Caching As A Kid
I don't know too many juvenile cachers. There are 2
or 3 that I know of within 50 miles or so of here, but that's about it.
I've heard people on the forums talking about their kids going caching,
but usually
under the account of their parents.
I started caching in April 2005, and from then until my 13th birthday in July I didn't have a GPSr. I still managed to accumulate 15 or so caches in this time, and learned just how hard it must be for those people who have found hundreds GPS-less. I still remember my first find, which took one attempt. I'd heard about geocaching on an Internet Relay Chat channel, and decided to search for some locally. There were a few, and one really stood out: it was in an area that I was familiar with, had a 1/1 rating (at the time I had no clue what that meant, it just looked good), and it was close. I told Dad, and he wasn't terribly excited about the idea. I went out, used the hint to find the cache, and then I was hooked. I created an account that afternoon, and the addiction went from there.
Caching without a driver's license and having school in the way certainly makes the sport more interesting when I DO get to go out caching. Topeka doesn't have a whole ton of caches, and I've found most of them - which means to get several caches in a day, a drive of at least 20 miles is required. Since I'm not paying for gas, and it's expensive at the moment, it's rare that I get a chance to grab a few caches. When I do get the chance, it's somewhat important to find as many as possible. My early attempts at this failed-maybe I'd get 2 or 3 caches in a day if I was lucky.
Navigation is "fun," since I'm not the one driving. If there's an error in the directions (usually from Streets and Trips), it can cost time - and lead to a bit of annoyance from the driver. Not having a job, I can't afford a laptop, which would make navigation MUCH easier. With a printed set of directions, you really can't allow for much variation - which again can lead to tension between the driver and myself. It never fails, there's always something wrong - either there's construction, S&T wanted me to go right instead of left, etc etc. I guess that's just part of the sport.
I've learned a few ways to squeeze the most caches out of a day. Streets and Trips has a nice feature, which lets you pick the shortest or quickest route. Usually the quickest is only a few miles longer, so I pick that. I've developed a sense of knowing how many blocks ahead a turn is from the angle of the GPS arrow, which is pretty nice for caching on a whim.
So far, my record's about 15 in a day. Not bad for a
juvenile backseat driver, I guess.