Letterboxing

In surfing around a long time back, I ran upon information about the hobby of Letterboxing. I thought it was fascinating and did quite a big of going here and there on the web to find out more about it.

It's an outdoors hobby for folks who like to hike. Letterboxes are concealed containers that contain a journal. Clues are posted somewhere and those who are letterboxing use the clues to find the boxes. When they do locate the box, they stamp a page in the journal that's in the box and perhaps leave a note. They take the stamp that's in the box and stamp their own journal. They return the journal and stamp to the letterbox and then move on to their next venture of finding another box in some other area to stamp.

Here's more description by someone who knows more than I:

I first read about Letterboxing in a Smithsonian magazine article almost 10 years ago. I'm a puzzle-solver by nature, and the combination of rubber stamping & clue-solving caught my attention. Letterboxing is an intiguing mix of treasure hunting, art, navigation, and exploring interesting, scenic, and sometimes remote places. Here's how it works:

Someone hides a waterproof box somewhere (in a beautiful, interesting, or remote location) containing at least a logbook and a carved rubber stamp (my hubby carved our stamp). The hider then writes directions to the box (called "clues" or "the map"), which can be straightforward or cryptic. Often the clues involve map coordinates or compass bearings from landmarks.

Once the clues are written, hunters in possession of the clues attempt to find the box. The hunter must carry a pencil, her personal rubber stamp, an inkpad and her personal logbook. When the hunter successfully deciphers the clue and finds the box, she stamps the logbook in the box with her personal stamp, and stamps her personal logbook with the box's stamp. The box's logbook keeps a record of all its visitors, and the hunter's journal keeps a record of all the letterboxes the hunter has found.

Page from a journal, or logbook:

photo credit

It-- like most hobbies-- has devoted followers who create their own clubs, websites, and activities that revolve around the hobby.

The hobby originated in Europe, as I remember it. Wikipedia also gives a synopsis of the hobby.

Anyway, as I say, I was quite interested in reading about it. I located several websites. This is only one of them. But what has caused me to think of it again was what I considered my absolute luck with a customer at work.

I just happened to be the employee who was handy when a customer with a small plastic box in one hand and a small journal in the other, asked me if we had any journals in our store like the one she was holding. We did and I indicated that I would show her where they were. She was with a man, her husband I think, and two young teenage girls. They were each holding a plastic box. As I walked away I heard her say, "This will be your first letterbox."

I stopped immediately. "Do you letterbox??" I asked her.

Yes. That was her passion. She had been all over the United States and other places as well. And I ACTUALLY GOT TO SEE in real life her letterbox journal. I was thrilled. It was quite full of stamps and notes.

Now, I know this is not going to be a hobby that I will ever pursue, but "in my dreams" it's the kind of hobby I would enjoy. The hiking. The clues. Seeking out the boxes. And it was very interesting to me to find someone who was actually pursuing this as a hobby.

And I just happened to be the lucky one who waited on this customer. I took her to our art department where the girls picked out two journals that would fit into their letterboxes. They had already chosen their rubber stamps. The lady had made her own rubber stamp. They were outfitted and "ready to get started". We were all happy.

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