Geo Caching

Geo Caching and Dolls by Ellen Tsagaris

Our 16 year old son told me about a new game that is gaining in popularity, called Geo Caching. Items are stored in weather tight containers along with a pad, pencil, and log. They are hidden literally all over the world, and maps and clues are given over The Internet and through other venues so that players can find the containers. There are rules that must be followed; no food, explosives, weapons, poisons, or other dangerous items are to be hidden. When a player finds a cache, s/he must log it and make a note on the bad. You can take items from the cache, but not the log pad, and pen or pencil. They need to stay for the next person who finds it. Check state laws or the law of your international jurisdiction before you play. Some states do not allow geo caching in cemeteries or in historic places. There are rules about where the cache can be hidden to buried, and players always have to be aware of trespass laws. Small toys and trinkets are popular cache items. Special tokens are also made as cache finds. Think how much fun it would be for a group of doll collectors to start a geo cache game involving dolls and accessories. Happy Meal Barbies and Bratz dolls would be perfect for the cache. So would Barbie and other 11.5 inch fashion doll accessories. Hallmark ornaments or other Christmas ornaments involving dolls would work well. Containers need to be water proof. Plastic ammo boxes are apparently the crème de la crème of cache boxes. Good collectors could create cached time capsules of doll history, with a book or some good articles about dolls. Small bisque dolls might also be desirable prizes. If players didn’t want to engage in global geo caching games, someone could hold a mini geo caching doll event, with the cache hidden somewhere in the collector’s yard or in the house. It might be like holding an Easter egg hunt or scavenger hunt. I’m reminded of Sharon Fiffer’s book “Buried Stuff” where unusual rocks and fossils were hidden on someone’s property to give the impression that they were there to be found by geologists, when they were actually planted. Fiffer is herself an avid collector, and her heroine detective, Jane Wheel of the “Stuff” mysteries is a picker and avid collector herself. Still geo caching has its appeal. It reminds of an archaeologist’s dig, or digging for bottles. Some liken it to using metal detectors. Dolls have been found while collectors participate in all of these activities, so why not geo caching?