Travel Bug Etiquette

[+jfarr]

Hi Folks!

 

I'm relatively new to geocaching and I found and dropped off my first travel bug two weeks ago. The bug had a little note that said it wanted to get to Washington, DC. When I dropped it off, I put it in a cache further south of the one I found it in, which would put it closer to DC. However, the next person that found it took it fifteen miles north of where I found it.

 

So my question is this: If you find a TB and you're not able to help it reach its destination, should you pick it up at all?

 

Maybe I'm being nitpicky but I made the effort to get it closer to its destination. I thought that was the name of the game

[Keystone]

Moving to the travel bug forum.

[+Skip_]

Lots of things can happen with TB's and their goals. One of the most common is someone will let loose a TB without any information with it. Sometimes someone will pick a TB up and drop it off elsewhere in the same trip. Without the info page with the TB, they may not know where it wants to go until they get back home and log it on gc.com.

 

Also, TB's seem to take meandering paths no matter what, but if they survive the dangers of the trip, they generally get to do what they want to. Sometimes it's not a straight line. Also, some people will move a TB closer to a major highway even if it's further from its ultimate destination in order to make it easier for someone to pick it up if they're on their way through.

 

Thanks for being consciencious about TB's from the start. TB owners appreciate that sort of thing.

[+Eartha]

The best thing to do is to try to help a travel bug follow its mission. If it isn't plainly labelled with a mission it can end up travelling just about anywhere. I did a quick search on "Travel Bug Etiquette" (using the "My Assistant" feature in the top corner of the forum page, when logged in) and came up with about 30 threads all called just that. Basically, you want to help the bug follow the goals the owner set for it and if someone else moves it the wrong way at least it's still travelling. Sometimes you just can't get there from here and it may have to move south to get north.

[+jfarr]

The best thing to do is to try to help a travel bug follow its mission. If it isn't plainly labelled with a mission it can end up travelling just about anywhere. I did a quick search on "Travel Bug Etiquette" (using the "My Assistant" feature in the top corner of the forum page, when logged in) and came up with about 30 threads all called just that. Basically, you want to help the bug follow the goals the owner set for it and if someone else moves it the wrong way at least it's still travelling. Sometimes you just can't get there from here and it may have to move south to get north.

And that's what I did. When I found it, there was a paper tag hanging off of it that clearly stated its mission. The following weekend, I found a cache that was a few miles further south, and planted it there. Admittedly, I didn't help it that much along, but I got it a few miles closer and assumed that's how the game was played.

 

It was the first TB I'd found, so maybe I'm overthinking this. Who knows...

[+AuntieWeasel]

I once made a special trip to move a bug in a race in the right direction, after it had been swirling around the same area not making progress for months...and the next to come along grabbed it and moved it right back to the area I'd taken it from. I was fairly flexed about that, so I won't tell you not to be. On the other hand, it is true that TB's always pinball around a little on their journeys, and sometimes move in the wrong direction only to land in a busier cache or the hands of somebody going way in the right direction.

 

There's a huge amount of randomness involved and you have to be okay with that if you're going to enjoy playing with Bugs. The most stoical among us are glad when the thing moves at all, because then at least you know it's still in play.

[+BlueDeuce]

Well, I got tired of past thread searching. I was trying to finding the popular quotation about something like how a bug moving 30 miles in the wrong direction may be just the direction it needed to go. blah blah blah.

 

Really, it doesn't matter if the bug's path isn't perfect. The most we should be hoping for is decent direction, consistant travel and proper care.

 

It was interesting going through some of the old threads. This topic is discussed quite a bit. (No, I'm not saying you should have searched before posting. Just interesting, that's all)

 

I guess that's why it's called the forum of unending angst.

[+jfarr]

Thanks, gang. I guess I shouldn't let it bother me. It's all supposed to be fun anyway, right?

[+BlueDeuce]

supposed to be, but unfortunately not always.

[+Harry Dolphin]

My philosophy of life is "Oh, well". My TB going from New Jersey to Maine detoured through Maryland and Tennessee. Oh, well. At least it's in New Hampshire now.

Picked up a TB in NYC heading for PA. I took it 30 miles west along I-80. Next cacher moved it 20 miles east. Oh, well.

Ya does the best you can do.

(Oh, well, does not apply to whoever kidnapped out TB from northern Minnesota, though. It does apply to the cacher who took it from San Antonio to Minnesota, when it wanted to go to California. Oh, well.)

[+sTeamTraen]

>>Travel Bug Etiquette, Is there any?

 

There are two !

 

Etiquette

 

Etiquette2

 

(Etiquette means "label" in French )

Edited October 4, 2005 by sTeamTraen

[bogleman]

Try this OLD link about your question. I very rarely work with travel bugs but I an slightly curious.