisa Breitenfeldt (03:54):
we're looking for.
So yeah.
Exactly.
Yeah.
That's how you, it is how youget started.
You don't really know exactlywhat you're looking for, but
there's a lot of clues, thatwill help you.
Here's a better closeup of howtiny this is.
It screws open.
So it's a tiny littlecompartment.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So caches are, geocaches arerated on a five star scale.
(04:17):
It can be, so it's one to fivein terrain and in difficulty.
So a one one cache is somethingthat is actually what we call
handy cacheable.
So you can roll up to it in awheelchair, push a stroller.
Very easy to get to, you know,stir curbs to step over and
it'll be obvious to find evenreach it in a seated type
(04:39):
position.
So, we really recommend newfolks to get when they're
starting to go after the one.
Terrain caches and the onedifficulty.
Now the difficulty again, it'sif it's the one difficulty, it's
obvious.
It's right there where you know,you can generally see them all
the way up to a five, which ishidden very, very well, very
(05:01):
well concealed.
So to be successful.
Right out of the gate, Irecommend that, people look for
caches that are rated on a one,one scale, and then they're also
organized by size as well.
So something like this is aregular size geocache and, uh,
again, so they're going to beeasier to find, and there's
(05:23):
probably going to be thingsinside of them, and I'll dive
into that a little later,perhaps.
And then these are what arecalled micro caches.
So they're much smaller in size,so they're much harder to find.
So my best tip for people justgetting started is to go after
regular size caches on a 1 1difficulty in Terrain.
(05:46):
And that's real obvious on thewebsite and on the app.
And you can even filter for justto see caches of that, those
sizes and Terrain difficulty.
Okay,
Vona Johnson (05:59):
so I have found my first cache.
What do I do?
That's great.
Do you just check a box off onthe app?
Is it, you said some of themhave things inside, I mean,
what's correct?
Lisa Breitenfeldt (06:12):
Yeah, so all physical caches have a log book
to sign.
Okay.
And that is the only rule ofgeocacheing is you have to sign
the log book.
So you need to open it up.
And then inside will be somesort of you know, little booklet
or something like that.
Even these, these tiny littlenanos, they screw open and
(06:33):
there's a little scroll of paperinside of them.
Vona Johnson (06:36):
No
Lisa Breitenfeldt (06:36):
way.
Yeah, yeah.
So you script your littleinitials on there.
I guess I should say mygeocaching name is Lookout Lisa.
So all geocachers, you have ahandle or a geocaching name and
you have to sign, you know, Isign Lookout Lisa and then the
date, if it's a larger size, youknow, logbook like this.
(06:56):
On these tiny little ones, Ijust write in LOL or Lookout
Lisa.
Ha ha
Vona Johnson (07:01):
ha!
Lisa Breitenfeldt (07:02):
So that that's the one rule of
geocaching and then if there'sitems inside you can trade for
them and it's on an equal tradebasis so we want to trade equal
or trade up or something bettereven and that makes it more fun,
you know, if you're taking thegrandkids out, kids love to find
(07:23):
things in geocaches.
So again, that's why you want togo for regular size caches,
there'll be something inside ofthem.
So when you
Vona Johnson (07:30):
say trade, so would I bring something with me
that I leave in the cache then?
Lisa Breitenfeldt (07:35):
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
And there, there's guidelinesaround that as well.
You know what you can trade foragain, it needs to be kid
friendly.
So if it's something that, youknow, you would feel comfortable
if your kid picked it up off thestreet or, you know, in a, in a
geocache, no food, uh, noliquids, nothing illegal, of
(07:56):
course, and nothing reallysmelly.
You know, cause like one thing Ifind is those little containers
of, bubbles.
You know, you dip the littlething in and blow them.
That's a big no no.
That'll freeze and crack andmake a sudsy mess inside of the
geocache.
And a lot of those are scentedand that just attracts, insects
(08:16):
and, and animals and such.
Vona Johnson (08:19):
Okay.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (08:19):
Yeah.
So then when you make yourtrade, you sign the logbook and
then you put it all backtogether and you put it back
where you found it.
You don't move it, not like thepainted rocks where you can take
the rock and, you know, do withit what you want.
You put it back where you foundit and then, on the app or back
home at the website or you caneven pull up the website on your
(08:40):
phone, you then mark it as foundand you can write a little note
to the cache owner, so they knowthat you found it.
Vona Johnson (08:47):
Okay,
Lisa Breitenfeldt (08:48):
so, so
Vona Johnson (08:49):
can anyone be a cache owner?
Could I go hide somethingsomewhere and put it out on,
then put it out on the site?
Lisa Breitenfeldt (08:57):
Yeah, absolutely.
Yes, completely community basedgame.
So, I've hidden a couple hundredcaches over my 24 year, reign of
geocaching and yeah, anyone canhide a cache again, those
guidelines around them, but werecommend that you find at least
100 caches first.
Vona Johnson (09:17):
Okay.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (09:18):
So you want to, that way you get a really
good idea of what makes a goodgeocache.
What other people are doing inyour area or wherever you're
caching, they're all around theworld, actually.
Vona Johnson (09:28):
Well, and that was going to be one of my questions
because I live in the middle ofSouth Dakota.
I mean, very rural.
So would I be able to expectthat there will be caches right
here in good old Pierre, SouthDakota?
Lisa Breitenfeldt (09:40):
I believe you would.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I have to check that
Vona Johnson (09:43):
out.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (09:44):
The easiest way is just go to geocaching.
com, and you can type in yourzip code or your address into
the search bar right at the verytop of the page, and it'll pull
up a map and show you thegeocaches around your area.
There are, there are caches allover.
You know, when I first startedgeocaching back in 2002, there
(10:04):
weren't very many.
But over the years, more andmore people have joined the game
and have hidden their own.
So you're going to be surprised.
There are actually millions ofgeocaches in the world to find.
And there's even one on theinternational space station.
Wow.
Vona Johnson (10:20):
So how, how long has geocaching been around?
Lisa Breitenfeldt (10:24):
Yeah, it started in 2000,
Vona Johnson (10:26):
25 years then.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (10:27):
Yeah, yeah, this is our 25th anniversary,
coming up this year of, Thegame.
What happened was previously,well, GPS technology.
We're all familiar with thatnow.
I think, we have it in our cars.
We have it in our phones.
We have it even in our watches.
Previously before 2000, it wasonly available to the military.
(10:48):
It was what was called selectiveavailability.
And so the, the signal wasscrambled.
So anybody with a, you know,regular type of GPS at that
time, a handheld, one, they wereonly accurate within about 300
feet or 100 meters.
And overnight, literally,President Clinton said, you
(11:09):
know, I think we can turn thisoff and, make GPS signal, Clear
and, available to the generalpublic.
And so through the switch,although it really wasn't a
switch, but selectiveavailability was turned off on
May 2nd, 2000.
And within two days, a gentlemansaid, Hey, this is interesting.
(11:30):
Let's see how well this works.
And, turned his GPS on.
