Treasure hunting is like being a real-life advennturer. Imagine being Captain Jack Sparrow or Indiana Jones. Maybe it is more like being a detective with a map and modern gadgets. It’s the search for lost, hidden, or buried valuables, like gold, jewels, and ancient artifacts. But guess what? Treasure hunting isn’t just from the movies. People all over the world do it today, using amazing technology to help them find treasures that have been lost for hundreds, or even thousands, of years.

Modern treasure hunters cannot rely only on how to read paper maps to get them where they want to go. Yes, paper maps are still a real thing, but X does not really mark the spot. High-tech computerized and satellite systems like GPS (Global Positioning System) are also used. GPS technology can get modern adventurers within a few feet of where they want to go. Searching far and wide, treasure hunters travel using ATVs, trucks, boats, planes and even submarines. Technology has made finding treasure easier and faster but it requires more skill than it used to. Not everyone can fly a drone, operate a submarine or scuba dive.

Not all treasures date back hundreds of years. Just 15 years ago, a man named Forrest Fenn thought he was dying of cancer. He buried a treasure worth millions of dollars in the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming and wrote a book. In the book was a poem that had clues about where his treasure had been hidden. The excitement of finding that bronze chest full of gold, jewels and other things, turned thousands of people into treasure hunters. Ten years after being hidden, the mystery was solved and the finder got to meet and become friends with Forrest. He ended up selling the treasure for about $1,300,000. What would you do if you found that kind of money?

Lots of treasure is under the sea! Hundreds of years of exploration, when travelers sailed on wooden ships with billowing white sails, some that ended up sinking in the ocean. Ships were sunken by pirates, great damaging storms or during battles. Many stories have been told about ships that carried gold, silver and other items for trade. Today, underwater treasure hunters risk their lives using submarines and diving suits to search the oceans around the world. Not all the stories about sunken treasure are true, but one amazing story turned out to be real. The tale was about a Spanish fleet of ships that got caught in a hurricane off the Florida coast. Only five people survived the storm and they told stories about gold, silver, and emeralds. A man named Mel Fisher spent years trying to find the Nuestra Señora de Atocha. The treasure was worth hundreds of millions of dollars. During the search, three people died including one of Mel’s sons when the ship they were on capsized. I’m not sure I would have kept looking after that horrible day, but in 1983 he and his crew found the ship and were able to uncover the treasure.

All over the world, there are legends and true stories of unclaimed treasures! Some are buried, some are sunken, and some are just gone without a trace. The excitement of finding treasures like the Lost Dutchman’s Mine, the pirate booty of Captain Kidd, or the Amber Room keep people trying to solve mysteries worth millions of dollars. Could you be the next person to travel the world to decode an ancient riddle and find a great treasure? Would you like to find the Lost City of Atlantis or the next Egyptian Pharaoh's tomb? Is the excitement of the search calling to you? Would the dangers stop you from the quest or would you keep looking no matter what?