What is Letterboxing?
Letterboxing is a type of hobby that is getting more popular in some countries of the world. It combines some form of treasure hunting, navigation, hiking, art, and journal making which is a good bonding activity between family and friends.

The basic concept of the hobby is to find “letterboxes” that are hidden and scattered in various locations through the use of some clues. Usually the boxes contain a logbook and a location stamp. The adventurers and letterbox “searchers” need a logbook, a pen, and a personalized rubber stamp to start their quest or search. Using clues that may include maps, riddles, or straightforward instructions to the letterbox location, searchers may need to walk or drive for long distances to get to the endpoint. Sometimes it requires the use of navigational aids like maps and compasses to pinpoint one particular letterbox location. Once a letterbox is found, the searcher will then log his/her successful quest on the logbook found on the letterbox using his/her personalized stamp. And to keep his/her own record, he/she will also record the event on the personal logbook or journal with the location stamp found on the letterbox. In this way, both the logbook on the letterbox and the one owned by the searcher will be updated.

This particular hobby was said to be started somewhere in Dartmoor, England when a person intentionally left his calling card on a bottle. This first “box” or bottle for this case was first “hidden” back in the 1800s. Today, thousands of boxes are said to be scattered across the Dartmoor National Park. In the US, this hobby was introduced in 1998, and to date, there are said to be 5000 letterboxes scattered all across North America. Clues for the location of the letterboxes can be sourced from the internet or through catalogs that are readily available for anyone to use.