On Geocaching and Friendship

It occurred to me recently that my involvement in Geocaching has really changed the nature of many of my friendships, how they are formed and how they are perpetuated.

I can remember the first time I showed up at a weekend-long event to meet some caching buds. I was excited, I was finally going to meet these guys I've been getting to know by through logs and online chats in forums, IRC, and IM for months. We are friends. We're all excited to see each other and have a great weekend together bonding even more and talking about caching.

For this particular weekend, we're staying at a hotel. I check in and then casually ask the counter staffer, "Hey, can you tell me if my friend has checked in yet?"

"Sure, what's the name?", they respond equally casually.

I freeze. I have no idea. The moment has come. The realization that caching has redefined the way I form friendships and meet people.

For once in my life, I've formed a relationship with someone that's so close I'm actually buzzing with excitement to arrive at the event location and meet up with them - and I don't even know their first name. I don't know what they look like. I know very little about them, actually.

This phenomenon is not neccesarily new. Internet dating is taking off and the "Where did you meet?" question to a newlywed couple more often leads to the "On the internet" story than ever before.

However, it's new to me and I suspect new to many other Geocachers out there. In some ways, the anonimity can be creepy - I mean... they're strangers right? But in other ways, it's refreshing. Those first impressions are made not on what kind of car you pull up in, what you're wearing, your accent, skin color, or anything. It's made just on you. Generally online and months or years in advance of even meeting the person.

Then there's the long periods in between seeing each other when we use email, forums, IM, IRC, etc. to maintain contact and the bond we've built.

It's definitely a new approach to friendship. And the large communities and groups of friends springing up all over the world (look at all the geocaching groups popping up and even the "Cheers" group in the geocaching.com Off Topic forums) is a testament to the unique ability of Geocachers to form and perpetuate friendships from many miles away. It's amazing really.

And why is the trend gaining ground? Why are more and more geocachers turning out to events and online forums than ever?

Well I can't put my finger on it, but I suspect the reasons we all find seeking tupperware hidden in the woods appealing also provide a common thread of personality for us. Something in each other we can all identify with and bond with. Something we find as alluring in each other as we find in that box of trinkets stashed under a fallen tree.

If you haven't met any other Geocachers or attended any events - just do it. Give it a try. You might find it as addicting as you've found Geocaching. There's more out there to find than trinkets and log books!

Skype Pretty Much Rules

Every now and again, I'll run accross something that just absolutely captures my imagination. I become immediately addicted to it and mildly (and occasionally completely) obsessed with it.

One thing like this for me was Geocaching. It only took one time out to get completely hooked on it and I haven't stopped since. I think everyone can think back and remember the feeling as they approached their first cache. 100 feet now... 75... 60... 35... I don't see it... AH! THERE IT IS!

The feeling from that first cache was just infectuous. You wanted that excitement again.

I hadn't felt that way in a long time. Recently I had that experience when I began to dig into Skype, a free Internet telephony service, and all that it could do.

Skype (www.skype.com) is a free program to download and use. Calling computer to computer is free as well and for a small fee, you can actually call land lines using it. The price per minute to use it for calling the United States, Australia and many parts of Europe is just 1.7 Euro per minute. That's about $.02 US.

You can also get voicemail on Skype for 15 Euro per year. It's in beta but I took the chance and love it. Additionally you can get a phone number assigned to your Skype account and people can call you from a land line! Pretty cool stuff.

With a new API to interface to the deepest inner workings, and making it freely available to developers, I think we're going to see a Skype explosion in the next year. The people at the forefront of the development effort are the same guys who pioneered Kazaa, the file sharing service.

Except this time, it's legit. No banner ads. No spyware. No hinkey stuff. Just great Internet Telephony that Just Works (TM).

I put up a beta site for Geocachers who want to make themselves available to other Geocachers who Skype. You can list your Skype ID and find others at
http://www.wunderware.com/geoskypers/