Treasure Hunting as Hobby or Vocation

At what point do you find yourself a treasure hunter and not just a curious adventurer?

Being able to discover ‘treasure’ is either hard or easy, depending on your goal and determination. The easiest treasure hunt is scrounging through a departed relative’s basement or attic.  I went through a family garage recently and discovered unopened boxes of dusty but pristine Disney toys. Not a fortune but a desired collection for an eBay searcher.

You are a treasure hunter for the excitement of the hunt, the pleasure of success. If you want a fix for fast but elusive wealth there are the casinos for short-term gratification. I hear the stories of the winners but not of their lost funds in between dry spells waiting for computer algorithms to respond to the fate of luck.

For the treasure hunter, patience and problem solving is the key.

  Puzzle games or clue mysteries provide the testing of the mind against the creator.  Seek a treasure that is obtainable or has historic provenance as being truly existing. And what are you?  An Armchair Questor (staying at home) or BOTG (Boots on the Ground) out in the field searcher? Examples of the most famous of recent times are:

1979 Masquerade by Kit Williams

1982  The Secret by Byron Preiss

2002  Mysterious Stranger: A Book of Magic by David Blaine

2010  The Thrill of the Chase by Forrest Fenn

There are current hunts today, many to be featured on this site.  If you are a traveler there are many ‘lost treasures’ to be sought after but do your due diligence of facts first.  Choose whether published puzzle mysteries or buy a metal detector and go forth. Here is a search list of possible (or mythical) hunts to consider:

• Ancient Origins: “The Lost Treasure of the Beale Ciphers”
• Reno Gazette Journal: “Millions are thought to be buried on a Nevada ranch”
• Ozarks Public Radio: “Along the Missouri-Arkansas Line, a Tale of Buried Spanish Treasure”
• History.com: “6 Famous Missing Treasures”
• Smithsonian Magazine: “Did Archaeologists Uncover Blackbeard’s Treasure?”
• East Idaho News: “Can you find East Idaho’s blood-soaked treasure?”
• Los Angeles Times: “The battle over Hawai’i’s history”
• Roadtrippers.com: “The Top 5 Long-Lost US Treasures That Are Still Up For Grabs”
• HistoricMysteries.com: “King Kamehameha: Mystery of his Sacred Burial”
• Archaeology.org: “Kamehameha I, King of Hawaii”
• Portland Monthly: “Is there buried treasure on the Oregon coast?”
• The Post Star: “TV show hunts for gangster Dutch Schultz’s lost fortune in stony creek”
• WCYY Radio: “Search This Small Maine Town for Millions in Hidden Pirate Treasure”