Hello!
I hope this post finds you well.
This was meant to be a big year for geocaching - the twentieth anniversary of the game. A raft of exciting announcements were made by Geocaching HQ; like many, I was looking forward to attending Community Celebration events and logging a Locationless cache for the first time ever!
By the end of January, my initial plans were in place: I was going to attend the Prague Giga in May and the UK Mega events in August. I had also set myself some ambitious goals. The main one was to find 1,000 caches by the end of the year (i.e. today), and I was also eager to fill in more of my Jasmer Grid.
Then the pandemic arrived, and the country went into lockdown - putting an end to my regular geocaching outings (for a while), and my hopes of attending events.
As the months went by, I still managed to find some good caches and several great series were completed - from the superb Eastbury Fields loop, to Chalk Downs, RED, and Mercot Meander (the latter is definitely underrated).
My favourite series of the year has to be NameThatTune in the Cotswolds. The walk was simply superb, mostly within some lovely woodland, with spectacular views to enjoy along the bottom stretch. The caches themselves were outstanding - the tableaus were excellent, and extremely well crafted.
I am pleased to announce that the bonus cache of the NameThatTune series, GC8TDBK, is my Cache of the Year (link to bookmark list). This is partly in recognition of the series as a whole, but it's also a great cache in its own right, with a fantastic surprise to be found inside. This year's runner-up is Be Afraid - a high-quality cache with a Halloween theme... I wish that all caches were of this high standard.
This year has also been my fifth on the GAGB committee, and I have enjoyed working on my various projects. Being on the committee is a nice way to give something back to geocaching, and it has kept me engaged with the game over the lockdowns. I was honoured to have been elected to the position of GAGB Chair last month - I am looking forward to seeing what myself and the committee can do for the GAGB in the year ahead. One of my aims is to increase our membership numbers - so, if you're not a member, please sign up today! Feel free to get in touch if you have any comments - feedback and ideas are always welcome.
So, despite not meeting my geocaching goals due to the unprecedented circumstances, I have thoroughly enjoyed my tenth year of geocaching. Here's to 2021!
Stay safe everyone, and Happy New Year!
