Travel Bug Etiquette

[+LabRats2.0]

Well, as long as I'm on a kick asking questions I may as well ask this as well. About 2 years ago my wife and I let some TBs go and watched to see where they would make it to. Somewhere along the way all three have been "lost." They all say they are in various members possesion and haven't moved. My question is, is it in bad taste to contact these members and ask that if they have the TB that they get it moving again. Also, since they stopped moving so long ago is it too late to ask them to get them moving again? Thanks.

 

LabRats2.0

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

It is not in bad form at all to ask the holder of a traveler to get it moving again.

 

It should be done in a very tactful manner, not accusatory or demanding at all (it won't help if you alienate them!). Besides, a common affliction within the human race is forgetfulness. We all get it at one time or another.

 

Remember, it's possible that the item just happened to become lost somewhere in the hidden crevices of their backpack, or in the ever-deepening vortex within their geo-mobile. Maybe their kid though it was a new toy and snatched it w/o their being aware of it.

 

Whatever the case, a simple and friendly contact shouldn't hurt. Do not fire off a series of emails, too many is a bad thing and can be considered harassment.

 

It's never too late.

 

Good Luck!

[+BlueDeuce]

Well, as long as I'm on a kick asking questions I may as well ask this as well. About 2 years ago my wife and I let some TBs go and watched to see where they would make it to. Somewhere along the way all three have been "lost." They all say they are in various members possession and haven't moved. My question is, is it in bad taste to contact these members and ask that if they have the TB that they get it moving again. Also, since they stopped moving so long ago is it too late to ask them to get them moving again? Thanks.

 

LabRats2.0

 

I don't worry about contacting a cacher holding one of my bugs for a good three months after they've picked it up, but your bugs are long over due.

 

Neither one of those cachers have logged in recently so I wouldn't get my hopes too high.

 

If you don't hear anything back, and since it's been over a year since they've moved you should consider re-releasing them with the copy tag. Just Grab them back and start over.

 

You can change the traveler, name, description, mission/goal, just don't delete the logs of the people who previously assisted your bug.

[+briansnat]

on a number of ocassions I've asked nicely and even offered to send a postage paid envelope to the person so he could send it back to me if he wasn't planning on caching soon. I've never received a response.

 

So it's fine to ask, but don't expect it to help.

[+carolnbarney]

I can only imagine what it would be like to have this happen.

 

How often does this happen would you say?? Ballpark estimate is fine. TBs are one thing I've thought I'd try one day, but just haven't as of yet. Would still try it even though.

 

[+Printess Caroline]

I can only imagine what it would be like to have this happen.

 

How often does this happen would you say?? Ballpark estimate is fine. TBs are one thing I've thought I'd try one day, but just haven't as of yet. Would still try it even though.

 

 

I've sent out 10 travelers. One is still traveling; one returned to me as was its mission; and the rest are missing or in the hands of cachers for too long to hope for their further travels. All good things come to an end. It's fun while it lasts, though.

[+SSO JOAT]

Sometimes a "lost" TB will show up again. Take for instance this one that I found in a cache last fall in Alaska. When I went to log it online, it was listed in a cache in Oregon quite close to the release point and had been logged in that cache for over a year. No record of how it got to AK or anything in the cache logs of where I found indicating who left it there or anything...

 

http://www.geocaching.com/track/log.aspx?L...bd-2e0588405d26

 

And then there are the geothieves. We had our whole caching community confront a geothief last year and managed to get 60 stolen TBs & coins returned to the game. Some of those had been out of circulation for well over a year.

 

You just never know.

[+briansnat]

I can only imagine what it would be like to have this happen.

 

How often does this happen would you say?? Ballpark estimate is fine. TBs are one thing I've thought I'd try one day, but just haven't as of yet. Would still try it even though.

 

 

I haven't counted but I'd say at least half, maybe 2/3 of the travelers I've release have disappeared.

[+carolnbarney]

1/2, 2/3, 80%........

 

Darned if that isn't discouraging!

 

Must be some kind of perverse thrill a person gets by subverting something as harmless as a TB/Geocoin, etc. There are some sick puppies in this world!!

 

Is there such a thing as a "home-made" type of thing that's used/can be used as a trackable item like this? It'd be fun/interesting to come up with and/or make something like if it could as well as probably more economical???

[+SSO JOAT]

You buy the tracking number from GS when you buy the TB tag. It's pretty cheap at about $4.50 per number and then that number is yours forever. You can do whatever you want with that number. If you want to engrave the number on a homemade thingie, so be it.

 

My theory is that the TB's that are the most plain and ordinary items with no practical use and zero market value are going to be the best TBs. Coins are bad items to release because morons steal them (like ravens to shiney objects).

 

Second, whatever you release needs to be irreversibly modified to attach the TB tag and you should always attach a laminated goal card. I've recently dumped out a bunch of key chain fobs as TBs. The ability to use them as a key chain was removed and the TB tags were permanently attached (you have to break something to get the tag off). Then I engraved the key fob itself with my name and the TB tracking number. The key fobs were about $2 each at a little tourist gift shop. So I'm not going to lose any sleep over the safety of them. They are otherwise pretty worthless items after the modifications, so hopefully no one will find the need to keep them. But if they do, no big deal. The serial number is still mine even if they vanish at some point.

 

When you send out valuable items or functional toys, you're just tempting those of shaky moral character to take them. It's like the old saying, "a padlock is there just to keep honest people honest".

[+BlueDeuce]

1/2, 2/3, 80%........

 

Bugs never die, they can always be re-released.

