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Fun for the Whole Family — Letterboxing
It’s a walk, a treasure hunt, an art project, and a community builder
By Maggie
Spilner
Here’s
a great way to get some exercise if you want to:
• Get your family to go with you, even your teenagers
• Enjoy the outdoors but have more focus than "just a walk"
• Play treasure hunter and follow clues
• Have a creative winter pastime indoors that will lead to walking
adventures outdoors next spring.
Letterboxing
is a sport of sorts that originated in Great Britain as an informal
treasure hunt. I was surprised to find that totally unbeknownst to me,
several letterboxes had been planted a few miles from my home in Easton,
PA. As a former columnist for a national health magazine, I wrote almost
exclusively about walking from all angles, how did this new walking
game get past my radar screen?
I immediately went out with my set of clues for the nearest letterbox
— which took me down a familiar canal towpath near an historic
building. I found the box, just where the clues said it would be, and
peeked inside. (I must admit, I was a wee bit afraid it might contain
tarantulas or some kind of white powder substance — see how paranoid
I’ve become since 9/11.) Instead, (phew!) I found just what I was
supposed to find: a little notebook to sign my name or hit with my rubber
stamp and a rubber stamp to use in my own letterboxing notebook to prove
I’d be there, done that.
Letterboxing
is a fun, friendly, family sport, and believe it or not, there are thousands
of these boxes planted in parks and other public areas across the country.
You can find out if there are any near you by searching online. I suggest
starting with www.letterboxing.org, which I believe is the first officially
unofficial site for U.S. boxes.
What I
love best about this walking sport is that if there is nothing going
on in your neck of the woods, you can easily start something. You don’t
have to have anyone’s permission or sanction, don’t have to
start a club or pay dues, or find judges. You don’t have to file
any paperwork or give away your Social Security number. You just sit
down, perhaps with family and friends, and think of an interesting place
to hide your box. Determine a route to get there, and come up with a
bunch of nutty and not too hard clues to get people there.
You can
use any kind of plastic box that will withstand the elements. It has
to be big enough to fit a small notebook, an ink stamp pad, and whatever
stamp you buy or devise to represent your letterbox.
Be as creative
as you like. Some people take elaborate measures to design their own,
specific stamp for their box and for themselves, their “signature”
stamp. Others simply pick something up at an art supply store or scavenge
something from a kiddy stamp set. Your clues can be straight forward,
or they can be literary. They can have a theme, perhaps relating to
local history or culture; they can rhyme or use pictographs. It’s
totally up to you.
Once you’ve
created your box and clues — you can just share it with friends,
a scout troop, or church group or whomever you like. Or you can immediately
post it online at www.letterboxing.org. If you do that, anyone with
Internet access can look up your clues and take a walk, hike or bike
ride, and find your box. Simple, huh? And inviting? You bet!
Rules
of the Road
Granted, there is no organization, board of directors, or letterboxing
police supervising these activities. You’re on your own. But Good
Samaritan letterboxing requires you to follow these simple rules and
obvious codes of conduct:
1. Don’t disturb the environment with your box. It should be hidden,
but easily found — like under a rock ledge or in a crevice of a
tree. Don’t expect or ask people to come with a pick and shovel
to unearth it.
2. Keep boxes on public property if you want the public to find them.
Even there, it’s best to ask someone first if you can place it.
3. Follow the usual rules of wilderness hiking — no trace left
behind.
4. If you find a box after following someone’s clues, put the darn
thing back where you found it! The fastest way to sabotage the sport
— taking the box home with you.
5. If you can’t find a box after having followed the clue, someone
else may have taken it. (Booooo!) You can report that it’s missing
at www.letterbox.org, or wherever you found the clues.
I bet you’re
really curious, aren’t you? Will it surprise you, (as it did me)
to find that there are 5, 10, or 20 letterboxes in your town or state,
just waiting for you to discover them? Don’t waste another minute!
If you can get your kids/wife/husband/dog/cat off the keyboard of your
computer — check it out now! www.letterboxing.org.
Maggie
Spilner is the former walking editor of Prevention Magazine, and the
author of Walk Your Way Through Menapause. She also created Walk for
All Seasons, LLC walking vacation. For more information visit www.walkforallseasons.com
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