He went and hid a bucket, in,Oregon actually just outside of
Portland and then got thecoordinates posted them on his
use that, group.
Remember, this is 2000.
So the Internet was still prettyyoung and said, Hey, this is my
geo stash that I hid, go findit.
(11:54):
And within a couple of days,people were finding it.
So that that's how it started,actually.
Vona Johnson (12:00):
That's, that's really cool.
So I'm envisioning that maybe agroup of couples or maybe a
group of gals might do go outand do it just for an afternoon
of fun, or I assume you can plana whole vacation around it if
you wanted to.
Would I be right?
Lisa Breitenfeldt (12:18):
Absolutely.
That's, that's one of thebeauties of geocaching.
It's truly a choose your ownadventure.
I love that.
Yeah, you can find a geocache onthe way to the grocery store.
Matter of fact, there's probablyone near your grocery store.
I'm gonna look that up.
Yeah, maybe even in a parkinglot.
And I'm going to give you all atip on parking lot caches here a
(12:39):
little later.
Ask me again about that.
But,, yes, it's a ton of fun.
When I first started caching, Ihad a hiking group of gals that
we would hike together andunbeknownst to a couple of us,
three of us all startedgeocaching within like two weeks
of each other.
And we commandeered our, hikinggroup and said, let's go
caching.
And everyone loved it.
(13:00):
And so we would go everySaturday.
just, we'd meet at a coffeeshop.
Talk about, whatever we wantedto talk about with, with our
girlfriends, and then went outgeocaching for a couple of
hours.
And then, yeah, I planned my, mylife is literally lives around
geocaching because that's mybusiness as well.
But yeah, you can, it's a greatway to plan vacations as well,
(13:24):
or trips because geocachers hidecaches at interesting places,
places that are generally out ofthe way, that you would never
even know about, even in yourown hometown, you might find
locations that you had no ideaor histories or, you know,
interesting things.
So it's just a great way toexplore the world and, you know,
(13:44):
you can quit whenever you want,call it a day.
Just find one, I know peoplethat will set a challenge for
themselves and they'll cache for24 hours straight, you know, and
try to find as many as they can.
So it's, it's truly choose yourown adventure.
Vona Johnson (13:59):
I love that.
And to me, it sounds like theperfect thing to do with our
grandkids, right?
Yeah, absolutely.
Kind of get them excited aboutusing the coordinates and all
the things.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (14:11):
Yeah, yeah.
Kids, younger kids really enjoygeocaching.
Another preconception is thatcaching is just for kids, and
it's, it's really not once kidsturn 12, 13, they're off doing
other things, you know, sportsactivities, chasing boys and
girls, what have you.
But it is definitely a fun thingfor younger kids, for sure.
(14:35):
And that's again, where Irecommend looking for regular or
large sized caches.
Geocaches.
So there'll be something forthem to trade and bring
something for them to trade aswell.
So one of my favorites is justmarbles.
Vona Johnson (14:49):
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
So, one of the things that keepspopping up is, so do you, are
they vandalized?
I mean, I can, I can see somekids out just playing and not
even knowing what's going on andtake it or, you know, yeah, I
assume that happens too, doesn'tit?
Lisa Breitenfeldt (15:08):
It does.
Unfortunately.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So we call people that don'tgeocache like you, Vona I would
call you a muggle.
Muggle.
Okay.
Yeah.
That's a new label I
Vona Johnson (15:20):
have not had before, I don't think.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (15:21):
Okay.
Yeah.
So you're a muggle.
Well, actually now you're kindof a mudblood, but because you
know a little bit aboutgeocaching.
Okay.
Okay.
Yeah.
But when somebody steals ageocache, or, Something happens
sometimes, you know, it's assimple as, you know, there's a
forest clearing along the sideof a road and it sweeps up a
geocache and it, you know,disappears or an animal takes it
(15:45):
or what have you.
We call that it was muggled.
Yeah, or stolen.
So that does happen.
And, you know, in, in the game,even now over the years, we've
had a few people that join itjust to steal it.
And they steal the containers.
Usually it's An odd thing and,admins can figure it out and
(16:07):
shut those, accounts down.
And so those people are unableto, to see the caches and
there's another way too, isthere's two layer, two types of
caches, because geocaching isfree to play.
It's a, on a freemium base andhowever, there is a fee.
I think it's around 40 now ayear, a little under a little
less than that.
(16:27):
And, that allows you to seepremium caches.
So if you are a premium member,you can hide premium caches and
the general public can't seethose caches.
They don't show up on the app.
So you do have a betteradventure for sure.
If you do sign up for that, butthere's no need to, if you're
just getting started there,there's still going to be
(16:49):
thousands of geocaches, thatwe're going to be fun to go
find.
Vona Johnson (16:53):
I have to know, I assume that the, all the things
that are behind you are relatedto your caching or those things
that you have traded.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (17:02):
Yeah, actually, these are what we call
geo coins.
So, let me grab one here.
This is a fun one.
So it has a design on them,showing the Okay, yeah, this one
is a sample one.
So this is the what we call twoseasons.
It's winter and then roadconstruction.
(17:22):
I'm in Washington state.
So we're just yeah, Similarweather here.
And, so these started a coupleof years after geocaching
started and they will have atracking code on them and you
can type in the code, this isgeocaching 301 is the
trackables.
Vona Johnson (17:41):
Okay.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (17:41):
But they, that code, you can type it in at
geocaching.
com and you can see where thiscoin has been and who has
handled it.
So you may have heard of thewhere's George dollars.
Where they've got a littlewhere's George stamp you type in
a serial number atwhere'sgeorge.
com you can see who's tradedthat dollar same concept with
(18:01):
these However, the fancy coinsthey generally don't stay in
caches, people put them in theircollection.
Sure.
That's one of my businesses.
We actually make the coins.
Yeah.
And so these are all coins thatwe've made, generally for other
entities, other geocachinggroups or big events.
(18:22):
They'll include coins in theirregistration packets and such.
I love it.
That's yeah.
Vona Johnson (18:27):
So that's that's a conversation for another
somebody maybe a little moreadvanced than where we are
today.
So, but
Lisa Breitenfeldt (18:33):
absolutely.
Yeah.
It is a tip though that if youfind something like this, that
has a code on it, they're goingto be six alpha numeric.
letters and numbers.
It's not yours to keep.
It's meant to move on.
Vona Johnson (18:46):
Okay.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (18:46):
So, technically you can take it, but
you need to register it and thenmove it along.
I recommend new people, leavethem alone, leave them for the
next person who is a little morefamiliar with it.
Vona Johnson (18:58):
I know that this is your business and you have
the opportunity for people to,start caching with your, your
cache box, your subscriptionbox.
Tell us about that.
If you would, please.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (19:09):
Yeah, sure, Vona.
Thanks for asking.
So, yeah, 10 years ago, Istarted a subscription box
called the cache Crate just forgeocachers.
I've had an e commerce businessaround supplying the gear for
geocaching for Almost 20, 20years now.
