Thanks.
How come you started to blog?
I met with The Explorist during a cache collecting walk after Mellandagscaching i Katrineholm 2010 and he spoke nicely about his blog, so I thought I should try.
You have chosen to use English. Why?
The main reason is that I published a fanzine between 1989 and 1999 (Lepanto 4-ever) which was published in English, and I want to continue that tradition. And the main reason for that choice was to build bridges between hobbies abroad. Therefor I also write most of my geoCaching logs in English.
How come you started with GeoCaching?
Just before my vacation started July 2010 I met with an old fried (Krister), his wife (Åsa), children and brother-in-law (Stefan) at a restaurant in Ryd, Linköping. Åsa mentioned that she had started geoCaching and had 20 finds around Indianapolis where they live. I had also received a new smart phone (HTC Desire) at work two months earlier which had a GPS. These two things got me started and I spent most of my vacation that summer geoCaching, reaching 200 finds after 7 weeks.
You seem to enjoy the hobby?
Yes. It fits my interest fine as well as giving my a good opportunity to get out in the nature as well as a goal on any travel. One of the reasons I started was also to get exercise during the summer, as a complement to the "Jympa" I usually do during the rest of the year. I have managed to loose somewhere around 6 kg since I started and put myself on a stable, lower, level.
Besides this, I am one of those that like to have goal, and like statistics. So I put up goals for the future. That can be seen in my previous hobbies. For example after playing Bridge for quite a few years I set up the goal to collect enough "master points" to become Grand Master and I reached this goals after 30 years! So long term goals is not a problem. Or rather, I have a problem if I don't have any goals....
But of course the main reason is to have fun. GeoCaching has that aspect, as well as meeting lots of happy people during events, so I like it a lot.
What do you prefer when it comes to hides? Are you a mystery guy like everyone else?
Not really. Of course I like great caches like everyone else, but I do seems to have some inclination towards good Multis. They often show interesting places in a good way.
Many of the most active cachers seem to be into extreme sports, and enjoying hunting for Terrain 5:s. Not so in my case. I think I am to cowardic to climb mountains, crawl dungeons or to dive in the ocean.... Maybe if I have started this hobby 25 years ago? I do enjoy difficulties but 3/3 is probably enough for me.
One of your TBs is a (manual) bike. How do you travel?
Most of the caches I have found so far I have taken within a 20 km radius of Linköping. For these I have used my feets and my bike as the main transportation.
When I go to other places I usually go by bus or train, but a few time I have used car or even airplane, to get to a location. I think my ideal choice would use a car or a van, with a bike on tow. Actually the familly possess a car (a Toyota Prius '03) but I let my fiance drive as it is a bit too small for me. And she does not like geoCaching at all... so I go on my own.
Actually a car is more or less mandatory when you have combed the area near where you live. It is too much effort to get larger number of finds otherwise. So maybe I will get a (geo)car of my own in the future. But at the same time I do not really enjoy cars which I think is bad for the environment. So maybe an electric bike could be something? The car problem was also the reason I stopped playing golf (not that I ever was much of a golfer anyway).
What are your goals for the future?
For long term I would like to find caches in all continents (except Antartica...), and in at least 10 European countries.
In the short term (2011) my goals are:
- Today I have 340 finds. I expect to reach a total of 500 finds during Spring 2011, and I hope to reach a total of 1000 finds at end of year 2011.
- At least 2 Mega Events during 2011.
- Today I have logged in 2 countries (Sweden and Egypt). I hope to have logged in at least 3 more countries during 2011.
- Currently my hide count in 11 but this Summer I should reach 25.
- I will continue to add easier mysteries in my Games people play and expect to add a traditional series similar to Östgötapendeln.
No comments:
Post a Comment