It is well known that a large percentage of people registered to geocaching.com do not regularly visit the website’s forums. This section of the website hosts all types of discussions about almost every aspect of caching. The forums are informative and entertaining; they provide a medium for the community, and often a great sense of comradery.

Have you ever had a burning question about geocaching that you just couldn’t answer? Have you ever wondered where to buy a new or used GPS, PDA, or other geocaching accessory? Have you ever just had the urge to talk about geocaching to other people around the world? Now you can! 

Hosted by Groundspeak, the Internet forum is dedicated to all things geocaching related. The message boards are a wealth of information for the novice or the experienced Geocacher. The forums cover many aspects of geocaching, benchmark hunting, travel bugs, and CITO (Cache In Trash Out). To access the forums, simply click the "Discuss Geocaching" link on the front page of GC.com.  

For the novice or experienced geocacher with those nagging, burning questions, come to the "Getting Started" forum to ask. Much expertise is available to help you find the right answers, and give helpful tips to get you on your way.

When you enter the forums with a question, rest assured that most questions have been asked many times already, and have also been answered thoroughly. Find the "Search" button in the upper right hand corner of the page with the little magnifying glass next to it. Enter your keywords, set your options as needed, and search for your question. Bear in mind that sometimes your question may have been asked and answered recently, or it may be older than 30 days, so you’ll need to select whichever time frame you wish to search. Generally, the fewer key words you use will turn up more information, so choose them wisely. 

If you have searched through the forums, and still can’t find your answer, then go ahead and ask it in the "Getting Started" forums. Remember, there are no stupid questions, just the occasional stupid answer from wet cats (spend some time in the forums, and you’ll know what that means). 

Having problems accessing the geocaching.com website, using one of it’s features, or just have a suggestion for a feature you’d like to see used? Come to the "Geocaching.com" forum to discuss it. There you will find that your ideas and troubles will be heard. Jeremy Irish, the founder of Geocaching, will often take the time to personally answer any questions about the website that you may have. 

Ever have experiences while geocaching that you’d like to share with others? Would you like to read about the experience that others have had while geocaching?...friendships and bonds are formed among our members. Come to the "Geocaching Topics" forum to gain insight into what other geocachers are thinking, feeling, experiencing.

There are literally hundreds of threads in this forum that range anywhere from geocaching in the news to discussions about stats to discussions about the best hiking boots to abjectly silly ramblings. Here is the spot where many friendships and bonds are formed among our members.

You will find before long that you are a member of a worldwide family of geocachers, and will get to witness the variations of opinions and views of geocaching from around the world. Many geocachers never realize the worldwide impact that geocaching has created until they read the "Geocaching Topics" forums.  

"Cache In Trash Out" forums are dedicated to CITO, and are a wonderful place to learn not only the ins and outs of CITO, but also what others around the world have done to help clean up their local parks and recreation areas.

CITO is perhaps the largest selling point for our hobby when we approach land managers for permission to geocache in restricted, controlled areas. When we convince land managers that we are there to not only promote the area, but also to help keep it clean, it becomes very hard for them to say no to geocaching. Keeping an eye on global ecology is a common theme among many geocaching organizations.

Many geocachers don’t leave home for a hunt without taking along extra trash bags for the sole purpose of taking trash out of the areas they are hunting in. Others pack "CITO Kits" into small containers (often film canisters that can be used again as cache containers) and leave them in caches that they find, so that others will have a way of performing CITO on their next hunt.

Also, if you check your local organizations, they will often organize group CITO events for various park and recreation areas. A CITO event is a great way to meet local geocachers, clean an area that is important to you, and also may be logged as a "Find" once you have attended! 

The "Travel Bug" forum is the area to read about (what else) travel bugs. There are many threads here that discuss travel bug issues from proper etiquette when picking up travel bugs to logging travel bugs to ideas on how to make travel bugs.

You can also mourn your missing travel bugs with other downhearted owners, or celebrate your travel bug successes with others who have had travel bugs reach their goals.The stories are endless and highly entertaining. You can also keep tabs on any number of travel bug competitions across the globe, such as the "Travel Bug Cannonball Run", a race across the US, various forms of "Travel Bug Football", and smaller competitions between individual owners.

The stories are endless and highly entertaining. You are sure to find some aspect of travel bugs that interests you in the "Travel Bug" forums. 

Beyond all of this, there are also more specific forums such as "The Hunt/The Unusual", where geocachers share their unusual hunts, finds, and experiences in geocaching. There are also local and regional forums where you can keep up to date with other geocachers in your area, keep tabs on local events, and discuss issues unique to your part of the world.   

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the Groundspeak forums is the sense of community one gets after just a short period of time visiting them. There is a common bond among geocachers worldwide that draws us together, makes us feel as though we belong to a uniquely diverse group of fellow adventurers. One can only imagine the number of friendships that can be forged through geocaching, and the forums are the fire that makes that bond possible. 

Add the Groundspeak forums to your geocaching experience, you won’t be sorry!