How do you know what the TB goal is?

[+Dryphter]

This may be a dumb noob question but:

 

I download pocket queries from the website, load them into GSAK and then over to my GPSr. If the cache is noted in GSAK as having a TB, do you go look up the goals of that TB so you know if you can help it or not? Or just go to the cache, grab the bug if it is there, and then look up the goal later and hope you can figure out how to push it along?

 

It would seem that it makes sense to look into it before you go, but what if a cache has a TB that is a 'surprise' when you get there? How does one know whether you should grab it or not?

[+traildad]

This may be a dumb noob question but:

 

I download pocket queries from the website, load them into GSAK and then over to my GPSr. If the cache is noted in GSAK as having a TB, do you go look up the goals of that TB so you know if you can help it or not? Or just go to the cache, grab the bug if it is there, and then look up the goal later and hope you can figure out how to push it along?

 

It would seem that it makes sense to look into it before you go, but what if a cache has a TB that is a 'surprise' when you get there? How does one know whether you should grab it or not?

It should have a note with it explaining what the goal is. Of course you need to read it before you take it. I was surprised to find a coin I took was not a traveler and was meant to stay in the cache.

[+wesleykey]

Bugs logged into a cache will show on the web site. Sometimes the bug web listing has specific goals on it, and sometimes the bug itself has an attached list of its goals. Keep in mind that the goal attached to the bug may have been met and the owner may list a new and different goal on the bug web page. So, I'd say the web page for the bug is the best place to get the most current info.

[+Highpointer]

I download pocket queries from the website, load them into GSAK and then over to my GPSr. If the cache is noted in GSAK as having a TB, do you go look up the goals of that TB so you know if you can help it or not? Or just go to the cache, grab the bug if it is there, and then look up the goal later and hope you can figure out how to push it along?

 

It would seem that it makes sense to look into it before you go, but what if a cache has a TB that is a 'surprise' when you get there? How does one know whether you should grab it or not?

If you see a travel bug in a cache, pick it up and move it to another cache. Please don't let travel bugs languish in caches. Letting travel bugs languish in caches increases the probability that they will become lost.

 

Ken Akerman (a.k.a. Highpointer)

[+KoosKoos]

First, I figure any movement MAY help a bug toward its goal. That being said...if a bug has a tag on it detailing its goal, I might check that, but if it has no goal tag, then it's always fair game to take and move it. When I log it online and see the goal, I can decide how easily I can help that goal....or if my help will just be putting it into another cache somewhere.

[+Highpointer]

First, I figure any movement MAY help a bug toward its goal.

If a travel bugs has a specific destination as its goal, it shouldn't go there by shortest or most direct route. Part of the charm of travel bugs is seeing the random, unpredicatable, and chaotic paths that travel bugs take in reaching their goals. Seeing such a route, in my opinion, is a lot more fun that seeing a travel bug that gets to its destination by the shortest or most direct route. If you want a travel bug to get to its destination by the shortest or most direct route, then perhaps you should consider FedEx or UPS instead of geocaching.

 

(Note: upon reflection, even FedEx or UPS shipments don't get to their destinations by the shortest or most direct routes. For example, if you are shipping by overnight delivery a package from Denver to Phoenix, FedEx will likely route it through Memphis and UPS will likely route it through Louisville. Perhaps the U.S. Postal Service would take it on a more direct route, but that's why the USPS is less efficient than FedEx or UPS).

 

Let's say you are in Colorado and you see a travel bug in a cache that has a goal of getting to Arizona. You are boarding a flight the next day to New York and plan to visit some caches on your trip. Should you take that travel bug with you and drop it in a cache in New York? My answer is Yes!

 

If you drop it in a cache in New York, then perhaps the next geocacher who finds it is a geocacher who is traveling from New York to Arizona. As a geocacher living in Arizona, I know that many people from New York visit Arizona regularly, and I have found many travel bugs in Arizona caches that have been dropped by geocachers who last found them in caches in New York or in other parts of the world.

 

If you keep the travel bug moving, then it will eventually reach its destination, as long as geocachers don't let travel bugs languish and they properly log their movements.

 

Ken Akerman (a.k.a. Highpointer)

Edited March 25, 2007 by Highpointer

[+GeoJunkie]

If I discover a TB without a card that tells me the goal, I'll do one of a couple things depending on my mood, available time and cell phone reception:

 

- If I have the time, and am not being eaten by mosquitos or made otherwise uncomfortable, and I have cell phone reception, I'll go to the WAP page and look up the bug to see if I can help it along. Sometimes, if it's close enough, I'll go back to my car and check from there.

- Otherwise, I will just take the bug and move it along. I do always try to get the goal before I put it into another cache, though. That way I can do my best to help it meet its goal.

[+Super_Nate]

I personally like to follow the goals of travel bugs. If I find a bug that wants to go east, then I feel that placing it in another cache .2 miles away to the east follows the goal of the bug because that is .2 miles closer to the goal.

