Do you want to try something new and exciting but don’t know what? Have you ever heard of Geocaching? If not, Geocaching is basically where you search for a hidden object using hints and coordinates. When you find them, there could be a pill bottle, a box, or something even bigger! You sign a log, and there could even be little trinkets to trade! The trinkets are anything from a cute patch to a figurine! So bring whatever you would like to trade, and think other people would like to have! But keep in mind the smaller geocaches don’t have anything to trade. Geocaching is an activity people all over the globe participate in. There are many to be found all over the world! They can be placed at the top of mountains, in the middle of forests, and even in the ocean! There are currently a few in Galway, I’m not going to tell you where because that is for you to figure out for yourself!

I’ve gone geocaching a couple times, the difficulty depends on the geocache. One of them was really far up in the woods on a winding trail, while others were kind of out in the open. On the website it will tell you how difficult the geocaches are to find and how rough the terrain is, so I recommend finding one that suits your difficulty level. Some of the geocaches are not there anymore, but most of them are still in the same spot where they were first placed. The geocaches that aren’t there anymore may have been destroyed by weather, people who didn’t know what it was, or another natural cause. The owner may have also removed the geocach, so it’s best to check the comments on the geocache from the website before you go looking for it.

Geocaching is also a very good way to exercise and social distance during this pandemic, because most of these geocaches are out in the open and away from the public. So what are you waiting for? Get out there, exercise, and have fun! To start and get the information on the geocaches around here, go to https://www.geocaching.com/play/search. To use this website, click on the link or search Geocach on Google and it should be one of the first options. After all you need to do it type in a town name, zip code, or anything you would use to find an address. Then click on a geocache that sounds fun to find, get the coordinates and start hunting! And look out, there just might be a new geocache popping up in Galway soon….

Attached to the article are pictures of me when I went geocaching a few years ago!