Player of the Week: Ade Pitkin

As Munzee has grown over the years, the game has evolved in so many more ways than any of the co-founders could have imagined. We’ve certainly had our fair share of growing pains, but in its essence Munzee has tried to stick to its core goal of getting people out into the world. No one knows this better than those players who have been with us since the beginning. This week’s Player of the Week is Ade Pitkin (TheMachman).

Who are you?
I’m known as The Machman to most, but non Munzee fold still call me Ade.

Where in the world do you live?
Far, far away in Perth, Western Australia.

For those that have never visited our State, please do. It’s a stunning spot with some fantastic places and amazing people. But, you will need to stay a while. Our state is BIG, very BIG (Over 3.5 times the size of Texas)!!

Perth is also one of the most remote places on Earth, so driving to cap a cluster in our closest neighbouring city involves a 30 hour non-stop drive each way!!! In fact, our closest neighbours are not even in Australia. Try East TImor or Jakarta in Indonesia. Not known for being Munzee Hot Spots (Not yet, anyway 🙂 ).

How long have you played Munzee?
Since July 2011.

How did you find Munzee?
I read about the game on a GPS forum. Several weeks later, I checked out the map just after it had gone live, but my nearest Munzee to capture was about 3500km away, so I decided to print out a few of my own, warm up the laminator, and take them along to a caching event that weekend.

I deployed a couple and a few good folk at the event downloaded the original Munzee app, and away we went…

What do you most enjoy about Munzee?
We have a small, but active, group of players here in Perth that have all gone to extraordinary lengths to grow the local map.

We host regular events and often catch up whilst out on the trail which makes things a lot of fun.

I love travelling and Munzee has also taken me to some fantastic cities both overseas (London, Cologne, Prague) and also within Australia (Melbourne/Sydney).

But it’s always the people that have made the difference, both at home and overseas. I have always been welcomed by players wherever I have visited, so thank you to you all.

I still have several other cities on my Munzee bucket list to visit, so keep an eye out for me!!

What is on your wish list?
I love the fact that Munzee constantly evolves and changes, but I would love to see more recognition for those that still play the core game. We have players from all over the world that have captured tens of thousands of Greens, not for the points, but just for the love of the game and getting out there and being active.

Please let’s reward them with some badges for capturing Greens. It’s the bread and butter of our game.

Tell us about yourself!
I’m married to a very patient lady who puts up with me running out of the house at all hours and also making diversions en-route home to capture bouncing specials and now Unicorns!!!

In the end, she got fed up of being a Munzee widow, so she surprised me and signed up for an account herself and now plays along with me during school holidays.

Our daughter just thinks I’m nuts!!

My other constant Munzee companion is my Cocker Spaniel, Luna. She always escorts me on my Munzee day trips and to events!!

I work for local government in a variety of roles, but I’m currently helping out on a few IT projects which is fun and gives me some quality family time, too.

Other hobbies include:
I was primarily a cacher in the days before Munzee. I still play, but my find rate has gone down considerably. I still enjoy grabbing the odd smiley whilst out on my Munzee trail.

I love the water, and the Perth climate is perfect for it. So if you don’t find me out capping, you’ll find me close to my home at Burns Beach, WA.

TheMachman also included some socials (one of which is on the Header Image), so cap away!