 

I understand the motive for this question, because if you are downloading waypoints into your palm then you don't have a way to find out the goals for a bug. This is how I feel about that: If the bug owner put a goal sheet with their bug, then I can help it along. If I just find a dog tag with an object, then I am just going to move it because I didn't know. When you are out on a cache run, and you don't have access to the internet then I don't worry about it and I just move the dang bugs.

[+"fish"]

move the bug as often as possible the more it moves the sonner it gets where it is going im a tb junkie i like to move them even if its a short distance

[+Trucker Lee]

If the bug owner failed to put a print-out with the TB, just move it. The "travel" in Travel bug indicates that it shouldn't be left to languish.

 

Also, whenever you have a TB, don't forget to post pics with your logs. TB owners love to see what their critters have been up to.

[+tokencollector]

If I'm travelling some distance to a cache that has bugs listed, I'll often look at the goals online before I leave to decide if it is one I should grab. This is particularly true for TB hotels near airports.

 

If I'm surprised by a TB in a cache when I get there, I'll look at the goals with the TB (often in a bag w/ the bug or attached on a laminated card) if available and grab the TB is I can help it along on its journey.

 

If there are no goals with the bug, I'll often grab it on the assumption that it has a generic goal to travel.

 

To a point made above, If an owner has a specific goal, I won't intentintionally take the TB a significant distance in an opposite direction without the owner's consent. Recently I found a TB in NC with a goal to travel to PA. It had been dropped recently, so I asked the owner if I should keep it moving toward home or drop it on a cache on an upcomming business trip. With the owner's permission, I moved 1000 miles in the "wrong" direction to TX, so that the coin could enjoy a higher mileage, more interesting trip home.

 

Some of my TBs have specific missions. I'd like to see them complete their missions rather than travel aimlessly. Once they have met their goal, I'm not particularly worried about where they go (as long as they are travelling). Most of my TBs (including geocoins) have generic missions to travel so that I can enjoy their random walks around the globe.

 

edit: having written the above, a bug trapped in a seldom visited cache is a TB that doesn't ahve a chance to travel. I would be willing to get them moving too.

Edited April 4, 2007 by tokencollector

[The Justice League of NM]

First, I figure any movement MAY help a bug toward its goal.

If a travel bugs has a specific destination as its goal, it shouldn't go there by shortest or most direct route. Part of the charm of travel bugs is seeing the random, unpredicatable, and chaotic paths that travel bugs take in reaching their goals. Seeing such a route, in my opinion, is a lot more fun that seeing a travel bug that gets to its destination by the shortest or most direct route. If you want a travel bug to get to its destination by the shortest or most direct route, then perhaps you should consider FedEx or UPS instead of geocaching.

 

(Note: upon reflection, even FedEx or UPS shipments don't get to their destinations by the shortest or most direct routes. For example, if you are shipping by overnight delivery a package from Denver to Phoenix, FedEx will likely route it through Memphis and UPS will likely route it through Louisville. Perhaps the U.S. Postal Service would take it on a more direct route, but that's why the USPS is less efficient than FedEx or UPS).

 

Let's say you are in Colorado and you see a travel bug in a cache that has a goal of getting to Arizona. You are boarding a flight the next day to New York and plan to visit some caches on your trip. Should you take that travel bug with you and drop it in a cache in New York? My answer is Yes!

 

If you drop it in a cache in New York, then perhaps the next geocacher who finds it is a geocacher who is traveling from New York to Arizona. As a geocacher living in Arizona, I know that many people from New York visit Arizona regularly, and I have found many travel bugs in Arizona caches that have been dropped by geocachers who last found them in caches in New York or in other parts of the world.

 

If you keep the travel bug moving, then it will eventually reach its destination, as long as geocachers don't let travel bugs languish and they properly log their movements.

 

Ken Akerman (a.k.a. Highpointer)

If you take MY tb where ever you want it to go...why should I even give it a mission? I give my TBs missions for fellow cachers to get it to that destination. If I want it to random travel, that is the mission I give. There is NO charm in you not folllowing the wishes of the cacher who owns the TB. I find it highly disrespectful when my TB is clearly marked with a mission card attached that someone just takes it off the path just cause he wants to. I paid for it and just ask that others respect my wishes. It very seldom happens though, and with attitudes like yours I can see why.

Edited April 6, 2007 by The Justice League of NM

[Neos2]

I've found that most TBs with very specific goals also have information with them (attached, or in the bag they are in). I try to move them to a better spot. A "better spot" would be one that would help them move toward their goal somehow. Either in the general direction they are traveling, the kind of place they want to visit, or to a cache located on a major thoroughfare that leads to the intended destination. I don't move them away from their goal.

 

If they don't have any specific information on them and are in a seldom-visited cache, I will move them along to a more frequently visted cache or take them home to look up where they are headed. If they are in a popular cache, I usually leave them there.

 

So far, no one has written me to complain about my treatment of their TB.