And, yeah, cause when I startedgeocaching, there wasn't much
(19:32):
equipment out there, or gear.
We were literally raiding ourjunk drawers.
You know, getting old Tupperwareand containers and stuff that we
picked up around, you know, oldtoys to use for swag to hide in
and trade for caches.
So, I started my business aroundproviding the gear to play the
game.
And that grew into the, thesubscription box.
(19:53):
So it's just a actually I havesix different subscriptions.
One is a t shirt club.
And then we've got the main boxas well.
This is our flagshipsubscription or you can get
both.
And so it's a monthly, excuseme, a monthly subscription of
fun geocaching gear.
That you get delivered right toyour door.
So it's like a special geocachebox that comes to you instead of
(20:18):
you going out and, and seekingit.
And inside we have, occasionallygeocoins that are minted,
especially just for our members.
And, yeah, then there'll beother, You know, cache
containers, these rocks that wemake they have gone out in
caches in the past.
And we know not everybody's ahider, so we, those are a couple
(20:40):
of times throughout the year.
And we have other items too.
Maintenance kits, it's, it'sgood etiquette to, you know,
replace a log book if it's, wetor damaged or something and, you
know, refresh the insides of thecache if you can.
And, then other fun things tokeep yourself, safe while you're
out geocaching, such as firstaid kits or sunscreen, bug
(21:04):
repellent we send in thesummertime.
So things like that.
And that is called the cachecrate.
Go to cachecrate.com.
You'll see a lot moreinformation about it there.
Vona Johnson (21:16):
All right.
That's, that's very cool.
I, you know, and I did make anassumption at the beginning that
everybody would be in the placethat I am and not know anything,
but I'm.
I would assume there will bepeople that are listening that
are, are more engaged in, and Iwould just encourage them to, or
anybody.
I mean, if this sounds exciting,share it with your friends so
(21:37):
that they can kind of get in onthe fun too.
A fun way to spend, like yousaid, a day, an hour, whatever.
So that's,
Lisa Breitenfeldt (21:46):
yeah, it's just a great activity to get
outside.
The, in the cache write up,you'll have an idea of what
you're seeking.
So, you know, you'll have anidea of what sort of adventure
you're, you're getting yourselfor your friends into, you know,
is a easy walk in the park.
If that's what you want, go forthat.
Or, you know, something more ofa.
(22:07):
You know, wouldn't scramble orsomething like that.
That might not be what you'relooking for.
And I, I know so many couplesthat have, you know, come into
our community, geocachingcommunity, because they were
just looking for something newto do together.
And it's just a great way to getout in nature.
Not necessarily, though.
A lot of caches are actually inthe city.
But, just a really fun activityto de stress, and, work together
(22:33):
as a team, potentially.
You can do it by yourself aswell, but a lot of folks really
do enjoy doing it, together withfriends.
And there's a huge geocachingcommunity.
We get together at events aswell, and, I'd love I met my
husband through geocaching.
He was another geocacher.
Vona Johnson (22:49):
Oh, fun.
That's, that's very cool.
Yeah, I can see all kinds ofdifferent applications for it.
So you had mentioned a couple oftimes that you have some tips
for, for people, and I wouldlove for you to share those with
us if you would.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (23:03):
Yeah, sure.
So like I had mentioned earlier,When you're just getting started
again, it's free to play.
So, you know, just there'snothing that you really all you
need is a pencil to sign thoselogs.
I was thinking that you got,don't forget your pencil.
Right?
Yeah, definitely bring a pencilor a pen or something to write
with because again, that is theone rule that you have to sign
(23:26):
the log on the traditional typeof geocaches.
And then, go after 1 1 cachesthat are a regular size, so
they're going to be easy tofind, not a hard hike and
bigger, so, and then some funthings to trade.
You don't have to trade though,so there's, there's no reason.
Yeah, I generally don't, but, ifI find something that, really
(23:50):
piqued my interest, I justmight, and money's okay to trade
for too.
So these are, these are dollarstore items that we're talking.
So, you know, just simplethings.
Okay.
And then I wanted to give aparking lot tip.
Caches, they're called LPCs,light pole caches.
You can think about any.
Parking lot, grocery store,Target, Walmart, what have you.
(24:14):
They've got those light polesall around them.
There's usually a cement base tothem.
They have a little skirt, metalskirt, and then the pole.
That skirt lifts up and it's ahollow space inside there.
And if you're stuck trying tofind a geocache and you're like,
where's this geocache in themiddle of this parking lot?
(24:36):
It's in the light pole.
Okay.
Big spoiler.
Yeah, I love it.
Yeah.
Or it could even be somethingmagnetic.
If the light pole is a ferrousmetal that's stuck to it.
Like a little nano.
I would have never figured
Vona Johnson (24:50):
that one out on my own.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (24:52):
Yeah, that was.
When I first found one of those,I was like, Oh my gosh, how, how
is this?
And I've been caching for a fewyears and no, this parking lot,
where's this cache?
And, you know, as geocachers,we've learned to, you know,
carefully see if something movescause those harder difficulty
(25:12):
ones can be very obvious.
They're right there, but youdon't want to.
They look like they belong.
And so you just see if somethingmoves, but you definitely want
to put everything back the wayyou found it.
You know, don't go digging upsomebody's landscaping, trying
to find you know, a rock that'shidden around.
But you have to put everythingback.
(25:33):
Yeah.
It's good etiquette.
Vona Johnson (25:34):
Yes.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (25:35):
That
Vona Johnson (25:35):
makes
Lisa Breitenfeldt (25:35):
sense.
So those are my top tips.
I think they're, and you know,it's just about having fun and
you don't always find the cache.
So I guess I should mentionabout that, too, that, like you,
we talked about earlier, They'vebeen muggled, or something has
happened to them.
They were either damaged orremoved or something.
And, so if you, I usually givecaches a couple of minutes if I
(26:00):
can't find it.
It's time to move on.
And you can actually mark it onthe app or on the website as a
DNF.
As it did not find.
And that leaves a note for theowner.
They know maybe their cache ismissing.
There might be something wrongwith it.
And, or it just alluded tosomehow and then you get a
little frowny face on your map,a little blue face.
(26:23):
So, you know, to go back andlook for another time,
potentially, you know, maybewhen you've had a little more
experience.
Vona Johnson (26:30):
Oh, this just sounds like fun.
I'm definitely going to have totry it when it's warmer out.
It's like below zero here today,so we're not doing it today.
Yeah.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (26:39):
Yeah, we're just at freezing here.
Oh, and I should mention oneother thing too, there are
different types of geocaches.
Okay.
And, so I really recommend thatfolks, there's a lot of help,
excuse me, information at thewebsite, the main website that
explains the different cachetypes and they have different
icons on the map.
(27:00):
So the traditional caches likeI've been talking about, there's
coordinates and you navigateyour way there.
Thank you.
Take care.
put your phone away or your GPSwith when you're within about 20
feet and just think about wherewould, where would I hide
something and start looking inthose places.
