Letterboxing
Posted by Amber on Feb 25, 2008 in Great Outdoors | 15 comments
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Welcome to my new, totally fun and somewhat nerdy hobby, letterboxing! Short summary in case you don’t want to read the FAQ. Letterboxing combines hand-carved stamps, treasure hunting and usually a scenic, outdoor place and a hike or walk. Each letterboxer has their own logbook and signature stamp. Each hidden letterbox also has a logbook and a stamp. Clues to the locations of the boxes are posted on the internet, and once you find the box, you stamp its logbook with your stamp and then stamp your logbook the stamp from the box. So you got to see a special location or go on a fun hike, and get a little art at the end of it!
Jimmy and I have decided to try to take a weekly nature walk or hike, with some camping thrown in when we can get away for the weekend, so I think this will complement it perfectly!
Sunday afternoon I set out with Mom, Dad, Maegan, Jimmy and Kyla to go find a few close to mom’s house. We stopped at the Flame of Hope monument in Virginia Beach, which I’ve driven by a zillion times but never stopped to look at. The box was hidden in a tree.
Everyone stamped in with their thumbprints and I used my stamp.
Then we headed over to Red Wing Park where three boxes were hidden on the nature trail. I’d never been into the woods back there. I think it’d be nice in spring.
One of the boxes was pretty hard to find, it was buried in the ground under some sticks. The other two were in tree roots. The three boxes were part of a series that someone had planted for their kid’s 5th birthday. It was neat to flip through the logbooks and see how many people had found them!
I let dad do the dirty work hah. I had such a good time. There are tons of letterboxes planted around this area, I’m going to try for a few finds every weekend. I’ve got four now! If you’re interested in learning more about letterboxing, check out Atlasquest (that’s the site I use) or Letterboxing.org. I can’t wait to plant a few in Norfolk, there are only a few in my city.
Any other letterboxers out there?
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this is awesome! i’ve never heard of this hobby before. i wonder if there are any hidden letterboxes in the philadelphia area. hmmm….
I’ve done this before! A few years ago…there’s one at the Chinese Pagoda downtown!
I want to start this with the girls when it is warmer. It looks like so much fun.
that sounds really fun. I wonder if anyone does that over here at all, because it sounds like it would be really fun to do with my kids. I guess I could start it if no one does.
I want to go!!! I am definitely the nerdy pastimes type.
It’s like Geocaching(which my husband wants to do) for art kids (me)!! I am not currently a letterboxer, but I plan on it now! Thanks for sharing! This looks like lots of fun.
Sounds like fun, and that is right up our alley. We love Geocaching, but this looks like the next big thing.
Yay! My ex and I wanted to start letterboxing a few years ago – we handcarved our own stamps and everything – but then my good intent got lost in a messy breakup. Had completely forgotten about letterboxing until your post; thanks for the unintentional reminder.
This is really cool! I looked up my location on Atlas quest and to my surprise there are books *EVERYWHERE* in my city and the surrounding areas. This might be a really fun thing to take up with my hubby to get us out of the house!
That is SO SO SO cool! I want to try this!
Wow! I can’t believe there are actually some in my area! Thanks for posting this, Amber! Out of curiosity, what did you use to make your own stamp?
Sara,
I got some carving material from Michaels and used speedball carving tools but will order here in the future: http://www.stampeaz.com
my husband and I have gone letterboxing a ton of times but since we moved back to NY we havent found the time. Does anyone know of any urban letterboxing going on? I know that there used to be one circulating nyc, but now seems defunct.
First we had the BTs in common (found you from Woof), then the knitting, now letterboxing! Good for you, you will love it, makes a walk in the woods that much more special, especially with the dog too! (BostonTerrorBoxers on LBNA/AQ)
We’ve been letterboxing for a while – a great way to spend time with your kids! Check out http://www.atlasquest.com (I’m a user, no other affiliation) for clues almost to boxes hidden all over the place.