I love the internet — there’s something new every day. I cannot believe that I’ve never heard of Letterboxing before today! Thanks, Ann-Marie!

When I was a kid, I loved treasure hunts. Even today, we create treasure hunts at Christmas for the ‘big presents’ for kid and adult alike, and one of my all-time favorite games ever was Zork, the adventure game that was nothing more than a virtual treasure hunt. Letterboxing is the best of both worlds — virtual AND real-world treasure hunting.

Here’s a brief explanation of what it is:

Letterboxing is an intriguing pastime combining artistic ability with delightful “treasure-hunts” in beautiful, scenic places that the whole family can enjoy. Participants seek out hidden letterboxes by following clues, and then record their discovery in their personal journal with the help of a rubber stamp that’s part of the letterbox. In addition, letterboxers have their own personal stamps which they use to stamp into the letterbox’s logbook.

Here’s how it works: You can go to sites like Atlas Quest and search in a specific area — by zip code, intersection, landmark, etc. From those results, you’ll be given a “clue”, which gives a general location and some specific instructions. Once you’ve found the letterbox, you leave your stamp in the letterboxer’s logbook and stamp your own logbook with the letterboxer’s stamp.

Now imagine combining this with photowalking and getting a group around it! How fun would THAT be? I did find a few Facebook groups around letterboxing as well as what looks like a new Ning group. It’s something you can do anywhere there is a nearby letterbox — so when we travel to a feis or competition, DG and I could explore by doing this, too.

We’re planning to start next weekend…if you have letterboxing stories, post them in the comments. I’d love to hear about others doing this.

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