Geohashing is an outdoor recreational activity inspired by the webcomic ''

xkcd ''xkcd'', sometimes styled ''XKCD'', is a webcomic created in 2005 by American author Randall Munroe. The comic's tagline describes it as "a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language". Munroe states on the comic's website that the name ...

'', in which participants have to reach a random location (chosen by a

computer algorithm In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific problems or to perform a computation. Algorithms are used as specifications for performing ca ...

), prove their achievement by taking a picture of a

Global Positioning System The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...

(GPS) receiver or another mobile device and then tell the story of their trip online. Proof based on non-electronic navigation is also acceptable. The geohashing community and culture is extremely tongue-in-cheek, supporting any kind of humorous behavior during the practice of geohashing and resulting in a parody of traditional outdoor activities. Navigating to a random point need not be pointless. Some geohashers document new mapping features they find on the

OpenStreetMap OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a free, open geographic database updated and maintained by a community of volunteers via open collaboration. Contributors collect data from surveys, trace from aerial imagery and also import from other freely licensed g ...

project, clean up litter, or create art to commemorate the trip, among other activities. A variation on geocaching, known as

geodashing Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity, in which participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", at specific l ...

, features a closely comparable principle, with participants racing between coordinate points.

Invention and spread

On May 21, 2008, th
426th ''xkcd'' comic
was published. Titled "Geohashing", it described a way for a

computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...

to create an algorithm that could generate random