Wither One Guy Outdoors?

Prologue

Nearly every day, both my OneDrive and my Facebook memories remind me how much I hiked last year. I talked with my new department head when one of the memories made me particularly embarrased at the amount that I hiked this year. That amount? Zero. So, wither One Guy Outdoors? I mean, my last post before this came in October and titled “AWOL“.

I mean, on this day last year alone, I discovered a pirate graveyard.

In A Word: No

If you read that last post, nothing changed. I tried to get back into Geocaching. I planned a way to get the final 300 caches I needed to get to 1000 for last year. Nothing inspired me to follow through with that plan. Work got way too busy, Christine took a job where she now commutes just as much as I did, and I stopped having time after school for my little hikes.

This year, I watched as all of the memories flooded my timelines. I also ignored them and dug deeper into my hibernation with indoor activities like Lego and miniature painting. So, why all of a sudden the change of heart and this post? First, I promise no actual change of heart. Second, it’s my blog and I’ll do what I want to. And, what exactly is it that I do do? Eh, I really wanted that joke to land. Poop jokes are always funny.

As I drove Quinn to drop him off for a friend’s birthday party, I he and I talked a little about my hiking habits last year versus this year. Then, as I drove home, I got an idea. It seems sustainable given my current energy level and commitment to Geocaching. I can find one geocache per month on a special day in those months. The following outlines the first 5 months of the year.

31 January – Birthday Cache

14 February – Valentine’s Day Cache

20 March – First Day of Spring Cache

9 April – Easter Cache

31 May – Memorial Day Cache

Epilogue

So, no. No to wither One Guy Outdoors. This year represents a reset of the page and my commitment to outdoor activities, geocaching included. One find per month gets me to 1073 by the end of the year. Add in souvenirs and bonus finds (most likely in Europe during our trip) and I can get to 1100 by 1 January 2024. The next major milestone is 2000. I doubt, with all of the finds near my house more or less gone and geocaching getting less popular around here, that I can ever consider 1000 finds in a year again. But, I have this entire year to come up with a plan and a theme for next year.

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