Cache 'ya later...

Tout le monde, I'd like to share with you one of the dorkiest things I think I'll ever do... but only because I am only 50% ashamed to admit how into it I am, and because it is a phenomenal way to experience the off-the-beaten path of a new place for free.  Ladies and gentlemen... I bring to  you..... (drum roll....) GEOCACHING! 

Cast aside all of your personal pride, dignity, etc. and pay attention!  If you don't know what geocaching is (prepare yourself to be gobsmacked at how ridiculous it sounds... and you might want to grab your pocket protector...) it is basically a network of people who are connected through one app or another who like to hide containers, usually just with a rolled up piece of paper or a tiny notebook, but sometimes with goodies, in various places.  

When Trip first mentioned geocaching and tried to explain it to me, I was like, "Nu uh... there is no way you are going to get me to wander around the city like a suspicious Muggle (yes... this term is widely used on the app we cache through) and dig for film canisters just so I can write my name on a piece of paper"... but then I tried it... and got addicted!  

We started geocaching in Munich over the winter and actually ended up finding a couple who were using our same app and looking for the same cache and from then on we were hooked.  We didn't do any caching until we got to Milan, but once we started, we couldn't stop and ended up finding 6 of the 9 caches we were searching for (mostly because they were back in some bushes and the mosquitoes were eating us alive).  

Anyway... we ended up stumbling onto a snazzy abandoned building (my favourite type of place to photoshoot) and some ruins that have been overgrown and look a bit melancholy and sad, but we never would have seen either if we hadn't gone hunting!  

Remember, if you plan to go geocaching but don't have a network, when you have wifi, save your caches so you can access them later.  Many of them will have hints or spoiler photos to help you until you get good at thinking like a cacher (still not there yet!), and always, always, always bring a pen so you can record your name and the date upon which you found the cache!  Trip and I like to be sneaky about caches... cos you never know who is watching you... and you can look uber suspicious (like... some cops found us yesterday and almost chased us away from where we were hunting), so develop a code.  We like to use the whistle sounds from The Hunger Games movies when we've separated but one of us has found the cache!

Dork out, have fun, see cool stuff! 

PS: The app we use is called c:geo.

Tank c/o J.Crew

Pants self-made

Necklace c/o Urban Outfitters

Gladiators c/o Charlotte Russe

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