How to Lose Faith in Humanity Without Leaving Your Browser

What are your favorite websites?

My favorite websites say a lot about me, none of it flattering. I spend half my time outdoors chasing digital treasure and the other half indoors wondering why the internet hasn’t spontaneously combusted yet. Geocaching is my number-one spot, because nothing gets the blood pumping like crawling under a park bench to find a film canister some guy named “GeoBro69” hid in 2014. People stare, dogs judge, and somewhere out there a satellite is tracking my dignity’s slow decay.

Then there’s Munzee, which is like Geocaching’s nerdier little brother who insists you scan QR codes for fun. Nothing like waving your phone at random trees while joggers assume you’ve lost your mind. I’d call it exercise, but it’s really just adult hide-and-seek with better branding.

Reddit is where I go when I need to believe humanity still has potential… or to confirm that it doesn’t. One minute I’m learning how to replace a car battery, the next I’m reading a 1,000-word rant about why pigeons are government drones. It’s a social experiment disguised as entertainment, and I’m both the scientist and the lab rat.

Spotify keeps me sane. Sort of. It’s the soundtrack to my questionable decisions—like “Running Playlist” for the runs I never take, “Chill Vibes” for the stress I definitely don’t manage, and “Throwback Jams” for pretending the world didn’t start falling apart in 2016.

Then there’s The Chive, a lawless land of memes, beer, and the kind of humor that reminds me of simpler times—like when phones flipped and you didn’t have to read think pieces about everything. It’s crude, it’s dumb, and it’s mine.

And finally, the news. Any site, doesn’t matter. They all lie with slightly different fonts. I scroll through headlines like a doomsday prophet doing research. “Global crisis,” “economic collapse,” “celebrity divorces.” All the hits. Then I close the tab and go outside to find plastic trinkets hidden in the woods because somehow that feels more real.

My browsing history is a mix of curiosity, cynicism, and mild self-delusion—basically a perfect snapshot of modern manhood. I’m out here scanning QR codes, doubting journalism, and vibing to sad songs, just trying to pretend this all makes sense.

Useful links for anyone trying to follow my questionable lead:

Geocaching

Munzee

Reddit

Spotify

The Chive

NPR News


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2 responses

  1. sambucadarling Avatar

    OMFG!!!!! Geocaching is fun but never actually tried it! What is in the packages anyways? I think of usb sticks with questionable content on it…. or maybe I have been watching too many found footage horrors non??

    1. Eric Foltin Avatar

      There’s really nothing of value in the containers—just the usual dollar store junk. Cheap toys, random trinkets, the kind of stuff you’d find buried in the clearance bin at the end of the world. But that’s not the point. It’s all about the thrill of the hunt, chasing that GPS signal until you find the thing hidden in plain sight. You take something, you leave something of equal or better value for the next person—kind of an unspoken code among scavengers. There’s always a little notebook or scrap of paper in there too, a logbook where you sign your name, proof you were there, even if nobody else ever sees it.

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