But there's other types ofgeocaches that are multiple
steps or there's actuallynothing physical to find.
(27:24):
Those are called virtual cachesand you've got to answer a
question at a certain set of, ofcoordinates.
And, so those can be reallyfrustrating if you're just
getting started, you thinkyou're looking for something,
but you're really needing ananswer.
So be, be careful what type ofcache types you go after, and we
recommend just starting with thetraditional ones.
(27:45):
And there's even puzzles thatare very complicated that you've
got a lot to solve first, thatunlock the actual coordinates of
where the cache is hidden.
So, the game has really evolved.
Keep it simple to get started.
And then, once you've got ahandle on it and if you like it,
most people either love it orit's just not for them.
But for most, they really likeit.
And you can, you know, again,choose your own adventure.
Vona Johnson (28:07):
What's coming up for me is This is a great place
to start, but there are so manylevels and obviously we can't
cover them all today.
So I know that you havesomething that will help
somebody that starts and they'relike, okay, I'm in.
I want more.
Tell them about your podcast andhow they can find that So they
can plug in with other peoplewho are cacheing and be a part
(28:29):
of that community.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (28:31):
Yeah, absolutely.
Thank you.
Yeah, so I'm just in the processwhile we're recording this of
getting my first couple ofepisodes put together.
But as this episode comes out,it should be live.
My podcast is called Cache Likea Girl.
There are other podcasts outthere all about geocaching, but
none of them Focus just on theladies that are a part of the
(28:53):
geocaching world.
When I started caching, it wasmostly men.
but these days with the adventof, smartphones and apps and
many more caches out there,it's, it's actually a little
more women than men geocachethese days, I think.
And so nobody's getting allthose stories of the, of the
different women that are outthere caching.
So, cachelikeagirl.com is, whereyou can go.
(29:16):
My trailer is there and, you cansign up to get email updates as
to when Episodes are released.
It won't be a regular basis.
It's more series based, but I'minterviewing other women
geocachers of all differentlevels beginners, parents,
retirees, and, and then sharingtips and tricks also, as well,
(29:38):
all about geocashing.
Vona Johnson (29:42):
Truly that's how we met was we were, we're in a
group, that we learn how to whatwe call ModCast, which is a
modern podcast with the videoand the audio.
If I remember right, I was in onthe conversation helping you
decide what to name yourpodcast.
I
Lisa Breitenfeldt (30:00):
think you were, I was wearing this shirt.
Vona Johnson (30:03):
I think you were.
Yes.
Yes.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (30:06):
Oh, anyway.
The shirt that I designed for aMother's Day box.
We do a Mother's Day gift box aswell.
And that's all over at our, oure commerce site, cache advance.
com.
And I was wearing this shirt andtrying to come up with a name
for my podcast.
And we were like, duh.
Right there on your shirt, Lisa.
Yeah,
Vona Johnson (30:27):
so
Lisa Breitenfeldt (30:27):
that's exactly.
Sometimes,
Vona Johnson (30:28):
sometimes the answer is right in front of us.
We just, are looking too hard.
Exactly.
Yeah.
So thank you for that.
It's worked really well.
I love it.
I just think it's amazing.
And I am excited to give this atry.
I'm just so grateful that youcame along today and shared this
information with us.
And I'm just going to.
(30:50):
Put it out there that if any ofmy listeners today or anytime in
the future, give it a try, Iwould love some feedback on, on
what your thoughts are.
And I'm sure Lisa would enjoythat as well.
So thank you, Lisa.
It's just been a pleasure tohave you on the show today.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (31:06):
Well, thank you Vona for inviting me on and
hope I didn't overwhelm folks,but again, it's super easy to
get started.
Just, just get out there and,you know, go find a couple of
caches and, enjoy it from there.
Vona Johnson (31:18):
Yeah.
Well, good luck to you with thepodcast.
I'm excited
Lisa Breitenfeldt (31:21):
to
Vona Johnson (31:21):
hear that.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (31:22):
You too.
Vona Johnson (31:23):
Take care.
Thank you.
Speaker (31:25):
So there you have it.
Wasn't that fun?
I don't know about you, but I amreally excited to try this.
I gotta be honest, I have notgone out and found my first
cache yet, but I do intend to doso.
I did go to geocaching.
com and I found that there arenearly 60 different sites within
10 miles of where I live.
(31:46):
So that should be enough to keepme busy for quite a long time,
not to mention all the placesthat I can go to as I travel
around the state and to otherstates.
I hope that you found this to bean exciting adventure that you
can try in your courageousretirement.
If you do, let me know.
I'd love to hear your thoughtson geocaching.
And if you have other ideas ofthings that I should be sharing
(32:08):
with the listeners of CourageousRetirement, I'd love to hear
about that.
Next time when you come back intwo weeks, we are going to
interview a guest and she'sgoing to share with us her
concept of how we live with noregrets.
Sounds pretty awesome, doesn'tit?
I hope to see you back herethen.
Until then, I pray that you willengage your faith, live your
(32:29):
more and reap the many, manybenefits of living in Courageous
Retirement.
Have a blessed day.
Have you ever heard ofgeocacheing?
(00:01):
Maybe you're a pro at it, or ifyou're like me, maybe you had
never even heard the wordbefore.
Either way, you're going to lovemy conversation with my guest.
Lisa Brietenfeldt today.
We're going to talk about, whatgeocacheing is, why people get
hooked on it.
And how it can bring a littleadventure and connection into
your life.
No matter where you are.
(00:22):
Even a remote place like SouthDakota.
Do you fear what lies beyondretirement?
What if it's a gateway to a lifefilled with purpose, meaning,
and adventure rather than anend?
Discover peace and fulfillmentas you boldly enter this new
chapter in CourageousRetirement, a Christian podcast.
I'm your host, author and coach,Vanna Johnson.
(00:42):
Let's get started.
Vona Johnson (00:44):
So I am just really excited today.
ever since I first met you in agroup that we are in together,
I've been just fascinated withwhat you.
And it's one of those thingswhere I've heard about it
before, but didn't know enoughto, you know, and it wasn't
quite curious enough maybe to godigging on my own.
But when we met, it was like,all right, we're gonna, we're
(01:05):
gonna figure this out.
So if you can't tell by Lisa's tshirt, she is a geocacher.
And I am just fascinated withthis.
And I really love the idea thatshe's, she, you know, as her
shirt says, cache like a girl.
Obviously, this isn't just awoman's sport, if men, if you're
listening, you don't have todisconnect now because there's
(01:27):
going to be a lot of goodinformation for you here as
well.
But I invited Lisa here becauseI want to learn about it.
And it just occurred to me thatthis is something when we talk
about courageous retirement,part of it is trying things
we've never done before, doingthings that might get us
excited.
I'm thinking I might want to trythis.
So Lisa, first of all, tell uswhat, what really is geocaching?
Lisa Breitenfeldt (01:52):
Yeah, well, thanks, Vona, for having me on
your show.
