My TB is stuck in a unpublished cache

July 10, 2009

My TB has been stuck in an unpublished cache since March. N N 117.2mi John Deeres R Me 3/8/2009 Doc&Jo The Bridge.. 120 mi. (In The Bridge to Terabithia). I have emailed the cache owner and they refuse to do any thing about it. Anyone have an idea for me to get this TB on the way to it's goal? It is in memory of my father-in-law so it is a special TB.

4.8k · July 10, 2009

My TB has been stuck in an unpublished cache since March. N N 117.2mi John Deeres R Me 3/8/2009 Doc&Jo The Bridge.. 120 mi. (In The Bridge to Terabithia). I have emailed the cache owner and they refuse to do any thing about it. Anyone have an idea for me to get this TB on the way to it's goal? It is in memory of my father-in-law so it is a special TB.

So the CO hasn't published their cache yet but they picked up your TB and are including it in their unpublished cache?

Just asking to get the facts straight.

Are there no coordinates for the unpublished cache or is it not even placed yet?

If the cache isn't in the field, there is little you can do other than complain and beg as far as I know.

3.3k · July 10, 2009

It looks like the typical new cacher who is interested for a couple of months, then decides to quit. They are also holding someone elses travel bug.

If it was me, I would post a note on his geocache asking inquiring about your TB. In reality, the dirty secret about trackables is that they disappear all the time.

8.4k · July 10, 2009

In reality, the dirty secret about trackables is that they disappear all the time.

It's no dirty secret. It's a fact of life. You accept it or you give up on having trackables.

If it was me, I would post a note on his geocache asking inquiring about your TB.

Only the CO or a reviewer can post a note on an unpublished cache.

18.9k · July 10, 2009

Nothing creates as much angst in Geocaching as Travel Bugs. Send a polite email and leave a "note" on the listing page are really your only options. Nearly two thirds of my TBs have gone missing over the years. But don't worry too much either. I have seen a bug that was MIA for 3 years suddenly surface and resume traveling.

3.5k · July 10, 2009

If it was me, I would post a note on his geocache asking inquiring about your TB. In reality, the dirty secret about trackables is that they disappear all the time.

Yup. Never relase something as a trackable that you can't part with, as it *will* disappear eventually. Sorry. :anitongue:

8.4k · July 10, 2009

Nothing creates as much angst in Geocaching as Travel Bugs. Send a polite email and leave a "note" on the listing page are really your only options. Nearly two thirds of my TBs have gone missing over the years. But don't worry too much either. I have seen a bug that was MIA for 3 years suddenly surface and resume traveling.

Agreed. I have had the same experience several times.

I don't recall ever sending an email that asked for any of my TBs to be moved along. I wouldn't. I hate getting those types of emails from owners that don't get the hospitality aspect of one who does the moving of their trackable.

To the OP:

Let go Luke. A TB is not worth any heartburn. They sometimes have amazing lives of their own if you sit back and resist pulling on apron strings.

July 10, 2009

My TB has been stuck in an unpublished cache since March. N N 117.2mi John Deeres R Me 3/8/2009 Doc&Jo The Bridge.. 120 mi. (In The Bridge to Terabithia). I have emailed the cache owner and they refuse to do any thing about it. Anyone have an idea for me to get this TB on the way to it's goal? It is in memory of my father-in-law so it is a special TB.

So the CO hasn't published their cache yet but they picked up your TB and are including it in their unpublished cache?

Just asking to get the facts straight.

Are there no coordinates for the unpublished cache or is it not even placed yet?

If the cache isn't in the field, there is little you can do other than complain and beg as far as I know.

Yes it appears that the TB is in the field. I clicked on his profile and it appears that there is at least one other in the same situation. Not that I am so great, but if were me I would go back to the unpublished cache, retrieve it and place it in an active cache. If he placed it there surely he can find it.

July 10, 2009

My TB has been stuck in an unpublished cache since March. N N 117.2mi John Deeres R Me 3/8/2009 Doc&Jo The Bridge.. 120 mi. (In The Bridge to Terabithia). I have emailed the cache owner and they refuse to do any thing about it. Anyone have an idea for me to get this TB on the way to it's goal? It is in memory of my father-in-law so it is a special TB.

