Geocaching

 Today I downloaded an app for the first time in a while. I'm a pretty basic person, not prone to playing games or getting the latest trendy app on my phone; I just extract what I need. But after reading Ken Jennings (he's quickly becoming my hero) on geography nerds called Maphead, and spending a wonderful day outdoors, I decided to add "Geocaching" to my list of apps including Google Maps (one of the more useful geographic tools we have and Ken covers it in his book), Youtube (the addicting app that I should probably hide), Facebook (the one I've contemplated deleting many times), imiwa? (Japanese dictionary), MLB (baseball app that I've logged into way too many times in a sugar rush-inducing 2-week start to the major league season, Robinhood (panned by millenial investors as selling out to the big corporations and hedge funds, but I guess I've sold out), and Podcasts, and Mail. Really the only apps I need other than the occasional Uber ride, Instagram check, or selfie. 

Geocaching is not a new concept to me, as I learned it from a law school friend during the way-too-long-ago law school years finding myself in my early 20's in Los Angeles (on the surface not a bad situation to be in, but I was in Los Angeles, had acne so my dating life was non-existent, and job anxieties took a toll) I discovered this cool Pokemon-like game of finding Geocache boxes in various areas in nature. It gave my Wanderlust some justification, as I often like to just go some place new just to feel something different, feel the air, how the roads lead up to that spot, what kind of greenery exists and how green, and know everything about that place, even if it's in the middle of nowhere. For a few short weeks Geocaching was on my mind and I was hungry to get to the next one and find the next box on my own, but it's a very isolating game if you can't drag someone along with you: usually the Geocaches that people leave behind are in remote places hidden so that normal people ("Muggles," as the game community members call them) can't find them. 

I've come to the realization after reading Ken's book: I may secretly be a geography nerd, and have been all throughout my life. Even as a kid I loved reading maps (back when they weren't accessible in seconds through a phone) and liked to map the best direction to get our next location on family road trips. My parents, who admittedly aren't the best navigators and often find themselves lost and frustrated on said road trips (my dad often gets a "sense" about which direction to go, but it's often wise to go the exact opposite way of what he senses), I loved just looking at maps as a kid, or the globe, and I liked exploring cities by just getting lost in them and trying to find my way myself. Oh and I love reading subway maps, especially if they're in a foreign language. My affinity for visiting various colleges around the world probably stems from the geography nerdiness, as well as the desire to go somewhere new and check it off a list. It's comforting to know that I'm not alone, there are tons of people who have that obsession of knowing where they are at any given time in relation to how the world is, and even a nerdy competition similar to the Spelling Bee for young geograhy scholars: the Geography Bee! It's a shame I never took geography as a class, even in high school because it wasn't one of the coveted "Honors" classes that would raise my GPA and position me for college; looking back, a class in geography likely would have had much more practical value to me than some other subjects and DEFINITELY been more enjoyable and opened doors to a whole new world out there. It's not too late! The world still awaits. 

Fantasize on, 

Robert Yan