So geocaching, in a nutshell, ishigh tech hide and seek.
Geocachers, will, well, there'sa main website called
geocaching.
com, where you can get theinformation, and there is an app
for it as well.
Super easy, and we all havesmartphones these days, and,
(02:13):
that's where you go to find outinformation about how to find
the geocaches.
So
Vona Johnson (02:20):
when, so I do this, I download the app and I
go do my thing.
When I find it, what, what doesthat look like?
What, what, what am I finding?
Lisa Breitenfeldt (02:28):
Yeah.
Vona Johnson (02:29):
What do I do
Lisa Breitenfeldt (02:30):
when I find it?
That's where it gets a littlechallenging for a lot of folks
that are just getting started.
A lot of, People have apreconception that a geocache is
an obvious box.
Maybe it's buried or, you know,tucked in somewhere.
It's going to be very obviouswhat it is.
Actually burying caches isagainst the rules, so they're
(02:50):
not going to be buried.
A traditional type of cachewould be something like this.
This is a lock and lockcontainer.
You know, it really startedwith, you know, Ammo cans and
Tupperware.
Yeah.
so this is a kind of atraditional type of cache, but
they can be many different typesas well.
That can be a rock like this,where, you know, when you found
(03:13):
it, yeah.
So I've got a secret compartmentinside of it.
And they can be all the way downas small as this little guy
here, you can see that in theplastic bag.
I'll see if I can get it out ofthe bag, and these are magnetic.
So this could be, you know,hidden under a park bench or, on
some sort of metal structurecould be anything.
(03:35):
So they can be a littlechallenging and I've got some
really good tips for peoplegetting started, because when
you're just getting started, youdon't know what you're looking
for.
Vona Johnson (03:43):
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And, and that's a littleintimidating.
You know, we don't want to, wedon't want to look like a fool
out there digging around lookingfor under park benches and
things like that, especially ifwe don't know what
Lisa Breitenfeldt (03:54):
we're looking for.
So yeah.
Exactly.
Yeah.
That's how you, it is how youget started.
You don't really know exactlywhat you're looking for, but
there's a lot of clues, thatwill help you.
Here's a better closeup of howtiny this is.
It screws open.
So it's a tiny littlecompartment.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So caches are, geocaches arerated on a five star scale.
(04:17):
It can be, so it's one to fivein terrain and in difficulty.
So a one one cache is somethingthat is actually what we call
handy cacheable.
So you can roll up to it in awheelchair, push a stroller.
Very easy to get to, you know,stir curbs to step over and
it'll be obvious to find evenreach it in a seated type
(04:39):
position.
So, we really recommend newfolks to get when they're
starting to go after the one.
Terrain caches and the onedifficulty.
Now the difficulty again, it'sif it's the one difficulty, it's
obvious.
It's right there where you know,you can generally see them all
the way up to a five, which ishidden very, very well, very
(05:01):
well concealed.
So to be successful.
Right out of the gate, Irecommend that, people look for
caches that are rated on a one,one scale, and then they're also
organized by size as well.
So something like this is aregular size geocache and, uh,
again, so they're going to beeasier to find, and there's
(05:23):
probably going to be thingsinside of them, and I'll dive
into that a little later,perhaps.
And then these are what arecalled micro caches.
So they're much smaller in size,so they're much harder to find.
So my best tip for people justgetting started is to go after
regular size caches on a 1 1difficulty in Terrain.
(05:46):
And that's real obvious on thewebsite and on the app.
And you can even filter for justto see caches of that, those
sizes and Terrain difficulty.
Okay,
Vona Johnson (05:59):
so I have found my first cache.
What do I do?
That's great.
Do you just check a box off onthe app?
Is it, you said some of themhave things inside, I mean,
what's correct?
Lisa Breitenfeldt (06:12):
Yeah, so all physical caches have a log book
to sign.
Okay.
And that is the only rule ofgeocacheing is you have to sign
the log book.
So you need to open it up.
And then inside will be somesort of you know, little booklet
or something like that.
Even these, these tiny littlenanos, they screw open and
(06:33):
there's a little scroll of paperinside of them.
Vona Johnson (06:36):
No
Lisa Breitenfeldt (06:36):
way.
Yeah, yeah.
So you script your littleinitials on there.
I guess I should say mygeocaching name is Lookout Lisa.
So all geocachers, you have ahandle or a geocaching name and
you have to sign, you know, Isign Lookout Lisa and then the
date, if it's a larger size, youknow, logbook like this.
(06:56):
On these tiny little ones, Ijust write in LOL or Lookout
Lisa.
Ha ha
Vona Johnson (07:01):
ha!
Lisa Breitenfeldt (07:02):
So that that's the one rule of
geocaching and then if there'sitems inside you can trade for
them and it's on an equal tradebasis so we want to trade equal
or trade up or something bettereven and that makes it more fun,
you know, if you're taking thegrandkids out, kids love to find
(07:23):
things in geocaches.
So again, that's why you want togo for regular size caches,
there'll be something inside ofthem.
So when you
Vona Johnson (07:30):
say trade, so would I bring something with me
that I leave in the cache then?
Lisa Breitenfeldt (07:35):
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
And there, there's guidelinesaround that as well.
You know what you can trade foragain, it needs to be kid
friendly.
So if it's something that, youknow, you would feel comfortable
if your kid picked it up off thestreet or, you know, in a, in a
geocache, no food, uh, noliquids, nothing illegal, of
(07:56):
course, and nothing reallysmelly.
You know, cause like one thing Ifind is those little containers
of, bubbles.
You know, you dip the littlething in and blow them.
That's a big no no.
That'll freeze and crack andmake a sudsy mess inside of the
geocache.
And a lot of those are scentedand that just attracts, insects
(08:16):
and, and animals and such.
Vona Johnson (08:19):
Okay.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (08:19):
Yeah.
So then when you make yourtrade, you sign the logbook and
then you put it all backtogether and you put it back
where you found it.
You don't move it, not like thepainted rocks where you can take
the rock and, you know, do withit what you want.
You put it back where you foundit and then, on the app or back
home at the website or you caneven pull up the website on your
(08:40):
phone, you then mark it as foundand you can write a little note
to the cache owner, so they knowthat you found it.
Vona Johnson (08:47):
Okay,
Lisa Breitenfeldt (08:48):
so, so
Vona Johnson (08:49):
can anyone be a cache owner?
Could I go hide somethingsomewhere and put it out on,
then put it out on the site?
Lisa Breitenfeldt (08:57):
Yeah, absolutely.
Yes, completely community basedgame.
So, I've hidden a couple hundredcaches over my 24 year, reign of
geocaching and yeah, anyone canhide a cache again, those
guidelines around them, but werecommend that you find at least
100 caches first.
Vona Johnson (09:17):
Okay.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (09:18):
So you want to, that way you get a really
good idea of what makes a goodgeocache.
What other people are doing inyour area or wherever you're
caching, they're all around theworld, actually.
