Request detailed info on Travel Bugs plz

[Guest Atilla the Pun]

Ok, I have the basic concept of a Travel Bug down. It is one of a pair of dogtags (the other is a copy) with the Travel Bug logo, the bug number, and the words The Travel Bug on one side, and some text (I assume that explains the basic concept of a Travel Bug) on the other. You buy the "blank" Travel Bug from www.geocaching.com .

 

What I don't understand is where do 'cachers get the instructions the Bug's mission. I have read about laminated cards, but that doesn't seem to be a standard practice. Do they have to look up the Bug number on the GeoCaching Web site?

 

Are GeoCaching.com and GPSCentral.com the only places to get Travel Bugs? Do you have to have the dog tags? Some "toys" have been described as Travel Bugs, what's with that?

 

And any other info you think I've missed.

Thanks,

 

AtP

[Guest zephyr98]

http://shop.Groundspeak.com/ is a web site where you can buy travel bugs. To get info on a particular travel bug's goals go to the web page of the cache where that particular travel bug is temporarily residing in. Click on the black travel bug icon in the Right upper corner and that will take you to a page that gives all info on that particular bug including its goals.

 

Not sure what you mean by travel bug toys. Individuals attach their travel bug (the dog tag with the tracking number on it) to a stuffed animal or other items to make it more interesting-the item the bug is attached to is related in some way to the bug's name or goal, etc.

 

The tracking number on the dog tag is used to enter the bug on the travel bug page and to keep track of it as it moves from Geocache site to Geocache site-it's movements are tracked for anyone interested to check on. So yes the dog tag is required for this particular traveler.

 

Hope this helps-

[Guest clatmandu]

The laminated cards are to give additional information. A lot of people pick up TBs and keep them, not placing them in another cache. The tag is to help try to prevent this.

Do you have to have the TB tags to make a traveler? No. There were travelers before the tags came out. The owner made his own web site to do all the tracking himself. See "Fly Mars Rover" by MtMan, or Markwell has a couple also. These are where the idea of the TB tags came from.

[Guest Markwell]

FTR, my non-Travel-Bug Traveler is Scooby Doo, Where are You?, and has been going strong ever since June 23, 2001.

 

The back of the Travel Bug doesn't point to Geocaching.com, it points specifically to www.Groundspeak.com - the actual text is:

quote:

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I go from place to place, picking up stories along the way. Visit www.Groundspeak.com to learn more about me and add your own!

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On the Groundspeak Page it says:

quote:

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Found a Travel Bug?

If you found a Groundspeak Travel Bug, all you need to do is find the tracking number that was stamped onto the dogtag. Enter it into the field below the bug image to the right and click on the barcode button below it to see the page.

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I guess that should make it pretty clear. I do have a laminated tag on Scooby, but I thought with the explanation on the Travel Bug and the Grounspeak website, it should be crystal clear - and yet, one of my bugs (Wonder Woman) is MIA because someone didn't log it.

 

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Markwell

My GPS Activity Page

Non omnes vagi perditi sunt

[Guest DenaliNW]

Maybe Wonder Woman is in her Invisible Jet . . . and therefore she's not really missing.

[Guest martinp13]

Markwell: you're assuming people read.

 

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> Martin

Magellan 330

Don't have time to program and record your shows while geocaching? Get a TiVo !

[Guest Morseman]

quote:

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Originally posted by Atilla the Pun:

Do you have to have the dog tags? Some "toys" have been described as Travel Bugs, what's with that?

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I think that the answer to the 1st question quoted is 'No'. The dog tags are sold as a solution to some of the problems encountered with 'hitch hikers'. Which leads onto the second question...

 

The 'Toys', from what I can make out, came first. The Travel Bug tag system evolved from a need to try to track the 'Toys' as they travelled about.

 

This is how I understand the Travel Bug idea came about, it may not be true, but it helps me to visualise the process. ;-) First there were caches, then there were toys left in the caches. Then, some people who left a toy asked that other people try to move a certain toy in a particular direction. (I wish I could find the website for Little Steve again!) Some of whom made web sites for their "Hitch Hikers".

 

Then came the good idea of providing a tracking number, and page, for all 'Hitch Hikers', which were then called 'Travel Bugs'.

 

So, you might ask, instead of "Some "toys" have been described as Travel Bugs, what's with that?" rather "Some Travel Bugs have been described as Hitch Hikers, what's with that?" It's just the way people use language.

 

 

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Morseman