the addiction is over

[djwini]

i don’t know if it is the weather this year or just what it is, but the addiction is over. i passed up a planned geo-outing today to stay home and do yard work. i don’t find myself thinking about which caches i am going to do next. i have remembered that there are other things in life to think about. this doesn’t mean i am done with caching, but it does mean i am once again a semi-sane semi-normal person, and all my conversations won’t be about geocaching.

[Team Black-Cat]

It won’t last. 🙂
The rest of the family has reached that point a while ago, but I still look for every opportunity to turn any family event or function into a chaching trip. I know that the day is coming that it won’t seem quite so important to me, but right now, it’s all about caching.
Enjoy your recovery, and start picking some “nice” caches instead of all of them.

[marc_54140]

But you had to post here about your ‘cure’!!!!

I think you are still thinking about it…..

[kbraband]

I applaud you for posting about returning to a semblance of a balanced life. Lots of people like to joke about being addicted to something, but if you have ever struggled with the effects that any type of addiction can have on you, a family member or close friend, you know it’s not something to take lightly. Geocaching — like any activity — has the potential to take over a life if you let it. I have talked with several geocachers who have experienced this. Some were aware of it; some were not. That’s why I’m never comfortable when newbies are welcomed with statements like “Welcome to the addiction.” Geocaching is a great, wonderful activity that can be good for you. But like all things, moderation is key.

[TyeDyeSkyGuy]

@kbraband wrote:

I applaud you for posting about returning to a semblance of a balanced life. Lots of people like to joke about being addicted to something, but if you have ever struggled with the effects that any type of addiction can have on you, a family member or close friend, you know it’s not something to take lightly. Geocaching — like any activity — has the potential to take over a life if you let it. I have talked with several geocachers who have experienced this. Some were aware of it; some were not. That’s why I’m never comfortable when newbies are welcomed with statements like “Welcome to the addiction.” Geocaching is a great, wonderful activity that can be good for you. But like all things, moderation is key.

A very good point Ken. I plan to change my typical welcome statement, as I never thought of it that way. I know addiction all to well. I’ve beaten more than a few in my life. This game is one that still has me, but it’s also the only one I’m not ashamed of. More like proud of.

PS and off topic, my spellcheck now recognizes the word “geocachers” as “cowcatchers”. 😆

[Lostby7]

Congrats djwini.

I’m just a few days short of a month without finding a cache myself. There is a fair amount of OCD in my personally so this is pretty huge for me…but then again I’m planning my comeback….but I think I *might* stick to geocaching at destinations rather than the cache being the destination. I’m more in the mode of “if a cache gets in the way I’ll find it” at this point.

Those FTF urges have totally passed me by now so there is still hope for a near complete recovery…but then I don’t smoke or drink so somewhere in my life there must be room for addiction right?

Ken is right though, sometimes we need to take a step back and really look at what we are doing and what is important. What are we missing along the way and how can we better ourselves and our loved ones. Addictions are easy to get caught up in without a doubt.

[Mathman]

@Team Black-Cat wrote:

It won’t last. 🙂
The rest of the family has reached that point a while ago, but I still look for every opportunity to turn any family event or function into a chaching trip. I know that the day is coming that it won’t seem quite so important to me, but right now, it’s all about caching.
Enjoy your recovery, and start picking some “nice” caches instead of all of them.

You mean the Birthday Party you had for “The Clowder Event” was really all about Geocaching and NOT your wife’s Birthday??? 😯

😉

[Crockett3663]

I too have joked about this being an “addiction”, but I know that’s not necessarily true…at least not for me. I will think about different caches from time to time, if I’m driving by them or whatever, but it’s not as if I’m laying awake at night thinking of a particular DNF and wondering what I might have missed.

However, I do find myself watching the weather forecasts and looking at the family calendar, wondering if we’ll have an opportunity to go hunting when the weekend comes, and if that makes me an “addict”, so be it.

[Team Black-Cat]

@Mathman wrote:

You mean the Birthday Party you had for “The Clowder Event” was really all about Geocaching and NOT your wife’s Birthday??? 😯

😉

Yeah, there’s something in the GC guidelines that states that an event has to be about Geocaching. Go figure… 😉

To get back on topic, the word obsession might be more accurate and a little more PC. Then again, perhaps not. Severe OCD is as debilitating as an addiction. In the end, it’s just a word.

[brkster]

Donna,

I think you have come to the point where you can control geocaching, and NOT where geocaching controls you. This is a really fun sport/activity. We all get something out of it in one way or another. Congrats on keeping things in the proper perspective. One thing to note though is that it’s not always the addiction that drives a lot of us. For me, it’s the opportunity to kill some time doing something that I really enjoy doing; many times with others like yourself. It’s a great way to break up the monotony on long drives, plus it leads you to many interesting places while on road trips that you may never have known about otherwise.

[sbukosky]

Many don’t know me but you can check my profile and see that I’ve been around. I used to have it bad. Very, very bad. I made it to the second highest find count in the state and worked hard to keep it in the top ten. I burned up a lot of gasoline doing caches all weekend and many in the evening. I’ve seen new caches posted in the evening and ran out in the dark and rain to be the first to find.

Trying to keep a job and maintain a home finally made me realize that I was never going to keep up with people without such responsibilities and I’m just making a general statement. We all have our free time and choose how to spend it. More power to them.

When I got my dog, Kanook, he became my caching partner and we spent a lot of time in the woods which is my favorite place to cache. As more caches were in places where Kanook was not welcomed or safe, I decided he and my time with him was more important than running up some numbers which never made me richer but arguably poorer.

To each their own. That’s my story. Welcome to another stage of being a geocacher.

[Mama Fishcacher]

I’m so happy to see a post like this and to know it’s not just me that sort of *burned out* on it. I was a busy cacher a few years ago, but I’ve really tapered off the past year or two. No specific reason. Basically, I guess life got in the way of geocaching instead of the other way around…. 😕

[Miata]

Been there, done that, and got the T-Shirt as the saying goes Donna. 😉

I enjoy my social trips to “power cache”, but the local day to day stuff has taken a huge hit in the last year or two since buying the Mountain retreat. 😆

[Team Hemisphere Dancer]

I think I have hit the same wall. Not so much that I don’t find it fun anymore but more along the lines of all the petty little fighting between some members of the WGA.

Micro’s vs. Ammo Cans
Puzzles vs. Traditional
Urban hides vs. Hikes in a woods.
Types of puzzles.
Temps vs. Non Temps

I feel myself pulling away from the WGA because I am just plain sick of reading about these little arguments.(however they are like a bad accident, I can’t stop reading them) But imagine if you were a new member to the WGA wouldn’t you be turned off by all the fighting? None of it can be of any good to the WGA itself. Geocaching is a hobby not a religion. Get over it and do what you enjoy doing.

[kbraband]

I don’t think the tone of the WGA forums has been bad at all lately. Sure, there have been disagreements here and there, but that’s natural and healthy. Compare it to some of the stuff going on in years past and today’s disagreements look like… well, just disagreements.

[Author]

Posts