There is never a bad time for a Giveaway!…and this one is pretty cool IMO.

If you have followed me over time you may have read me mention an activity my family and I enjoy called Geocaching. What it is? Well, Geocaching.com defines it as “a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location.” Basically, the point of the game is to find hidden treasure!

The website allows you to find caches in your area easily, and it is free to join.  There is an option for a Premium Membership at $30 a year that gives you access to more caches, and the app itself on iPhone or Android will cost around $10 one time.  As of this writing, there are well over 2 MILLION caches hidden WORLDWIDE.  Log on and check it out, you’ll be surprised to see what is just around the corner.

To play you find the cache you want to find on the net or on your phone, plug in the coordinates into your handheld GPS (or just click the “navigate to” button on your smart phone) and go to that location.  Once close you are at what we call Ground Zero, and it’s time to get looking.  Some are large and obvious, some are small and discrete.  Some are easily found, some take forever.  Some are easy to get to, some take a long walk.  Some are well hidden, some stick out like a sore thumb.  All are rated from 1-5 stars on Difficulty to find, and Difficulty of Terrain to reach it…that way you know what you are getting yourself into.  Once found you sign the log and record your find on the net or your phone which posts onto your Geocaching profile.  Larger caches have what is known as GeoSwag which you can trade.  Rules are simple: take something, replace it with something of similar value.  This is where the kids get very excited and mine love to trade swag and collect new things.  Here is an example of a cache of my own…And a few I have found recently.

Small bridge in the woods. It has several little support pieces like this one.

Small Bison Tube, just big enough for a log book. Gotta bring your own pen!

Can you see the Ammo Can hidden in the brush?!

Looks like an ordinary piece of wood near a stump right?

Flip it over and see what you find!

Another fun aspect of Geocaching is what are called “Trackables.”  These are items of your choice that you register at GC.com and assign a goal to.  You then release them into the “wild” and when found, they are logged as found, and moved on to another cache in hopes of achieving the desired goal.  Here is a link to one of my trackables named “One Nation Under God.”  It’s a good indication of how quickly something can move around the nation in this little underground society.  It’s fun to see your items move all over the world as it spreads from cache to cache.

So, why a post about Geocaching on my blog?  Simple…it gets you and your family outside.  My kids and I absolutely love heading into the woods to find caches nearby (although there are just as many, if not more in town known as Urban Caches).  We get time together, we see amazing new places we likely would have never found unless caching, and it gets us tromping around the woods staying active!  In addition, it takes on a whole new meaning when we are on vacation.  Finding new areas to cache in and searching out the most popular caches in that area has become one of the highlights of any family trip.  It’s something we love to do, and I believe strongly that if you try it, you will get hooked.  You’ll go to a beautiful location near your house and say “I can’t believe we have never been here” or “I had no idea this was here.”  Just try it and see!  Getting active, getting your muscles working, getting your mind working, creating quality family time, creating and hiding caches of your own…it’s all part of this wonderful game!

Lucky for you, this month may be the best time ever to start Geocaching for yourself! Geocaching.com is having a sweepstakes this month they are calling Gear Up For Geocaching! Three lucky entrants drawn at random will get a prize package with cool stuff from some of our favorite outdoor brands.  Each package will include some Swag (although this stuff is definitely better than anything you’ll find in a cache!) from Camp Chef, Mountainsmith, Greenlayer, 7eye, MHM, Kor, and Skratch Labs.  Also, each prize package winner will receive a one year Geocaching Premium Membership.  Three winners will be drawn and notified in early September. Share your stories and photos on Twitter @GoGeocaching with #GearUp.

Want more information? CLICK HERE! to visit the Geocaching.com Blog Info Page

Want to see an entry form? CLICK HERE!

So what does this have to do with you, and why am I mentioning it here??  The folks at Geocaching.com have given me one Premium Membership to give away to one of my readers!  To enter is simple.  Like my Facebook page and follow me on Twitter, once you do that comment to this post with your name.  At the end of the month one winner will be chosen at random and I’ll send you a code to cash in on your Premium Membership!

I’ll admit, not a traditional “Paleo” related giveaway, but I think it’s always good to mix things up a bit.  Living a healthy lifestyle is just is much about having fun as anything else.  If given the opportunity to stay active AND have fun, I’ll always choose both over one or the other.  I think you should to.  Step out of your box (to you CrossFit folks you can take that literally and figuratively) and try something new.  I dare you to go searching for a cache or two and not come back loving it.

I have no affiliation to GC.com, this all came about after one of their staff read a recent blog post.  He offered me a free Premium Membership in exchange for mentioning the sweepstakes on the blog.  I asked if I could just give it away, and he thought it was a great idea!  So here you go faithful readers, time to get out and go caching!