Vona Johnson (09:28):
Well, and that was going to be one of my questions
because I live in the middle ofSouth Dakota.
I mean, very rural.
So would I be able to expectthat there will be caches right
here in good old Pierre, SouthDakota?
Lisa Breitenfeldt (09:40):
I believe you would.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I have to check that
Vona Johnson (09:43):
out.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (09:44):
The easiest way is just go to geocaching.
com, and you can type in yourzip code or your address into
the search bar right at the verytop of the page, and it'll pull
up a map and show you thegeocaches around your area.
There are, there are caches allover.
You know, when I first startedgeocaching back in 2002, there
(10:04):
weren't very many.
But over the years, more andmore people have joined the game
and have hidden their own.
So you're going to be surprised.
There are actually millions ofgeocaches in the world to find.
And there's even one on theinternational space station.
Wow.
Vona Johnson (10:20):
So how, how long has geocaching been around?
Lisa Breitenfeldt (10:24):
Yeah, it started in 2000,
Vona Johnson (10:26):
25 years then.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (10:27):
Yeah, yeah, this is our 25th anniversary,
coming up this year of, Thegame.
What happened was previously,well, GPS technology.
We're all familiar with thatnow.
I think, we have it in our cars.
We have it in our phones.
We have it even in our watches.
Previously before 2000, it wasonly available to the military.
(10:48):
It was what was called selectiveavailability.
And so the, the signal wasscrambled.
So anybody with a, you know,regular type of GPS at that
time, a handheld, one, they wereonly accurate within about 300
feet or 100 meters.
And overnight, literally,President Clinton said, you
(11:09):
know, I think we can turn thisoff and, make GPS signal, Clear
and, available to the generalpublic.
And so through the switch,although it really wasn't a
switch, but selectiveavailability was turned off on
May 2nd, 2000.
And within two days, a gentlemansaid, Hey, this is interesting.
(11:30):
Let's see how well this works.
And, turned his GPS on.
He went and hid a bucket, in,Oregon actually just outside of
Portland and then got thecoordinates posted them on his
use that, group.
Remember, this is 2000.
So the Internet was still prettyyoung and said, Hey, this is my
geo stash that I hid, go findit.
(11:54):
And within a couple of days,people were finding it.
So that that's how it started,actually.
Vona Johnson (12:00):
That's, that's really cool.
So I'm envisioning that maybe agroup of couples or maybe a
group of gals might do go outand do it just for an afternoon
of fun, or I assume you can plana whole vacation around it if
you wanted to.
Would I be right?
Lisa Breitenfeldt (12:18):
Absolutely.
That's, that's one of thebeauties of geocaching.
It's truly a choose your ownadventure.
I love that.
Yeah, you can find a geocache onthe way to the grocery store.
Matter of fact, there's probablyone near your grocery store.
I'm gonna look that up.
Yeah, maybe even in a parkinglot.
And I'm going to give you all atip on parking lot caches here a
(12:39):
little later.
Ask me again about that.
But,, yes, it's a ton of fun.
When I first started caching, Ihad a hiking group of gals that
we would hike together andunbeknownst to a couple of us,
three of us all startedgeocaching within like two weeks
of each other.
And we commandeered our, hikinggroup and said, let's go
caching.
And everyone loved it.
(13:00):
And so we would go everySaturday.
just, we'd meet at a coffeeshop.
Talk about, whatever we wantedto talk about with, with our
girlfriends, and then went outgeocaching for a couple of
hours.
And then, yeah, I planned my, mylife is literally lives around
geocaching because that's mybusiness as well.
But yeah, you can, it's a greatway to plan vacations as well,
(13:24):
or trips because geocachers hidecaches at interesting places,
places that are generally out ofthe way, that you would never
even know about, even in yourown hometown, you might find
locations that you had no ideaor histories or, you know,
interesting things.
So it's just a great way toexplore the world and, you know,
(13:44):
you can quit whenever you want,call it a day.
Just find one, I know peoplethat will set a challenge for
themselves and they'll cache for24 hours straight, you know, and
try to find as many as they can.
So it's, it's truly choose yourown adventure.
Vona Johnson (13:59):
I love that.
And to me, it sounds like theperfect thing to do with our
grandkids, right?
Yeah, absolutely.
Kind of get them excited aboutusing the coordinates and all
the things.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (14:11):
Yeah, yeah.
Kids, younger kids really enjoygeocaching.
Another preconception is thatcaching is just for kids, and
it's, it's really not once kidsturn 12, 13, they're off doing
other things, you know, sportsactivities, chasing boys and
girls, what have you.
But it is definitely a fun thingfor younger kids, for sure.
(14:35):
And that's again, where Irecommend looking for regular or
large sized caches.
Geocaches.
So there'll be something forthem to trade and bring
something for them to trade aswell.
So one of my favorites is justmarbles.
Vona Johnson (14:49):
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
So, one of the things that keepspopping up is, so do you, are
they vandalized?
I mean, I can, I can see somekids out just playing and not
even knowing what's going on andtake it or, you know, yeah, I
assume that happens too, doesn'tit?
Lisa Breitenfeldt (15:08):
It does.
Unfortunately.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So we call people that don'tgeocache like you, Vona I would
call you a muggle.
Muggle.
Okay.
Yeah.
That's a new label I
Vona Johnson (15:20):
have not had before, I don't think.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (15:21):
Okay.
Yeah.
So you're a muggle.
Well, actually now you're kindof a mudblood, but because you
know a little bit aboutgeocaching.
Okay.
Okay.
Yeah.
But when somebody steals ageocache, or, Something happens
sometimes, you know, it's assimple as, you know, there's a
forest clearing along the sideof a road and it sweeps up a
geocache and it, you know,disappears or an animal takes it
(15:45):
or what have you.
We call that it was muggled.
Yeah, or stolen.
So that does happen.
And, you know, in, in the game,even now over the years, we've
had a few people that join itjust to steal it.
And they steal the containers.
Usually it's An odd thing and,admins can figure it out and
(16:07):
shut those, accounts down.
And so those people are unableto, to see the caches and
there's another way too, isthere's two layer, two types of
caches, because geocaching isfree to play.
It's a, on a freemium base andhowever, there is a fee.
I think it's around 40 now ayear, a little under a little
less than that.
(16:27):
And, that allows you to seepremium caches.
So if you are a premium member,you can hide premium caches and
the general public can't seethose caches.
They don't show up on the app.
So you do have a betteradventure for sure.
If you do sign up for that, butthere's no need to, if you're
just getting started there,there's still going to be
(16:49):
thousands of geocaches, thatwe're going to be fun to go
find.
Vona Johnson (16:53):
I have to know, I assume that the, all the things
that are behind you are relatedto your caching or those things
that you have traded.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (17:02):
Yeah, actually, these are what we call
geo coins.
So, let me grab one here.
This is a fun one.
So it has a design on them,showing the Okay, yeah, this one
is a sample one.
So this is the what we call twoseasons.
It's winter and then roadconstruction.
(17:22):
I'm in Washington state.
