TravelingViking

I am scheduled for a 4 day business trip from Germany to California (San Jose/Bay Area) and unfortunately will only have very limited time for caching. As I am going to an event here in Germany just 2 days prior to my trip, there is a good chance that I will bring some 5 to 10 TBs from Europe. I would like to call for a "TB Exchange Event" in that area on Wednesday, 4th of August in the evening so that I can possibly exchange them safely "all in one cache". Of course, I would like to help those TBs that wanna go back with me to Europe, too Questions: as a German Cacher, will I be able to call for / submit an event for Northern California? And if yes, any recommendations for a location (and coordinates?!) - as I am far away I couldn't really check it out in advance... As I will just have a few hours, I thought about just an exchange meeting at some cafe or so. Thoughts? Help? Olaf

Yes, I am all for it, too! As discussed in other threads, both cache-to-cache and cacher-to-cacher are "legal" TB traveling options already supported by GC (unless stated otherwise by individual TB owners). However, the cacher-to-cacher handover does not calculate the miles at all. So far I also practiced such handovers using a nearby cache - but being able to specifiy coordinates would make the process "cleaner". Olaf

Just to confirm: 1.) I am not aware of a TB gallery for single TBs 2.) As a TB addict I am all for it!!! Olaf

As usual, ask the owner... I think that specifically with "difficult" goals like oversea trips - this could help that a TB achieves its goal at all. I am not sure what the average TB lifetime is, but if a TB is going up and down the East Coast for months and still wants to go East - such an unconventional TB mail exchange might be its last chance. This is not too different from the following practice: Imagine you are on a business trip in another country, but your schedule does not allow for any serious caching. However, you might be able to make contact with a local Cacher in advance and arrange for a safe TB exchange in the Hotel Lobby or at the Airport. Nevertheless, it should probably be an exception and only used if it really helps with a TB’s goal. BTW: If anybody needs the mailing-address of a TB Addicted Cacher in Germany, or a safe TB exchange at Hannover Airport, send me a message Olaf

What I really like about Caching is that there are so many variations in this game. I am a TravelBugMover and my hunt is for the bugs, not the caches. And I barely manage to keep my number of TB logs higher than my cache finds. So if "your inside" screams to be a Travel Bug Mover and Hunter - "let it out"! Here are some tips for this kind of hunt: 1.) Don't go for TBs in easy caches - too much traffic there. Pick a Multi Cache, total number of stars at least 4 to 5 2.) Make sure the TB is in the cache for just a few days, preferably with no other log (or just a few) as from the person who dropped it 3.) Go Caching early in the morning, double check the online logs before leaving Oh, and of course - only take a bug if you can help with its goal. If IT doesn't want YOU to find it, it will be gone anyway... Olaf

I am just about to open up my first TB Hotel - or probably "safehouse" and was wondering about which rules to adopt. Instead of having a "rule" I will probably go with a "it would be nice, if..." approach and a "make a responsible case-by-case judgement". If I am traveling (mostly business trips), I do not always have the time to go Caching as much as I would like, so I prefer TB Hotels to which I always try to bring some TBs along. Now if it is empty, I am surely dissapointed so a "keep some in here rule" is nice. On the other hand: if the number is below the suggested/requested limit and for some reason I am out of TBs and there is one TB in there that has the goal of going to Europe and I am about to board a plane to Europe in a few hours, should I really leave it in there? All rules have exceptions... Olaf

This is something that you might want to discuss openly at the events where the TBs meet. We had 50+ cachers and 80+ bugs at a recent event and we agreed that only those who take the bugs also log them, otherwise this could have turned into a 50x80 "grabbstasy fest". AFAIK everybody accepted that and went with it. But maybe we were just too lazy to write down 80x6 digits and make the grabs...

Is anybody keeping track of TB statistics and records at Event Caches? Here are some numbers from this weekend's Erse-Komfort-Event (EKE) in Germany by Jashi, Groundinspector, LukeShort, Quadman and Steinjunge EKE Number of cachers registered for event: 77 Number of cachers present at event: 62 Number of TBs registered for and present at event: 87 Bigger version of TB photo (2000 pixels wide) Some more EKE TB statistics from: EKE Bug History Total mileage of the TBs registered for the event: more than 250k miles Oldest TB at event: Lobo the Duck - born October 2nd, 2001 - 17307 miles Lobo the Duck Longest TB travel: Stinky - 22790 miles Stinky Biggest TB: Traveling 10k - 10kg (22lbs) - a paving stone Traveling 10k NOTE: At this event we practiced "single TB logging". Cachers only logged those TBs that they either brought to or took from the event - no "out and in" logging. Thanks again to the organizers for a great weekend! Olaf