Should I release TB forever or plan for its return?

[+whartonia]

The kids and I purchased three TB's. We've come up with what we think will be cute TB's with different missions. Do you like to release them to travel indefinately or do you like to have them complete a mission and come home?

 

Also, can you alter a bug's mission once it has been released?

[+BlueDeuce]

Yes you can alter the mission at any time. It's best to have a mission tag included so I have contacted finders that were willing to let me mail them a new tag.

 

Directional bugs are prone to not going in the right direction so don't invest too much hope in having it meet its goal in a timely manner.

 

I prefer non-directional bugs but I have two that I release on trips with the mission to make it back to my home area. One has been held since last March and the other is sitting in a cache that doesn’t have many visitors.

[+UncleJimbo]

The kids and I purchased three TB's. We've come up with what we think will be cute TB's with different missions. Do you like to release them to travel indefinately or do you like to have them complete a mission and come home?

I have seen a lot of posts from parents whose kids are "heartbroken" that their TB has either gone missing or stalled in an obscure cache. Try to minimize the chances of "heartbreak". Having a goal to get somewhere and then return home is really two goals (with double the odds of failure). You can always edit the TB page with the goal of coming home once the TB has achieved its first goal.

 

Good luck.

[+Geocaching-Geckos]

I would have to agree with UncleJimbo. I have seen several cases of geocachers not reading the goal of the travel bug or geocoin. Take the coin I released in Colorado last year - it's mission was to travel from Colorado to Minnesota to another cacher. A pretty simple goal if you ask me and one that was clearly stated on the goal card attached to the geocoin and on the coin's description field. Instead, it disappeared for almost four months, then reappeared in Uruguay of all places and now it is enroute to Spain. Wow, talk about getting off the beaten track! So, with that in mind, I don't think you should place super high expectations on the travel bug completing two goals especially where you have kids involved. In all honesty I would consider it a major accomplishment if it completed the original goal. Kids tend not to understand the reality of somebody wanting their cute TB more than they do for their own private collection.

Edited January 31, 2008 by Geocaching-Geckos

[+Walts Hunting]

If you want a realistic goal for you TB try this one Good Travel But Goal

[+BlueDeuce]

If you want a realistic goal for you TB try this one Good Travel But Goal

 

Now that is a goal to ignore.

[+PhxChem]

I have decided to set a reasonable mission for this coin. It's mission is to wander afar in any direction. It will also be missing for long periods of time. It will be listed as being caches where it is not. It will be retrieved by cachers who will not move it for excessively long times. It will be retrieved from caches that it is not logged into. Well that should do it.

 

It's like THE universal goal!!

 

But since it IS a goal for a specific travel item....the coin will obviously be logged properly, will be discovered daily, cachers will always drop it off at the next cache, and it will stay within 5 miles of the owner at all times. Even muggles will sign up for a Groundspeak account just to log it properly! They will then drop it off at the nearest cache (careful to choose one well-hidden) because they will read the tag and figure "it's the right thing to do!!"

 

That's just how it works......

Edited February 2, 2008 by PhxChem