Robinson Carusoe

We went letterboxing this morning with my friend Julie and her four year old daughter Taylor at Mayfield Park. You know, that magical little oasis with the peacocks that I'm always flappin' about. Letterboxing or geocaching as it is also known, is basically a treasure hunt. People post maps on the internet of where they've hidden 'treasure'. In it's most basic form you would find a log book to sign for the hider once you've found it and the hider in return provides an artful stamp (mostly homemade) which you can then stamp into your own book. Sometimes there are treasure prizes, sometimes there are not, sometimes they are easy to find, sometimes it's like Raiders of the Lost Ark.

The one we found today was about as easy as it gets, a short quarter mile walk into the woods (a half mile if you're relying on me and my map skills...ah hem, sorry Julie) and the box was hidden under some rocks right off the traveled foot path. It's a wonderful way to take in nature and especially thrilling for kids to find treasure. You end up seeing places you would have never known about otherwise and be a part of a whole subculture that's magically hidden in plain sight.

The first time I ever went, or even heard about it, was up in Vermont with the Petrie family. You'll know David from his comments on this blog, but he is also a dear college friend of mine that stayed in touch no matter how many times I moved, a wonderful writer, a loving, patient, creative father of three and a devoted husband to his wife and soulmate Lauren. Thank you Petries for introducing us to this fantastic hobby! We went out into the woods one fine fall day with his family and had a ball trying to find the box. The little ones had fun tromping through the leaves and my sister and I had fun catching up with good friends on a cool autumn day.

But that's what's so fun about it. You can get a GPS and go Tomb Raider or just put on your mucklucks and find a reason to take a long walk in a place you haven't visited in a while. Either way you'll have fun. These letterboxes can be found anywhere all over the world. Some places are more densely populated than others, but you can also join in by planting your own treasures for other people to find. We used Atlas Quest today for our map, but there tons of other sites you can check out. 

Have you ever been letterboxing?