Everybody Loves a Treasure Hunt

On the Road Again

Well, it's been that kind of summer, Ultimate Treasure Hunts and Can You Find It out on the road.  It started with that trip to Maine back a couple months ago when they (up "north") still had snow on the ground even though we (down "south") were well into spring and quickly approaching summer. The Northern Outdoors' permanently installed orienteering course is coming along nicely and will be presented to them (another road trip!!!) soon. Then it was down to Miami, Florida for a great GPS Navigation game for the sales team of a major publishing company.   POIs (points of interest) included the Roy Lichtenstein Mermaid sculpture on the grounds of the Miami Chamber of Commerce, The Jackie Gleason Theater & Emeril Lagasse's restaurant at the stunning Lowe's Hotel complex.  One of the highlights of this trip was an incredible Mexican meal outside (under cover) in the pouring rain at a place called Oh Mexico on Washington Street where Deb was introduced to my favorite, Mole Poblano.  After Miami, we programmed our bearings and headed north to Stowe, Vermont for another GPS game put together for a major, Boston based consulting firm.   A few fun birthday and graduation parties took us to Saugus, Dover & Duxbury, MA as well as Bedford & Durham, NH.  During the 4th of July week, we put on our annual treasure hunt for the town of Ossipee, NH. for their annual community celebration days (thanks to Peter Waugh, the town's Director of Recreation for having us).  Tomorrow were out at Blue Hills in Canton, MA. for an orienteering training and plans are in the works for an Ultimate Boston Treasure Hunt...more news to come on that as it develops. Whether we're presenting corporate team building exercises or unique birthday games, all these great events and wonderful people met can't help but confirm that it's true....Everyone Loves a Treasure Hunt!

The Inner Child

Who doesn't reflect fondly and almost child-like at discovering & opening presents at holiday time, or the indelible thrill of an Easter egg hunt, or getting together with your friends on a cool summer evening at twilight to play hide and seek until it gets too dark and it's time to go home?  As adults, in our adult lives and all that goes with it, we lose, to some extent, this sense of play, of wonderment and curiosity, and the thrill and pride of small discoveries. We relish those rare times when we can get away from it all and be kid-like again, to use the part of the brain that holds simple logic, to be Huck Finn-like, to have a chance to overcome basic fears, to be lost and, given that it's a temporary state, found again.  And when we've had such moments of well-deserved frivolity and are back firmly entrenched in our office in front of the computer or back on the job site where everything is dictated and structured, we cherish and share those new memories of being adventurous and free to find our own way. One of the rewards of what we do, after completing a GPS Navigation Game or a treasure hunt for adults, is seeing the excitement in participant's faces and hearing them extol on how much fun they had and how it brought them back to when they were a kid.  It's the same with Team Building events in that when barrier's are broken and day-to-day corporate roles are shed, everyone exists on an even and leveled "playground," free to rediscover individual abilities and, at times, their dependence on other's to achieve a particular goal as well as their ability to be depended on. 

Life is a Highway

We've all heard the saying, "The Road Map of Life."  And it's true.  Everything we learn along the way, everything that makes us who we are and helps build our characters and personalities are analogous to all the peaks and valleys, new construction zones, paved and unpaved roads, four lane highways, harbors, open spaces, congested cities, small towns, serene lakes and wild winding rivers found on maps. In our business, we incorporate the analogy of life as a navigation game requiring us to familiarize ourselves with the lay of the land, recognize key points, pitfalls and best possible routes to reach our next destination and achieve desired goals one at a time.  Sometimes help is needed, much like when we incorporate GPS Navigation units in our GPS Navigation Games or when we design a detailed treasure map for our treasure hunt events. Life is a journey.....use a map!

Forest Springfield, MA

Picture it if you can:  43 4th graders come into the gym on a day that they have been told to wear clothes meant for playing and be prepared for a field trip in a local park.  I tell them about Orienteering.  Who likes to play in the woods?  Who doesn't mind getting muddy?  Who likes to play games and solve riddles?  Who wants to play a game where you can never be 'wrong' but make choices that are best for you and how you see things?  Who wants to play a game where the winning isn't as cool as the figuring things out and feeling successful?
And this is what they look like at the end of the day:
                                                                                                                                                                        
And these were kids that said they didn't want to run!!!

We start off with a video segment of the Arthur Show because we were filmed for that show 3 years ago.  We show the kids competition equipment and clothes.
Next, we learn about maps and I show them how I made their school map with an aerial from Massachusetts GIS data                                        

Here is their school map.  We play games on that map and then have lunch.
The kids are excited and the teachers can't believe how enthusiastic EVERYONE is.
Maps do this to people- any age any background and any experience.

At the end of the fun day, everyone is exhausted and excited.   Their minds are full of orienteering vocabulary and they want more.  I have never had anything but positive results from what I do whether it is teaching in a school, facilitating a birthday party, creating a town wide event, or bringing it to corporate with GPS.


 

Orienteering in Women's Health Magazine

READ THIS NOW! How fun to have someone at the gym come up to me and show me this article.  And at the office, I received an email that referred to the magazine article.  She wanted to know where to go to learn to orienteer. The sport will get lots of attention for this.  I hope everyone will realize that it is just as much fun done non-competitively.  It is a thinking challenge for all ages and all abilities.  People with physical difficulties can participate in Trail-O (This does not mean it is just on trails) or as the Europeans refer to it: Pre-O for Precision Orienteering.  Foot Orienteers struggle with this as you must look into the woods and see 4 different controls to determine which one is being referred to on your map.  It is very difficult.

Orienteering is always a fun time for kids.  Go to my web site to learn more

So orienteering is a competitive sport??

I hear "Orienteering is a real sport"?, a lot, when I present to new groups and schools.  Orienteering is the national sport of Sweden.  There are school teams that compete with other schools as any other school sport. 
You can visit the US Orienteering Federation  website to learn more. 
There are active sites for competitors and novices to keep track of their own training and competition,as well as watch others' information.  Visit Attack Point.
or the Junior training site: Junior's
You can even see a US Junior Video on YouTube.  It is long and fast to watch, but it gives a good idea of the excitement the competition generates. It's called O.MOV
Orienteering does not have to be a race.  Developing the skills of map reading and navigating transfers to many other life skills.  You can always email me at [email protected] or visit my website and I can help you find a local event.  There is Ski-O, Mtn Bike O, Canoe O, Night O, Mounted (horse) O, radio transmitter-O, Scuba-O as well as any sport you can think of.  I did read about Unicycle O......
And there is always the excitement of going as fast as you can for 24 hours....Here I am with my partner, Anne, at about 22 hours into the World Championship in Australia 100 degrees, Brown snakes, wild Boar.....  Yeah....I'm the silly one.