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  • Post category:Years

Objectives

The 2014 Caching Diary – back on the caching trail for another year. This year I was armed with a new Garmin Montana, which it took a while to figure out. The only question really was what kind of targets to set.

Well, I ended 2013 on 3624 total finds and I did 1500 caches. So the obvious target would be to attempt to get to 5000. Oh ! And to fill in those two remaining slots on the matrix. And some other stuff. Well, as I originally wrote this on the 5th of January I probably hadn’t really decided. I maybe never did.

As the year started I had just two days to fill in on the “Days Found”. One was March 26th, which I failed in 2013 through not allowing enough time and not having enough options. The other was June 17th, which I simply forgot about in the middle of a 4-day streak. Both days for 2014 were already booked as holiday as the year started. This was a “must-do” challenge for the year. If I hadn’t finished the matrix on June 17th I’d have been upset. Or surprised.

Highlights

Two undoubted highlights were holidays I took.

In early August we had a family holiday in The Netherlands. That might seem a bit weird, but it was lovely. We stayed at a Center Parcs in the Delta Works and I showed the ladies of the house around some of the places I used to haunt when I lived there away back in the late 1980s.

Then practically as soon as we got back from The Netherlands I jumped on a bus and spent a long weekend going to the first ever Giga event, which was being held in Munich.

Monthly Statistics

So here’s a summary of days I went caching, and places I went.

  • January – 83 finds
  • February – 171 finds
  • March – 118 finds
  • April – 162 finds
  • May – 158 finds
  • June – 172 finds
  • July – 122 finds
  • August – 173 finds
  • September – 133 finds
  • October – 147 finds
  • November – 169 finds
  • December – 112 finds

Summary

So there we have it, my 2014 Caching Diary. So what did I actually achieve:

  • A total of 1,720 finds, made on 97 different days – my best total so far
  • The last two days ticked off the “days found” list
  • Sixteen days ticked off my Shifty Fifty Challenge
  • No days with over 100 finds, but 14 days with more than 50 finds
  • Six new countries – Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.

That was an excellent year of geocaching. I completed the “Days Found” matrix, added shed-loads of new counties and countries, and pushed the total numbers up a bit. I also found my first ever Adventure Lab caches and attended the first ever Giga event, so two new icons to the tally.

Caching Expeditions in 2014

Willington

Willington

Bike or Hike

Bike or Hike

A Very Long Journey

A Very Long Journey

Munich Old Town

Munich Old Town

Going Giga

Going Giga

All Aboard the Gigabus

All Aboard the Gigabus

Birthday Bash Part 3

Birthday Bash Part 3

Coming Home

Coming Home

Grevelingenmeer

Grevelingenmeer

The Atomium

The Atomium

Old Trams

Old Trams

On Yer Bike

On Yer Bike

Hellevoetsluis

Hellevoetsluis

Capital Cities

Capital Cities

Windmills

Windmills

Deltapark Neeltje Jans

Deltapark Neeltje Jans

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