Geocaching HQ Lackeys attend dozens of Mega and Giga-Events around the world, shaking hands, sharing stories of adventure, and of course, geocaching! Nikkchick is a Community Coordinator at Geocaching HQ. She recently traveled to the Netherlands to attend the Geodoorn 2022 Mega-Event (GC819A8), alongside Bryan, imagreenplant, Jennifer, and Love. Here’s her trip summary.

Like many other Mega-Events this year, Geodoorn 2022 was pushed back from its scheduled 2020 publication. Unlike other Events, however, this was one of the first Mega-Events to be held in a theme park! The members of Geodoorn2022 worked tirelessly over the past two years to ensure this Event would still be possible, and they were incredibly successful—the Mega-Event, and six side Events spread over three days, went off without a hitch.

The weekend began with an early-morning bicycle Event. I’m not the most skilled cyclist, but luckily, I had plenty of geocachers there to assist me. Despite a shaky start, I managed to keep up with my group, and we rode through the town of Hellendoorn, grabbing Adventure Labs and caches along the way. After a long rest following the Event, a meet & greet concluded the evening. This was a bit more my speed, as the relaxing setting—complete with food, drinks, and laser tag—was an excellent chance to chat with the great community of geocachers in attendance.

The main day of the Event was a blur, in the best way possible. We arrived in time for a Lackey, Volunteer, (and Signal!) meet & greet in the morning, where we had the chance to meet even more geocachers from around the world. This was a great chance for me to break out my German and chat with some of the attendees who traveled a great distance just for this weekend.

Inside the Hellendoorn Adventurepark, the Mega hosts placed 10 Adventure Lab Locations, with even more caches right outside the park! The most amazing part was that going on the rides was necessary for the Adventure Lab stages. Some of the highlights included trying to spot the ‘secret word’ while on the corkscrew of a rollercoaster, riding high above the park on a monorail, and getting splashed on the Wild Waterfall ride! (Though, this last one was a bit welcome as the weather started getting warmer).

After a great turnout to the Community Celebration Event (where bingo was enthusiastically played, and geocaching band Bugsy Travels & The Ammo Boxes performed), the wonderful weekend concluded on Sunday with a breakfast and CITO (Cache In Trash Out) Event.

The most memorable part of this experience was seeing the logbook at the end of the Event. With thousands of signatures covering the chalkboard, it was incredible to see so many passionate geocachers who made lasting memories at this Event.

Thank you to the hosts and volunteers of Geodoorn 2022, for your hard work in putting together this Event. It may have felt like a rollercoaster at times, but it was one amazing ride!

Source: Geocaching