Wednesday, March 18, 2009

To Hunt, or Not to Hunt

Last week, the Amateur Gourmet held a foodie scavenger hunt in NYC. It involved a list of iconic NYC food spots along with what to eat and/or do there for points. Participants (anyone could participate) then posted photos of themselves doing the things on the list and the winner was the one with the most points. The prize was two tickets to Tom Colicchio's upcoming charity event.

This got me thinking about my upcoming (June) birthday. I have a thing for treasure hunts. Scavenger hunts take a close second. (yes, there's a difference) For my 30th birthday, I spent weeks planning a "scavent" (scavenger hunt + event), which sent my loyal and surprisingly competitive friends racing through my hometown, solving clues and acting like maniacs. So fun!!!

And you might remember that I partook in the Great Urban Race last year. That's a for sure must do again (note to Gretchen: start working on our team name). 

So now I'm wondering if I should try to pull off another scavent of some sort for my birthday this year...which, of course, begs the question of whether anyone else even enjoys these things, or if I would just be once-again subjecting my friends to my whims. Now, part of me thinks that it's my birthday, so everyone can shut up and do what I want...the more mature part of me thinks it would be nice if everyone had fun. I mean, you don't really want people to start dreading your birthday out of fear of what they'll be asked to do next. 

Then there's the issue of orchestrating this grand event and not getting to participate in it. Inviting all of your friends over and then immediately sending them away on a race is kind of a bummer, even if the race is pretty entertaining to watch. 

Such a dilemma. And so commences the weeks of obsessing...oh well, at least this obsession is fun. 

1 comment:

~Michelle @ Don't Eat That Cookie~ said...

Have you ever heard of letterboxing? If you enjoy scavenger hunts you may like it too. People hide letterboxes all over the place and leave clues on the internet. Some of them are more puzzling than others.
For more info check out www.atlasquest.com (this is the site I prefer) or www.letterboxing.org.
My husband and I always hunt down a few of these treasures when we go on vacation, or use it as an excuse to get out of the house and explore areas around home we haven't seen before. :D