FTF: First to Finally realize there's an addiction?

In my area, I've become well known. There are many reasons for this: my kilt, the events I've thrown, some evil caches, riding my bike around, and perhaps even some of the logs I write. One other thing I'm known for: being the first to find.

I'll admit it. I'm somewhat of a FTF hound. Right now, I have about 55 first to finds out of 505 total finds - almost 11% of my finds are FTFs. Do those numbers actually mean anything? Not at all. In fact, recently I've been trying not to put so much emphasis on actually being there first. It's all entirely random who is the first to find. It's all about who has the most free time (I happen to have a very flexible schedule right now), who happens to be available at the moment, and who just happened to check their e-mail at the right time. It really is all coincidental. It doesn't matter if I find the cache first or tenth. It's still located at the same place and still ends up getting me out of the house to do something I enjoy.

I still go for FTFs, however, because I've found most of the caches in the area- except for the "trouble" caches, or ones I just haven't been able to get to for whatever reason. A new cache means I can once again go out to geocache, instead of just staying inside all day. That's my big motivation. Plus, there are some fun stories about getting there first- since you have no one's experience to base yours off of. You might get stuck because you didn't know about a certain hole in the road, or get lost because you couldn't find the turn off. There's also the fun of meeting other geocachers attempting to get a FTF. It seems more likely there will be more geocachers at a new cache than one that's been around for a while- although I have met up with cachers randomly at older caches.

I guess my overall view of a FTF is that it can be fun, and for those who have found the majority of the caches in an area, it almost becomes a necessity to continue caching- perhaps not being first to find, but certainly going after the new caches. It shouldn't be a big deal, however, since it really is almost random and circumstantial as to who actually gets to the cache first.