So we're just yeah, Similarweather here.
And, so these started a coupleof years after geocaching
started and they will have atracking code on them and you
can type in the code, this isgeocaching 301 is the
trackables.
Vona Johnson (17:41):
Okay.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (17:41):
But they, that code, you can type it in at
geocaching.
com and you can see where thiscoin has been and who has
handled it.
So you may have heard of thewhere's George dollars.
Where they've got a littlewhere's George stamp you type in
a serial number atwhere'sgeorge.
com you can see who's tradedthat dollar same concept with
(18:01):
these However, the fancy coinsthey generally don't stay in
caches, people put them in theircollection.
Sure.
That's one of my businesses.
We actually make the coins.
Yeah.
And so these are all coins thatwe've made, generally for other
entities, other geocachinggroups or big events.
(18:22):
They'll include coins in theirregistration packets and such.
I love it.
That's yeah.
Vona Johnson (18:27):
So that's that's a conversation for another
somebody maybe a little moreadvanced than where we are
today.
So, but
Lisa Breitenfeldt (18:33):
absolutely.
Yeah.
It is a tip though that if youfind something like this, that
has a code on it, they're goingto be six alpha numeric.
letters and numbers.
It's not yours to keep.
It's meant to move on.
Vona Johnson (18:46):
Okay.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (18:46):
So, technically you can take it, but
you need to register it and thenmove it along.
I recommend new people, leavethem alone, leave them for the
next person who is a little morefamiliar with it.
Vona Johnson (18:58):
I know that this is your business and you have
the opportunity for people to,start caching with your, your
cache box, your subscriptionbox.
Tell us about that.
If you would, please.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (19:09):
Yeah, sure, Vona.
Thanks for asking.
So, yeah, 10 years ago, Istarted a subscription box
called the cache Crate just forgeocachers.
I've had an e commerce businessaround supplying the gear for
geocaching for Almost 20, 20years now.
And, yeah, cause when I startedgeocaching, there wasn't much
(19:32):
equipment out there, or gear.
We were literally raiding ourjunk drawers.
You know, getting old Tupperwareand containers and stuff that we
picked up around, you know, oldtoys to use for swag to hide in
and trade for caches.
So, I started my business aroundproviding the gear to play the
game.
And that grew into the, thesubscription box.
(19:53):
So it's just a actually I havesix different subscriptions.
One is a t shirt club.
And then we've got the main boxas well.
This is our flagshipsubscription or you can get
both.
And so it's a monthly, excuseme, a monthly subscription of
fun geocaching gear.
That you get delivered right toyour door.
So it's like a special geocachebox that comes to you instead of
(20:18):
you going out and, and seekingit.
And inside we have, occasionallygeocoins that are minted,
especially just for our members.
And, yeah, then there'll beother, You know, cache
containers, these rocks that wemake they have gone out in
caches in the past.
And we know not everybody's ahider, so we, those are a couple
(20:40):
of times throughout the year.
And we have other items too.
Maintenance kits, it's, it'sgood etiquette to, you know,
replace a log book if it's, wetor damaged or something and, you
know, refresh the insides of thecache if you can.
And, then other fun things tokeep yourself, safe while you're
out geocaching, such as firstaid kits or sunscreen, bug
(21:04):
repellent we send in thesummertime.
So things like that.
And that is called the cachecrate.
Go to cachecrate.com.
You'll see a lot moreinformation about it there.
Vona Johnson (21:16):
All right.
That's, that's very cool.
I, you know, and I did make anassumption at the beginning that
everybody would be in the placethat I am and not know anything,
but I'm.
I would assume there will bepeople that are listening that
are, are more engaged in, and Iwould just encourage them to, or
anybody.
I mean, if this sounds exciting,share it with your friends so
(21:37):
that they can kind of get in onthe fun too.
A fun way to spend, like yousaid, a day, an hour, whatever.
So that's,
Lisa Breitenfeldt (21:46):
yeah, it's just a great activity to get
outside.
The, in the cache write up,you'll have an idea of what
you're seeking.
So, you know, you'll have anidea of what sort of adventure
you're, you're getting yourselfor your friends into, you know,
is a easy walk in the park.
If that's what you want, go forthat.
Or, you know, something more ofa.
(22:07):
You know, wouldn't scramble orsomething like that.
That might not be what you'relooking for.
And I, I know so many couplesthat have, you know, come into
our community, geocachingcommunity, because they were
just looking for something newto do together.
And it's just a great way to getout in nature.
Not necessarily, though.
A lot of caches are actually inthe city.
But, just a really fun activityto de stress, and, work together
(22:33):
as a team, potentially.
You can do it by yourself aswell, but a lot of folks really
do enjoy doing it, together withfriends.
And there's a huge geocachingcommunity.
We get together at events aswell, and, I'd love I met my
husband through geocaching.
He was another geocacher.
Vona Johnson (22:49):
Oh, fun.
That's, that's very cool.
Yeah, I can see all kinds ofdifferent applications for it.
So you had mentioned a couple oftimes that you have some tips
for, for people, and I wouldlove for you to share those with
us if you would.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (23:03):
Yeah, sure.
So like I had mentioned earlier,When you're just getting started
again, it's free to play.
So, you know, just there'snothing that you really all you
need is a pencil to sign thoselogs.
I was thinking that you got,don't forget your pencil.
Right?
Yeah, definitely bring a pencilor a pen or something to write
with because again, that is theone rule that you have to sign
(23:26):
the log on the traditional typeof geocaches.
And then, go after 1 1 cachesthat are a regular size, so
they're going to be easy tofind, not a hard hike and
bigger, so, and then some funthings to trade.
You don't have to trade though,so there's, there's no reason.
Yeah, I generally don't, but, ifI find something that, really
(23:50):
piqued my interest, I justmight, and money's okay to trade
for too.
So these are, these are dollarstore items that we're talking.
So, you know, just simplethings.
Okay.
And then I wanted to give aparking lot tip.
Caches, they're called LPCs,light pole caches.
You can think about any.
Parking lot, grocery store,Target, Walmart, what have you.
(24:14):
They've got those light polesall around them.
There's usually a cement base tothem.
They have a little skirt, metalskirt, and then the pole.
That skirt lifts up and it's ahollow space inside there.
And if you're stuck trying tofind a geocache and you're like,
where's this geocache in themiddle of this parking lot?
(24:36):
It's in the light pole.
Okay.
Big spoiler.
Yeah, I love it.
Yeah.
Or it could even be somethingmagnetic.
If the light pole is a ferrousmetal that's stuck to it.
Like a little nano.
I would have never figured
Vona Johnson (24:50):
that one out on my own.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (24:52):
Yeah, that was.
When I first found one of those,I was like, Oh my gosh, how, how
is this?
And I've been caching for a fewyears and no, this parking lot,
where's this cache?
And, you know, as geocachers,we've learned to, you know,
carefully see if something movescause those harder difficulty
(25:12):
ones can be very obvious.
They're right there, but youdon't want to.
