These are boxes that require solving some sort of puzzle at the final location. This could be a maze, a cryptex or some other brain teaser. They might also be known as field puzzles. Should you decide to try for a gadget box, be aware that getting to the box itself will not allow you access to the stamp or logbook—the puzzle will also need to be solved to gain access.

Mostly another term for event, but I like to think of it as a smaller version of an event that is more modest in nature. For instance, when three or four letterboxers make an impromptu get-together some weekend to find a couple of boxes.

A hobby with many similarities to letterboxing. The main differences are that the clues are given as GPS coordinates, and geocachers use the “take an item, leave an item” system when finding a cache, instead of stamping in. See geocaching.com for the definitive source on geocaching, or visit our Geocaching board to discuss geocaching with other letterboxers.

There once was a letterbox planted in a cemetery. Time went by, and a strange thing happened. Someone put a dead gerbil (presumably a former pet) in the hiding place where the letterbox was located! The first few people who then went looking for the letterbox discovered a rather nasty, decomposing surprise. While dead gerbils are certainly no laughing matter, many did laugh at the poor people who discovered the gerbil, and in honor of the gerbil, a letterboxing gathering was planned: The Dead Gerbil Gathering. That gerbil never gained lasting fame in life, but he’ll forever be remembered in death by letterboxers everywhere. Also see dead lemurs and dead kittens.

An acronym for Global Positioning System, a GPS is a device that uses satellite technology to tell you where you are on the planet, usually within a couple dozen feet of accuracy.

Haven’t you heard the expression “across the pond”? It’s the Atlantic Ocean, where letterboxing got its start in Dartmoor, silly. =)

A corridor of undeveloped land preserved for recreational use or environmental protection.

Once upon a time, way back in October of 2005, there was a Halloween theme. Someone (Don and Gwen, for those keeping track) said how much they loved the ghost moving across the bottom of the page. Alas, there was a lot of tricking going on (treats were in short supply) and there was no ghost that moved across the bottom of the page. However, Celtic Quinn admitted to watching the page for 20 minutes before giving up.

Ever since, tricking was the name of the game, and it has continued to this day. For the latest victim of the infamous Halloween trick, meet Moon Seeker, who admits to spending 15 minutes staring at a page that did nothing just because we suggested that the eyes on the title blinked and a black cat chased the mouse around one of the pages. Neither is true, of course, but we had great fun convincing Moon Seeker to stare at a page that did nothing. =)