Travel Bug Hotel - Creating

[neonhomer]

I was thinking about creating a Travel Bug hotel or depository (depending on what you want to call it). Since a lot of people go through a lot of trouble to get travel bugs moving, I was thinking about creating one based from my house. However, not sure if anyone would want to come to someone's house to drop or pick up a TB...

 

However, thought about placing a cache somewhere off of I-95 so people could drop and pick up TB's.... Question is, how does one start a TB hotel? How does one seed it? I just got my TB in the mail the other day (hanging from the rear view mirror in my van right now till I decide what to do with it), so I could start it off in my future hotel...

 

Any help?

[+Henki]

My thoughts on the subject:

 

If you want to start a TB hotel, please don’t put restrictions on cachers by requiring them to trade one for one. This effectively keeps travel bugs from traveling.

 

Many people seed their TB hotels with TBs picked up from area caches.

 

As the hotel owner, if you notice a bug’s been sitting for quite some time (as often happens with TB hotels – the bugs don’t get picked up in the same order they’re dropped), please do the bug owner a favor and move that bug for him.

 

As for TB hotels at people’s homes, I’ve heard of a few. Here’s the link to one: Wilson House Travel Bug Inn

[+PastorDIC]

I have a cache in my front yard. It has had 16 TBs in it and it is not even a TB Hotel.

 

Since it is in my yard I included something to describe the search area of my yard so cachers wouldn't be investigating neighbors yards. Check out Home Sweet House Church Cache (GCK1T4) for an example.

 

With some yard caches the neighbors love to watch how long it takes people to find it. I know my neighbor Chirpz loves to pop up when geocachers think they are being stealthy and surprise them.

[+Semper Questio]

I personally don't like home-based caches and as a general rule won't do caches in people's yards, especially in a close neighborhood. I sure as heck wouldn't hang around going through an ammo can or paint bucket full of TB's.

 

But no matter where you place it, I gotta go with Henki. Don't put a bunch of crazy trade limits and rules on it and turn your TB hotel into a TB prison.

 

As for seeding, that's easy. Put in 1 or 2 of your own and look for bugs that have been sitting in caches in your area for a while. Go get them and put them in your new hotel to help them on their way.

[+Renegade Knight]

I seeded mine with a couple of bugs picked up while caching normally. It's bad form to snag all the bugs in your area just to stock up your hotel.

 

As for your house, that's fine. The key thing IMO is that a TB hotel should be convenient for the locals and for people passing through. That way a local who has had a TB for too long can drop it off because the hotel is handy, and a traveler can stop and swap bugs as they pass through. Your house may or may not be handy for that.

 

Caches that are not convenienct then to hold travel bugs for a long, long time.

[+EPMinnesota]

Can anyone share how you technically log a picked up tb into your own hotel? I know sometimes the website has issues where things won't log or the right options don't pop up to log a dropped tb which seems to be the trouble I'm having. I'm wondering if I might not even be doing it right!

 

As far as TB hotels, we just opened one and specifically wrote in the description and on the front cover of the log that there are NO trading restrictions. You can take or leave as many tb's as you like. Trading is NOT required. Also, ours isn't far from home so we have also included that tb's that wear out their welcome (haven't moved) after about 30 days or so will be politely asked to move along and will be escorted to another cache.

[ImpalaBob]

"Can anyone share how you technically log a picked up tb into your own hotel?"

 

Go to your cache page > Write a "NOTE" and drop the TB off. It's easy. ImpalaBob

[+EPMinnesota]

I tried it again and the correct screen popped up! Got them placed and logged in. Thanks!

[+Team JSAM]

Lots of people do it I just went to a coin purse yesterday at someones house I think items are alot safer if they are by someones house, me personally I would never put one by my house as I would not want stangers lurking around plus the naborhood I live in the cops would be there before they got done logging it.

[+Tsmola]

I've visited a few, one near my home is cleverly disguised as a mailbox. I visited this One a while back, this is probably one of the most well-known of these kinds of caches, especially considering it's owned by the top TB movers in the world.

[neonhomer]

I wouldn't put restrictions or bogus rules on them.

 

If you want to take two bugs, take em... you want to take one and not leave one.. thats fine.... While it would be suggested, it would not be required.