They look like they belong.
And so you just see if somethingmoves, but you definitely want
to put everything back the wayyou found it.
You know, don't go digging upsomebody's landscaping, trying
to find you know, a rock that'shidden around.
But you have to put everythingback.
(25:33):
Yeah.
It's good etiquette.
Vona Johnson (25:34):
Yes.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (25:35):
That
Vona Johnson (25:35):
makes
Lisa Breitenfeldt (25:35):
sense.
So those are my top tips.
I think they're, and you know,it's just about having fun and
you don't always find the cache.
So I guess I should mentionabout that, too, that, like you,
we talked about earlier, They'vebeen muggled, or something has
happened to them.
They were either damaged orremoved or something.
And, so if you, I usually givecaches a couple of minutes if I
(26:00):
can't find it.
It's time to move on.
And you can actually mark it onthe app or on the website as a
DNF.
As it did not find.
And that leaves a note for theowner.
They know maybe their cache ismissing.
There might be something wrongwith it.
And, or it just alluded tosomehow and then you get a
little frowny face on your map,a little blue face.
(26:23):
So, you know, to go back andlook for another time,
potentially, you know, maybewhen you've had a little more
experience.
Vona Johnson (26:30):
Oh, this just sounds like fun.
I'm definitely going to have totry it when it's warmer out.
It's like below zero here today,so we're not doing it today.
Yeah.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (26:39):
Yeah, we're just at freezing here.
Oh, and I should mention oneother thing too, there are
different types of geocaches.
Okay.
And, so I really recommend thatfolks, there's a lot of help,
excuse me, information at thewebsite, the main website that
explains the different cachetypes and they have different
icons on the map.
(27:00):
So the traditional caches likeI've been talking about, there's
coordinates and you navigateyour way there.
Thank you.
Take care.
put your phone away or your GPSwith when you're within about 20
feet and just think about wherewould, where would I hide
something and start looking inthose places.
But there's other types ofgeocaches that are multiple
steps or there's actuallynothing physical to find.
(27:24):
Those are called virtual cachesand you've got to answer a
question at a certain set of, ofcoordinates.
And, so those can be reallyfrustrating if you're just
getting started, you thinkyou're looking for something,
but you're really needing ananswer.
So be, be careful what type ofcache types you go after, and we
recommend just starting with thetraditional ones.
(27:45):
And there's even puzzles thatare very complicated that you've
got a lot to solve first, thatunlock the actual coordinates of
where the cache is hidden.
So, the game has really evolved.
Keep it simple to get started.
And then, once you've got ahandle on it and if you like it,
most people either love it orit's just not for them.
But for most, they really likeit.
And you can, you know, again,choose your own adventure.
Vona Johnson (28:07):
What's coming up for me is This is a great place
to start, but there are so manylevels and obviously we can't
cover them all today.
So I know that you havesomething that will help
somebody that starts and they'relike, okay, I'm in.
I want more.
Tell them about your podcast andhow they can find that So they
can plug in with other peoplewho are cacheing and be a part
(28:29):
of that community.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (28:31):
Yeah, absolutely.
Thank you.
Yeah, so I'm just in the processwhile we're recording this of
getting my first couple ofepisodes put together.
But as this episode comes out,it should be live.
My podcast is called Cache Likea Girl.
There are other podcasts outthere all about geocaching, but
none of them Focus just on theladies that are a part of the
(28:53):
geocaching world.
When I started caching, it wasmostly men.
but these days with the adventof, smartphones and apps and
many more caches out there,it's, it's actually a little
more women than men geocachethese days, I think.
And so nobody's getting allthose stories of the, of the
different women that are outthere caching.
So, cachelikeagirl.com is, whereyou can go.
(29:16):
My trailer is there and, you cansign up to get email updates as
to when Episodes are released.
It won't be a regular basis.
It's more series based, but I'minterviewing other women
geocachers of all differentlevels beginners, parents,
retirees, and, and then sharingtips and tricks also, as well,
(29:38):
all about geocashing.
Vona Johnson (29:42):
Truly that's how we met was we were, we're in a
group, that we learn how to whatwe call ModCast, which is a
modern podcast with the videoand the audio.
If I remember right, I was in onthe conversation helping you
decide what to name yourpodcast.
I
Lisa Breitenfeldt (30:00):
think you were, I was wearing this shirt.
Vona Johnson (30:03):
I think you were.
Yes.
Yes.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (30:06):
Oh, anyway.
The shirt that I designed for aMother's Day box.
We do a Mother's Day gift box aswell.
And that's all over at our, oure commerce site, cache advance.
com.
And I was wearing this shirt andtrying to come up with a name
for my podcast.
And we were like, duh.
Right there on your shirt, Lisa.
Yeah,
Vona Johnson (30:27):
so
Lisa Breitenfeldt (30:27):
that's exactly.
Sometimes,
Vona Johnson (30:28):
sometimes the answer is right in front of us.
We just, are looking too hard.
Exactly.
Yeah.
So thank you for that.
It's worked really well.
I love it.
I just think it's amazing.
And I am excited to give this atry.
I'm just so grateful that youcame along today and shared this
information with us.
And I'm just going to.
(30:50):
Put it out there that if any ofmy listeners today or anytime in
the future, give it a try, Iwould love some feedback on, on
what your thoughts are.
And I'm sure Lisa would enjoythat as well.
So thank you, Lisa.
It's just been a pleasure tohave you on the show today.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (31:06):
Well, thank you Vona for inviting me on and
hope I didn't overwhelm folks,but again, it's super easy to
get started.
Just, just get out there and,you know, go find a couple of
caches and, enjoy it from there.
Vona Johnson (31:18):
Yeah.
Well, good luck to you with thepodcast.
I'm excited
Lisa Breitenfeldt (31:21):
to
Vona Johnson (31:21):
hear that.
Lisa Breitenfeldt (31:22):
You too.
Vona Johnson (31:23):
Take care.
Thank you.
Speaker (31:25):
So there you have it.
Wasn't that fun?
I don't know about you, but I amreally excited to try this.
I gotta be honest, I have notgone out and found my first
cache yet, but I do intend to doso.
I did go to geocaching.
com and I found that there arenearly 60 different sites within
10 miles of where I live.
(31:46):
So that should be enough to keepme busy for quite a long time,
not to mention all the placesthat I can go to as I travel
around the state and to otherstates.
I hope that you found this to bean exciting adventure that you
can try in your courageousretirement.
If you do, let me know.
I'd love to hear your thoughtson geocaching.
And if you have other ideas ofthings that I should be sharing
(32:08):
with the listeners of CourageousRetirement, I'd love to hear
about that.
Next time when you come back intwo weeks, we are going to
interview a guest and she'sgoing to share with us her
concept of how we live with noregrets.
Sounds pretty awesome, doesn'tit?
I hope to see you back herethen.
Until then, I pray that you willengage your faith, live your
(32:29):
more and reap the many, manybenefits of living in Courageous
Retirement.
Have a blessed day.
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