Hello All,
If you’re looking for a new way to get outdoors, have some fun, and hunt for hidden treasure, give Letterboxing a try! Letterboxing is an exciting outdoor hobby that combines treasure hunting with the art of rubber stamp carving (carving a stamp is pretty easy and you only need to do it once to play!). There are two ways to play, which are explained in detail on our official website, but the basic premise is this:
The first way of playing is finding other people’s letterboxes. You need to hand carve a stamp which can be done using a large rubber eraser or special stamp carving rubber. A tutorial about how to do this can be found on our website. You also need a stamp book, which is basically just a book with plain white pages. You can buy one at any stationery store or get one from our website. Last but not least, you’ll need an ink pad for your stamp which can also be found at most stationery stores. Register for an account on our website and you’ll be able to view the “clues” to where the Letterboxes are hidden. The game is sort of like geocaching but instead of using GPS coordinates, you’ll be following written clues such as, “Go to XYZ mountain, take the trail up to ABC place, find the largest tree in the area, search for the letterbox hidden under the rocks at the base of the tree.” Some clues are simple and straightforward like the previous example, others may be complicated and require a compass or some problem solving skills. Some letterboxes may be difficult to find but that’s what makes the game so fun!
Once you find the box, you stamp your personal stamp you carved into the letterbox’s stamp book, and stamp the letterbox’s stamp into your own stamp book. Then you put everything back where you found it for others to find and take your stamp and stamp book with you when you leave. All of this is explained in greater detail on the website. An important difference between letterboxing and geocaching is that you don’t take anything with you or leave anything behind when you find a letterbox, you’re simply exchanging the imprint of stamps. The idea is to fill up your stamp book with as many imprints as possible. At the moment, stamp carving is becoming a very popular hobby (try a google search) and some people are extremely talented at carving stamps, so you’ll end up having some really cool stamps in your stamp book!
If you enjoy finding letterboxes, we hope you’ll then try the second way of playing, which is to hide your own letterboxes. There’s also a tutorial for how to do this on our website. You would need to hand carve a stamp for the letterbox, and get a stamp book and ink pad to put inside the box. Hide the letterbox on public land such as on a mountain or in a large park. After that, post the clues to finding your box on our website and see how many people can find your box! We’re hoping that people will do this because this is how letterboxing will spread around the island so that more people can participate and enjoy it.
Since we have just launched our website (literally, a few days ago - and it’s in both English and Chinese) there are only 10 letterboxes hidden at the moment, and they’re all in Kaohsiung. If the game sounds interesting to you, and you live in or near Kaohsiung, get your stamp and stamp book ready and try to find our letterboxes. If you’re not located near Kaohsiung, perhaps you can try hiding your own Letterboxes in your area. We already have quite a few people signed up from different parts of the island, so there are people who will be looking for your letterboxes! In the meantime, check out our website where you can find everything you need to know about this exciting game! If you know anyone who’s into stamp carving or anyone that you think would like this game, please tell them about it! It’s a great way to get some exercise, get out of the house, and spend a Saturday afternoon with your friends, boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, or wife. Help us spread Letterboxing around Taiwan so that everyone can enjoy it!
If you have any questions, please feel free to post them in this thread. I’ll be around! Thanks for reading this post and we hope that letterboxing will become one of your new favorite hobbies!
Our Official site: http://www.Letterboxing-Taiwan.com/en/
Our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/LetterboxingTaiwan