Geocaching, tennis, and community building—Interview with Arnokovic

Sometimes we start amazing journeys without realizing it until after the fact. That’s exactly what happened to Arnokovic, a community volunteer translator and prolific geocache hider hailing from the north of France, when he found his first cache with a coworker back in 2009.

Since then, he has found over 50,000 caches and has hidden 168 of his own, including GC5552H (Eiffel Power, France’s most-Favorited geocache of all time). We sat down with Arnokovic himself to discuss his experiences geocaching, what it’s like to serve as a volunteer translator, and the various ways in which geocaching has come to impact his life.

Geocaching HQ: What’s your background outside of geocaching?

Arnokovic: I am 45 years old. I live in Paris, but I come from the north of France (near Lille), where I was born and raised. I studied international business and spent a year in Finland, which has stolen my heart. I enjoy traveling, discovering new countries and cultures, walking, and hiking. I’m also into photography and street art. I love spending time with my friends and sharing some fun moments. I have a passion for tennis and exercise as often as I can, including cross training.

HQ: How and when did you hear about geocaching?

Arnokovic: I first heard about geocaching at work back in 2009. A colleague of mine, Blinette, kept talking about it and once said, “You should come out with me some time, I’m sure you’d love it!” So that’s what I did one day during our lunch break. It was a Multi-Cache. We had a lot of fun and I was the one who actually found the cache. I didn’t have a Geocaching.com account at the time, so the logbook was signed by “Nono le moldu” (Nono the Muggle) A year later, Blinette decided to create an account for me, because I kept saying, “Yeahhh sure, I’ll do it,” but I never did! I had no idea that by creating an account for me, she started me down an incredible adventure that’s undoubtedly changed my life.

HQ: What’s the story behind your username?

Arnokovic: My first name is Arnaud (pronounced, “Arno,” – you know how much we love letters that we don’t even pronounce in French). I was playing tennis all the time back in 2009, with frequent tournaments and trainings. One evening during a training session, my coach offhandedly said, “You’re on fire tonight, you’re playing like Djokovic (who is still the world’s number one tennis player, by the way)! I will call you Arnokovic.” Then he kept calling me that when I was on the court. Naturally, I chose that nickname when my colleague created an account for me. This was in September 2010–one year after my first find. I had actually found 9 caches since that first one, so I had a total of 10 when I finally got started on Geocaching.com.

HQ: What inspired you to become a community volunteer translator?

Arnokovic: I was actually contacted by the French-speaking geocaching volunteer community to see if I was interested in joining their group of volunteer translators. This was just after the GeoNord Mega-Event in northern France in July 2016. Everything was clearly explained to me–the type of translations, the frequency, how much time to dedicate, and the pros and cons. I didn’t hesitate much before agreeing! Once my joining of the group was approved, I was introduced to all the team members. I also began getting familiar with the translation tools and organization methods surrounding our tasks. A few days later, I was translating subtitles into French for GIFF 2016!

I can’t explain why, but I knew deep down that it was a good decision to become a volunteer translator. The community was extremely welcoming. I was proud to take up this work, although I actually kept it secret for a number of years! It also feels good knowing that, thanks to the time we put in, a whole community of non-English speakers is able to geocache, read news about the game, etc.

Image by Carlixx from GC5552H, Eiffel Power.

HQ: What’s the best approach to creating a geocache?

Arnokovic: First, you should ask yourself: why do I want to create a geocache here? Is there something nice to see? Something to discover? Something to learn? Is this a cool place for the final of my Mystery Cache? I think it’s important to really take your time creating a geocache, making sure that it will be a pleasant find, and that all cachers will have fun while finding it. So in short, make sure that the location is a good one, that you have the necessary permissions, and that people will enjoy finding it. Maybe also think while creating the cache, would I give this one a Favorite point? It’s also important that you will be able to maintain the cache on a regular basis and whenever needed.

HQ: If someone reading this was looking for inspiration, whether to hide a quality cache or to become a volunteer, what words of advice would you offer them?

Arnokovic: Do things with passion, keep in mind that this is a beautiful game and that it’s just that–a game. The greatest reward in this game is the people that you will meet. There is a powerful community behind the game, so I would just advise that when you are having fun playing it, give thanks to the cache owners or volunteers who made that possible. Keeping that mentality when hiding a cache or when dedicating some time as a volunteer goes a long way, too. Think about all the joy and fun that other cachers will have thanks to you. This is the best reward.