 

I live in a small neighborhood, so people stopping at my house at random might be upsetting to neighbors. (Calling the cops on cachers..)

 

There is a cache located about 1/4 mile from my house. Thought about setting up a hotel there, next to it.

 

I am also about 2-3 miles from I-95... I could set a cache around one of the two exits I am near.

 

I am still working on the idea. I picked up a couple of watertight plastic containers from Wal-Mart the other day. A little camo paint/tape, and they would make perfect cache containers....

[+BlueDeuce]

IWhile it would be suggested, it would not be required.

 

I would prefer that you wouldn't even recommend it.

 

To quote the hermit crabs

 

"If a travel bug hotel is in a good spot for the quick and easy exchange of travel bugs, then an empty hotel won't stay empty long. People are always looking for a convenient place to drop bugs off. The owner of a well-placed hotel should actually be pleased if the hotel is occasionally empty, since it shows that the hotel is serving its purpose: to get bugs moving quickly. And if a hotel does stay empty for long periods of time without the cache owner continually raiding other caches to re-stock it, then it's not a good place for a travel bug hotel."

[+Blue Bomb]

I have a 3 gallon bucket sitting out in the open on my front porch, with a large geocache sticker on it. Cache page clearly states the house number, so no snooping in the wrong yard. Even though it is not supposed to be a TB hotel, there is a fairly steady flow of TBs through it. The fact that I live close to a major interstate and cache density in this area is (still) fairly low may have something to do with that.

 

My point is that it doesn't have to be listed as a TB hotel, with or without restrictions. As long as it is in a convenient place.

 

If you place it, they will come.

[+BlueDeuce]

I have a 3 gallon bucket sitting out in the open on my front porch, with a large geocache sticker on it. Cache page clearly states the house number, so no snooping in the wrong yard. Even though it is not supposed to be a TB hotel, there is a fairly steady flow of TBs through it. The fact that I live close to a major interstate and cache density in this area is (still) fairly low may have something to do with that.

 

My point is that it doesn't have to be listed as a TB hotel, with or without restrictions. As long as it is in a convenient place.

 

If you place it, they will come.

 

You just won geocacher of the week.

 

Sorry that you don't get trinkets, just my sincere admiration. Maybe next time.

[neonhomer]

Sounds like maybe putting a TB hotel on a highway exit/entrance ramp might be a ideal place... or really close by.

 

To go to my house, you have to take a few different roads to get to it..... that and I am not sure if my wife would be happy with complete strangers showing up and dropping stuff....

[+cheekcacher]

We picked up a travel bug from a hotel located in someone's yard this weekend, and I felt very uncomfortable standing in a residential neighborhood only a few feet from someone's front door. We did our business and got out of there, and the cache page had the street address so folks won't go running through yards, but it still felt strange.

 

I'm not sure if I will do something like that again, but for now I'm writing it off to newbie inexperience.

[+Markwell]

There is a cache located about 1/4 mile from my house. Thought about setting up a hotel there, next to it.

 

You mean more than the minimum 528 feet, right?

 

I would also be a little cautious about putting a treasured Travel Bug into a hotel at someone's house that I don't know. What if they're the kind of person that just likes hoarding bugs and coins. Mind you, I'm not saying YOU'D do that, but I wouldn't necessarily want to drop them where I didn't know they'd be moved on.

[+Team PEZ]

There is a cache located about 1/4 mile from my house. Thought about setting up a hotel there, next to it.

 

You mean more than the minimum 528 feet, right?

 

I would also be a little cautious about putting a treasured Travel Bug into a hotel at someone's house that I don't know. What if they're the kind of person that just likes hoarding bugs and coins. Mind you, I'm not saying YOU'D do that, but I wouldn't necessarily want to drop them where I didn't know they'd be moved on.

 

My friend GA Cacher and I have a Travel Bug Motel in Kennesaw, GA that is about 3-4 miles off of I-75. It is about a 4x6x3 old medicine box that used to hang on the wall. It is now hidden in plain sight in the storefront of a mom/pop store (with their permission.) They absolutely love the company and enjjoy watching people search for it!

 

Judging by the amount of hits and people that have visited, it pretty much replenishes itself!

 

-TP