Jump to content

Travel bug map question


Pat in Louisiana

Recommended Posts

a note from far off the beaten track in montana. i picked up a travel bug that had been sitting in a cache under a major interstate overpass for three months. i emailed the owner and logged the find the same day i picked it up, this bug is traveling to ground zero. i told the owner i would have it for a month as my schedule did not have me going east till then. i figured if this bug was sitting for so long in its past location i could do it more good by grabbing it and passing it along as soon as i could, the other caches in this area are more off the beaten track and there seems to be few cachers in the area. i guess what i want to know is what i did okay? looking back i could have left it till closer to the time of my travels east. rjr13

Link to comment

I think what you did was fine - especially since you contacted the owner with your intentions. As the owner of several bugs, I think I can safely say bug owners would much rather have the bug picked up and moved a month later by a responsible cacher like you than to have it...

 

A) picked up by a cacher that never logs on the Geocaching site,

 

:rolleyes: picked up by a cacher that logs on the Geocaching site but didn't log the bug,

 

C) picked up by a cacher that logs on the Geocaching site but won't answer their e-mails.

 

D) picked up by a cacher that holds on to the bug for over 100 days and still promised to release the bug "soon" (yes, I have one like this - although it's a really good excuse, so I'm only mildly frustrated).

 

Markwell

My Geocaching Page

Link to comment

I don't know of any bug owners who would object to what you did. You told him your plans, if he had a problem with them, all he would have to do is email you. You both have communication with each other which is the main thing. If your plans change, all you need do is send another email and ask what he would like you to do. Much better than sitting in a cache wondering when it's going to move, he knows when it will.

Link to comment

I also agree that taking a bug out of service for a while is not a problem as long as you let the owner know. Also, taking a bug out of circulation should only be done to further it's goal or do something else cool. I took the Darth Vader TB out of service to fly along with me on combat missions over Afghanistan. I received support from the owner of this TB for this move. I also posted several pics on the bugs webpage even though this was not the TB's mission

 

http://www.geocaching.com/track/track_detail.asp?ID=6139

Link to comment

I've had both of my travel bugs out of commission for a month. Both times I politely e-mailed the cacher and asked basically- What's up with my bug? One of them was training for a triatholon and hadn't had time to cache. The other was planning on hanging on to it until summer time when they have a long distance trip planned. All that is fine, but it would have been great if they'd have e-mailed me to let me know what was up. They're certainly not under any obligation to do so but for a "worry wart" (as my mother would say) like me, it would have spared me some nail biting time.

So, I applaud you for taking the time to let the TB's owner know what was going on. Good job

 

"Always acknowledge a fault. This will throw those in authority off their guard and give you an opportunity to commit more." ~Mark Twain

Link to comment

You won't see the state lines. Jeremy indicated early on that these maps were "extremely crude" shapefiles just for getting an idea of the direction of travel and any countries that might have been crossed.

 

Here's the thread where Jeremy introduced the maps and explained them a little better. It was on his November 20, 2001 04:14 PM post, quoted here:

 

quote:
To answer the other question, a bug has to travel more than 30 miles before it gets a map. It's just an arbitrary number. If you use one of those links above and change the id to another bug, it'll map it even if it is under 30 miles.

 

I'll give a short explanation of the mapping system on the site...

 

I use shapefiles to do mapping. They're basically vector images, which means they draw from mathematical data. So each map is drawn from scratch, then the points are drawn in for each cache location.

 

Because travel bugs travel worldwide, I have to use a world map, so I use one that is very basic. That way it can draw quickly. I do, however, have state maps, country maps, and in some cases street maps, but I don't have a database of each map and what lat/lon areas that they cover.

 

What the page does is grab all of the logged locations, and get their coordinates. Then it takes the hi and low lat and long and ads (or subtracts) 2 degrees to determine the size of the map square. Then I zoom in on the map in the area and draw it for you folks to see.

 

So, for it to be more detailed, I need to either a) find out all the sizes of the maps I do have and display them in a database so I can pick the right one for each bug or :rolleyes: purchase a $20k system and hire GIS developers to give it some cool effects. Though eventually I will go towards :P I figured a general idea of which direction they go (and in some cases, which continents) that it will work for now. Worst case you can just click on the caches to see where they are.

 

Jeremy


 

Geoffrey's map shows that he's travelled 791.26 miles, but there's no definition to the maps. It would be nice if they could all be like Scoob and Shag's Travel Map, but that's pretty time intensive and virtually impossible given the hoard of Travel Bugs out there.

 

Markwell

My Geocaching Page

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...