So the CO hasn't published their cache yet but they picked up your TB and are including it in their unpublished cache?

Just asking to get the facts straight.

Are there no coordinates for the unpublished cache or is it not even placed yet?

If the cache isn't in the field, there is little you can do other than complain and beg as far as I know.

Yes it appears that the TB is in the field. I clicked on his profile and it appears that there is at least one other in the same situation. Not that I am so great, but if were me I would go back to the unpublished cache, retrieve it and place it in an active cache. If he placed it there surely he can find it.

OK I let it go and learn from the experience I guess. Thanks

3.3k · July 10, 2009

In reality, the dirty secret about trackables is that they disappear all the time.

It's no dirty secret. It's a fact of life. You accept it or you give up on having trackables.

I no longer buy trackables for this reason alone.

If it was me, I would post a note on his geocache asking inquiring about your TB.

Only the CO or a reviewer can post a note on an unpublished cache.

I meant his active cache.

1.4k · July 10, 2009

Yes it appears that the TB is in the field. I clicked on his profile and it appears that there is at least one other in the same situation.

The other bug is actually in worse trouble in that he is still holding it.

Not that I am so great, but if were me I would go back to the unpublished cache, retrieve it and place it in an active cache. If he placed it there surely he can find it.

The problem is he hasn't logged back into the website since shortly after he placed that cache. It's a shame that he won't answer emails as the unpublished cache is only about 1/2 mile from his home coords :anitongue:

I looked at where the unpublished cache is, and coincidentally I'll be driving within a few miles of it on a vacation next week. I won't make any promises but I will try to swing by and pick up this travel bug and get it moving again.

4.2k · July 10, 2009

There's also the chance that the unpublished cache was never intended to be published. Several cachers (me included) have unpublished caches that we never intend to list.

I use mine to store the coins that I own, but that I don't want clogging up my inventory. I also use it to reflect in the mileage tracking of the bugs that I pick up that there was a stop in between when I haven't had them out moving from cache to cache.

July 10, 2009

... I will try to swing by and pick up this travel bug and get it moving again.

New here and trying to know.

I understand perfectly well OP and his concern about his TB, but .. is this fair? I mean, even if you are a Moderator, is it correct to go to an unpublished cache and take a TB (or any other thing) from it? What if the cacher has some temporary problems? Even if he has not ... where will the limit be?

Thks

3.1k · July 10, 2009

... I will try to swing by and pick up this travel bug and get it moving again.

New here and trying to know.

I understand perfectly well OP and his concern about his TB, but .. is this fair? I mean, even if you are a Moderator, is it correct to go to an unpublished cache and take a TB (or any other thing) from it? What if the cacher has some temporary problems? Even if he has not ... where will the limit be?

Thks

I'd say: a TB, yes. Other things, probably not. "Fair" only comes into it in that the cache owner is preventing someone's TB from moving, intentionally or not. That's unfair.

Edited July 10, 2009 by Dinoprophet

4.2k · July 10, 2009

... I will try to swing by and pick up this travel bug and get it moving again.

New here and trying to know.

I understand perfectly well OP and his concern about his TB, but .. is this fair? I mean, even if you are a Moderator, is it correct to go to an unpublished cache and take a TB (or any other thing) from it? What if the cacher has some temporary problems? Even if he has not ... where will the limit be?

Thks

Travel Bugs and Geocoins belong to their owners and are meant to travel. Hemlock is doing a service to the TB owner and no harm to the cache owner.

22k · July 10, 2009

... I will try to swing by and pick up this travel bug and get it moving again.

New here and trying to know.

I understand perfectly well OP and his concern about his TB, but .. is this fair? I mean, even if you are a Moderator, is it correct to go to an unpublished cache and take a TB (or any other thing) from it? What if the cacher has some temporary problems? Even if he has not ... where will the limit be?