[+Kryten]

Bugs 80% lost

Coins 100% lost

I work on the basis that all my travellers are lost at the moment of release and then every log received is a bonus. Worst loss was a traveller with 25000 miles on the clock.

[sillywabbit]

I have a question about TB etiquette so instead of creating forum clutter I'm going to ask here, hopefully that's fine.

 

My question is this: If you take a TB or a geocoin are you still required to trade? I know of somebody ( who will remain anon ) who took a TB and made no swap at all. I would have thought you would have to swap? With only 17 caches under my belt I am still a newbie so I don't know. What do you guys think?

[+Bear and Ragged]

I have a question about TB etiquette so instead of creating forum clutter I'm going to ask here, hopefully that's fine.

 

My question is this: If you take a TB or a geocoin are you still required to trade? I know of somebody ( who will remain anon ) who took a TB and made no swap at all. I would have thought you would have to swap? With only 17 caches under my belt I am still a newbie so I don't know. What do you guys think?

Travelers TB's/GC's are not swag/swap items.

 

Don't drop in a traveler and take some swag.

(However, if you want to take a TB and leave some swaps that OK!)

 

It's nice, but not obligatory, to leave a traveler if you take one.

(If you've never found a TB, how can you leave one!)

 

Travelers are to travel. Keep 'em moving!

Help them with their mission if they have one and you can help, but keep them moving!

[+ngrrfan]

My question is this: If you take a TB or a geocoin are you still required to trade? I know of somebody ( who will remain anon ) who took a TB and made no swap at all. I would have thought you would have to swap? With only 17 caches under my belt I am still a newbie so I don't know. What do you guys think?

I grab bugs and coins whenever they interest me. There is no rule or requirement to swap bug/coin drop for pickup.

[sillywabbit]

OK, thanks for the answer :-)

[+The Blorenges]

OK, thanks for the answer :-)

 

P.S. It's also OK to go back to a cache you've already found if you want to pick up a TB or geocoin that you would like to move along. Just log any subsequent visits as a "Note", rather than a "Found It" log.

 

MrsB

[+carolnbarney]

Second, whatever you release needs to be irreversibly modified to attach the TB tag and you should always attach a laminated goal card. I've recently dumped out a bunch of key chain fobs as TBs. The ability to use them as a key chain was removed and the TB tags were permanently attached (you have to break something to get the tag off).

 

That's a thought! I have a large number of fluorescent colored key fobs that I got a number of years back when I was teaching drug abuse classes in elementary schools. Something like orange, lime green, pink, and another color I can't remember. They are plastic and would lend themselves to "engraving" over the printed, written message on them. They stand out enough that a friend used them to make their bags stand out when they went on a cruise.

 

So GS is fine with you buying a TB and using the number on something else??

[+carolnbarney]

1/2, 2/3, 80%........

 

Bugs never die, they can always be re-released.

 

Re-released as in either using the number on something or preferably using the companion/buddy/extra tag even though the original TB is MIA??

[+SSO JOAT]

Yes. You OWN the tracking number. You may do anything you want with it, to include inscribing it on something else or sending out the "copy" tag on something else if the original goes MIA.

 

You can have the number printed on a T-shirt and become a walking TB. You can put letter & number stickers on your car so that your vehicle becomes a mobile TB. Obviously these types of times would be for "discovery" logs only, but the point is that you can do whatever you want.

 

One of my TB numbers is assigned to my dog. So people can "discover" my dog when we meet in the field or show up at an event. I have the TB tag hanging on his dog collar. People get a kick out of it. I just hope I never have that TB go MIA!

 

Just realize that the original tag/item can show up again months to years later. You just never know what will happen. So don't be too quick to re-release a number that hasn't moved in a couple months.

[+Fuchsiamagic]

Over 3 years - TB's 40% lost, Coins 70% lost

 

That must tell you something. My very first geocoin disappeard at the second cache it got to, but another one has been logged 118 times, mostly in Finland. Says a lot for the honesty of the Finnish people!

 

As others have said, forget geocoins and make TB's as valueless as possible!

[+SSO JOAT]

Over 3 years - TB's 40% lost, Coins 70% lost

 

Every TB that I pick up, I usually hold onto for awhile and get it some mileage through a number of caches. Coins especially. Then I always get nervous when leaving these guys in a cache after spending a couple weeks traveling together because there is always a chance that I will be the last honest person that they get to see. It's very irritating when you drop a coin or TB in a cache then watch it not move for a long time and when you get back around and stop by that cache again, the TB/coin is gone with no record of who picked it up. Frustrating to say the least.

[+BlueDeuce]

1/2, 2/3, 80%........

 

Bugs never die, they can always be re-released.

 

Re-released as in either using the number on something or preferably using the companion/buddy/extra tag even though the original TB is MIA??

 

Provided enough time has passed when the bug is MIA or that it is confirmed destroyed (the cache was lost in a flood or fire) you can re-release the bug using the copy tag (or a homemade one). You can change the traveler, name, description, mission/goal, just don't delete the logs of the people who previously assisted your bug.

 

You can certainly re-use it on a vehicle, shirt, walking sticking, etc. but if you are releasing it to travel via caches I highly recommend using the standard 'tag' format. You want to give your bug every chance to stay in circulation so it is best to present in a way familiar to most cachers. If you simply inscribe the number on an object there is a risk that people won't see that it is a travel bug.

 

Use a tag and provide the goal/mission and logging instructions along with the bug. I use a custom made laminated instruction tag along with the dogtag.

 

edited to add that you cannot release more than one traveler at a time using the same tracking number. Should the original resurface you'll need to pull it or the re-released bug out of circulation.

Edited January 28, 2010 by BlueDeuce