OCCCS

I'm sitting at my desk with a feeling of grave agitation and high anxiety. My hands were shaking, my eyes were watery and I have a driving desire to go outside. Whats wrong with me... I look up at the tab section of my internet browser to find 3 Geocaching tabs starring back at me.  Oh man I think I have a problem.  The past hour I have spent looking at my stats (not that they have changed since I last looked, 30min ago.), planning my caching weekend by reading all the cache descriptions and working out what caches are closest and how many I need to find a day to reach 1,000 finds in a year (1.04 just incase your wondering).

After a few minutes of reflecting on my symptoms and looking on the Internet I self diagnosed that I am suffering from “Obsessive Compulsive Cache Craving Syndrome” or OCCCS. There is no question, I am addicted to Geocaching!

How do you know if you are addicted to Geocaching... Well I read through a whole lot symptoms, and check off most of them.

You know that you are addicted to Geocaching when: (Bold the symptoms you suffer from)

… a colleague brings out their Tupperware lunch box and you automatically reach for your pen to sign the log book.

… you can’t walk down a path without thinking, “Hmmm, that’ll be a good place for a cache!”.

… you type in your home co-ords and not the phone number.

… your idea of decorating the Christmas tree is to conceal all the presents at its foot, beneath a camo covering of tinsel.

… your idea of gift-giving is to hide the gifts in the garden with co-ords and a clue.

… you are watching TV and think “That’s a beautiful place, I wonder where the nearest cache is?’”

… you purposely take the kids to McDonalds to buy them a happy meal so you can pinch the toy to use as a swap.

… you leave your PC and First To Find running overnight, with the volume cranked right up – just in case…

… you give directions by which caches are passed, instead of which pubs are passed.

… you start having nightmares about muggled caches.

… you sort through your pockets at the checkout at the supermarket and can only offer Geocoins.

… the Easter Egg hunt you organise for your nephews involves the use of GPs units and is in the form of a Multi.

… you automatically look around to ensure that you are not being observed before opening your lunch box at work.

… you routinely gauge everyday object for their suitability as cache containers.

… you spend more money on trinkets and swaps than you do on fruit and veggies.

… your party invitations include GPS coordinates.

… you always look up caches before you go anywhere.

… you waypoint your car at the shopping mall.

… you panic because you forgot to waypoint your car at the shopping mall.

… you consider moving because you’ve already found all the caches in your area.

... A dollar store is exciting.

... You plan your vacation with cache density in mind.

... You get the Geocaching icon tattooed on your body (Tempted)

... Your friends call you giving the coordinates of the new caches they hid even before they are posted on the web site.

... You do groceries based on the type of containers the items come in. 

... Your house has no small items left in it. All trinkets are hidden in caches somewhere.

... You pray your boss doesn't find out how much time your spending geocaching or reading the forums instead of working.

If you suffer from one or more of the symptoms above then it is likely that you too suffer from this affliction.