Letterboxing

Once in a while, I'm introduced to something so cool that I just have to share it even if it has nothing to do with fiber. Today is one of those days and letterboxing is the theme.

You can read all about it at Letterboxing North America, but to summerize, letterboxes are small, water and airtight containers that contain a rubber stamp, an ink pad and a log book. Letterboxers hide them in public places like parks and then leave clues for them on the letterboxing websites.

You can search to find where letterboxes are hidden near you and then go on a quest to find them. Everyone carries their own signature stamp and log book. When you find a letterbox, you stamp the book with your stamp and enter the date that you discovered the box. You may also want to write a little note. Then you stamp your own log book with the stamp from the letterbox. Finally, you carefully put everything back in place and hide the letterbox just the way you found it so it will be there for the next treasure hunter.

Here's a great intro to letterboxing and an awesome online community called Atlas Quest. On the Atlas Quest home page, you can easily search to find letterboxes in your area. I was excited to find that there are 10 letterboxes within a 10 mile radius of my home. Wait, make that 11! That's right, today my family hid a letterbox of our own. My son named us the Wind Riders and our first letterbox is called Stonebridge. We had a lot of fun putting our box together and even more fun hiding it. Next weekend we'll go on a quest to find some letterboxes.

There are thousands of letterboxes hiding all over the United States. If you are wondering how many are hidden in your state, you can check here. If you don't call the United States home, see if any are hiding in your country here. If there are no letterboxes in your community, maybe you can get the ball rolling. It's such a great activity and I can see a lot of groups joining in the fun from families to youth clubs. It's a healthy trek through the outdoors, a way to discover new places and just good, clean fun!