Thks

Travel Bugs and Geocoins belong to their owners and are meant to travel. Hemlock is doing a service to the TB owner and no harm to the cache owner.

Exactly.

19k · July 10, 2009

Several cachers (me included) have unpublished caches that we never intend to list.

I use mine to store the coins that I own, but that I don't want clogging up my inventory.

Wouldn't you want to put an unpublished cache like that at your home coordinates?

4.2k · July 10, 2009

Several cachers (me included) have unpublished caches that we never intend to list.

I use mine to store the coins that I own, but that I don't want clogging up my inventory.

Wouldn't you want to put an unpublished cache like that at your home coordinates?

Mine is. I think Hemlock said the unpublished cache was .5 miles away from their home coords. I'm just guessing and speculating. The two may not be related at all.

1.4k · July 10, 2009

... I will try to swing by and pick up this travel bug and get it moving again.

New here and trying to know.

I understand perfectly well OP and his concern about his TB, but .. is this fair? I mean, even if you are a Moderator, is it correct to go to an unpublished cache and take a TB (or any other thing) from it? What if the cacher has some temporary problems? Even if he has not ... where will the limit be?

This is a good question. Since the TB is not the property of the cache owner, I see no problem in moving it on. Heck, it will be logged separately so it won't be a secret. Everything else in the cache, and the container, is the property of the cache owner and will be left alone. The player in me will be tempted to sign the log, but the reviewer in me won't allow it.

As to the reason this cache is not published.. it's too close to another cache. There is no guarantee that the cache is even still there. The cache owner may have retrieved it after it was denied publication. I will most likely go find the nearby cache and log it, so I will get some credit for the side trip.

And to answer another question that other newbies are probably thinking, no, we reviewers do not normally go and find caches before publication. We review caches using maps and other online sources. In 6 years and many thousands of caches reviewed, I've visited exactly two caches during the review process. These were extraordinary conditions. No, I did not sign the logs at that time. I came back later after the cache was published to sign the logs.

July 10, 2009

Thks Hemlock, seems extremely reasonable to me.

(And yes, of course, thks to the other answerers also :anitongue: )

July 10, 2009

Thks Hemlock, seems extremely reasonable to me.

(And yes, of course, thks to the other answerers also )

Thanks to all of you. I personally do not think picking it up on 3/9/09 is a temporary problem. I had a TB for several weeks and I felt terrible that I didn't get it placed in a cache in a timely manner. I emailed the owner and told them that the delay was due to the fact that we were going to the Cayman Islands from Oregon and wanted to place it there. I guess it shows I am a newbie and overly sensitive.

July 10, 2009

And to answer another question that other newbies are probably thinking, no, we reviewers do not normally go and find caches before publication. We review caches using maps and other online sources. In 6 years and many thousands of caches reviewed,

Lies! Horrible lies!

We know the truth! You reviewers go find every cache before it's goes ive, and take all the super awesome swag that the hiders leave and replace it with broken McToys!

I'm on to you! >.>

(Yes, I am kidding, in case you couldn't tell.)

July 10, 2009

Several cachers (me included) have unpublished caches that we never intend to list.

I use mine to store the coins that I own, but that I don't want clogging up my inventory.

Wouldn't you want to put an unpublished cache like that at your home coordinates?

Mine is. I think Hemlock said the unpublished cache was .5 miles away from their home coords. I'm just guessing and speculating. The two may not be related at all.

I have seen many an unpublished cache that was a repository of stolen geocaches. Some folks r just thieves, so yes never put anything out that you can't part with

5.2k · July 11, 2009

We know the truth! You reviewers go find every cache before it's goes ive, and take all the super awesome swag that the hiders leave and replace it with broken McToys!
I'm on to you! >.>

Man, can you imagine the resources required to find every cache before it is published? Even The Cacher Formerly Known As TeamAlamo* doesn't find that many caches.

*TeamAlamo, the #1 cacher in the world, changed his handle to Alamogul.

21.9k · July 11, 2009

I am moving this thread from the Geocaching Topics forum to the Travel Bug forum.

My TB is stuck in a unpublished cache

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