Stop and think about it sometime. The more years we put into detecting we very often find ourselves in a rut! We go to the same places and get mad when they produce less and less and we lose something very important that made metal detecting so special in the first place. Remember when we started? We were so full of excitement with our small finds but then we did something different than we are doing now.

Today I decided to take a portion of my time detecting and spent it just exploring new places and I found it broke the routine of swinging the coil in the same old tracks that I always do. I had researched years on a large pirate gang and I walked several miles to stand in a place that was special to me because I saw something there that no one else but I could see. In my mind I was reaching back almost 200 years and I could just see the movements of the pirates and I know now that I am much closer to finding my own keepsakes of that time.

I also ventured on the grounds of an old Civil war camp to get the lay of the land and I think I may have discovered an old shipwreck too. That one needs more exploration. Two pirate galleons full of treasure broke away from the dock in a terrible hurricane and were sunk near here. I still had time left to pickup over $2 in coins and a ring.

Remember that is what makes the difference between picking up tin cans for a living and living an exciting adventure. Never let your time detecting get spent just repeating the same old thing. Venture out, even if it is difficult, and for me it is. Lately I have to hunt by myself and I miss the companionship and challenge of always trying to one-up my partner(for laughs of course) and sharing the experience of the day while I am able.

I still have some great places in mind to get to someday that I need a partner for. Some that take more to overcome than just driving down to the beach. I think all of us move in the same patterns. We start with a cheap detector and find some coins and then instead of expanding to new places we just upgrade our detector for excitement. I already have several thousand dollars worth of beepers and don't need anymore so I think maybe I will get back in the mainstream with new adventures.

Someday I think I would like to travel around the country and just move onto new ground as often as I please and perhaps get to meet so many friendly people that I have talked to over the years with email. I hope that I have made you think about your detecting and take a new look at it. I think that about 10 percent of the time delegated to detecting could be better spent just exploring. Always take time to stand in that place and look back through the eyes of history and maybe that is the best part of the adventure. It is a special gift to be able to stand transfixed between the streams of time and peer into the past and learn from the experience.