Talzhemir

A travel-bug is a little counter to the usual customs of Geocaching in that you aren't meant to keep it. To give a Travelbug its best chance at travelling, new cachers should be informed up-front what the deal is. So I've created the travelbug "passport": Passport It helps to put travelbug and passport in their own little ziplock. For a hitchhiker that hasn't got an official Groundspeak Travelbug dogtag, you might try THIS passport instead: Passport for Tagless Travelers Enjoy! --Talzhemir of furcadia.com

* I found a Travelbug. It didn't occur to me to log the Find. I figured I'd do it after I'd actually placed him. A few days later, I travelled an hour northwards, and cached him again. I even gave him a Passport. After I got home, I logged my visit to the new cache. It was only after I went to the website for the Travelbug, to log placing him, that I realized I didn't know his number! Doh! Without the number, you can't log the find. I've just emailed the previous Finder asking if she knows the Travelbug's number. If that doesn't work, I'll have to email the Sponsor. I'm sure it'll be alright but it's more hassle than it should have been. So anyways, friends, maybe you'll learn from my stuuuuupid mistake. Remember to log the Finding of the Travelbug. And then take down the tag number for when you log the Recaching. Wishing you many excellent journeys, Talzhemir

I think it's wise to give your Travelbug its own Passport because the information on the tag is vague and limited. #1. All too often, the Finder doesn't realize there's an obligation incurred by picking up Travelbug. The Passport addresses this right away by saying right away, "Put me back in a cache soon. If you don't want this responsibility, please leave me for someone else to take. I love to explore and travel as much as you do!" #2. The Finder may not realize that a Travelbug tag (and the web page that goes with it) costs somebody some amount of real-world moolah. The Passport reads, "I love my Travelbug tag! Isn't it cool? It cost my Sponsor $6.50." The Travelbug tag is a GORGEOUS little symmetrical aluminum cartouche, especially if you happen to have an inordinate fondness for beetles. #3. Without putting too fine a point on it, the immediate list of "hosts" indirectly says that it took many people to get a travelbug that far, and it would be a shame if their charming efforts ended with you. --------- Dear Dekaner: I mistyped; it's fixed now. Thanks! Here is the original document in .AI format; that's what I use to construct a .PDF. Travelbug Passport in Adobe Illustrator (.AI) format --------- Dear Mzee: Passport paper? good idea! ---------

* In an effort to help your Travel Bug stay in circulation, here's a .PDF file "Passport" (printable from this web browser and your computer's printer on standard paper). The one who sends out a Travel Bug isn't really an "owner" anymore, so I've dubbed you the "Sponsor". Fold the page over twice to make a little card or booklet. (You can fold it once more if you need to.) You can also add to the Passport's durability by putting a little bit of tape on each of its four corners before you fold it. One piece of tape in the very center where the folds cross is also helpful. Trimming the corners with a scissors or a corner-clipper (for scrapbooking) will both make it look more like a passport and prevent the corners from getting dogeared. After it's folded, one corner is clear of rinting so you can reinforce it with transparent tape, then make a hole for a foot-long chain of rubber bands. Attach this tether to your Travel Bug so it won't lose its new Passport. Travel Bug Passport (for a Bug that HAS a Travelbug Tag & Number) ---------- Here's another version of the Passport, for a Travel Bug who doesn't have an official Travel Bug tag. It makes reference to a web page, which you fill in. It also makes reference to an email address. (You should set up an email account for free at someplace like hotmail.com if you don't want to give out your personal address.) Travel Bug Passport (for a Bug WITHOUT a Tag) Brightest blessings to you, Talzhemir P.S.: I suspect that a Travel Bug fares better if it's something relatively homely, and not the cutest thing you ever saw