I’ve picked up a few souvenirs in the last couple of weeks. I got one for the Mega and Season 1 for the following CITO. I picked up Pi Day. And I didn’t even have any pie, which seems like a travesty. But the moment has passed, so I should probably stop thinking about it (which probably won’t happen, but we’ll see). The Equinox souvenir was easy enough, especially since I attended an equinox Event.
I got the first (of many, I assume) Treasures souvenir a couple of days ago. Obviously, the first Treasures were not meant to be hard. In fact, I almost got one that was too difficult but noticed and instead grabbed a qualifying cache. The next two sets of Treasures, dropping in April, are more difficult. The first set requires finding Traditionals rated D2 or higher and T1.5 or lower. The second set requires finding one of each of eight different types: a Traditional, Multi, Mystery, and Letterbox Hybrid (each D2 or higher) as well as an Event, CITO, EarthCache, and Virtual. Completing the second set will be a little more difficult for me than you might think because I’ve long since gotten most of the Virtuals for a pretty good radius, with one glaring exception outstanding. Of course, those aren’t going to be time limited, so I’ve got pretty much forever to find them, which means zero pressure. I’m curious how it will be once they start being time limited.
On top of those, a few more are coming down the pike. In April, there’s a Caching in Pajamas souvenir, which I’ll undoubtedly get because I know someone holding an Event that day. I’m unsure if I’ll show up to it in my pajamas and bathrobe, but I have a bit of time to decide. In May, of course, there is the Big Blue Switch Day souvenir, which is now two souvenirs: one for finding and one for hiding.
All that said, I have a weird relationship with souvenirs in general. They’re nice and all, and if there’s an opportunity to get one, I’m probably going to do it (I’ve gotten every souvenir promotion and special day all the way back to Hidden Creatures), but I take no special pride in them. That’s not to say I don’t feel a twinge of jealousy when I see a longer-term cacher with a bunch of Thirty Days of Geocaching souvenirs. It’s just that even the ones that were harder to get, like some of my GeoTours, don’t give me an “oomph” or anything. They obviously do something for me, or I wouldn’t go through the trouble to get them, though.
More than likely, this is on my mind since I’m going to be designing one soon. Otherwise, souvenirs are not foremost in my mind except for the occasional souvenir-based challenge. But I still chase the golden ring, so what do I know?
Geocaching While Black 