Visiting Etiquette

[+AussieCacheHunter]

A question on etiquette for trackable visiting.

 

Say you have some Travel Bugs (or coins) in your pocket and find some caches.

Should you physically take them out of your pocket, put them in the cache, let go of them, pick them out of the cache again, and return them to your pocket to mark them "visited", or is it ok to just leave them in your pocket the whole time and still mark them visited (assuming you find the cache and sign the log)?

 

Does this also apply for micros/nanos etc where there is clearly no room to place a TB?

Edited June 25, 2012 by AussieCacheHunter

[+The Blorenges]

If the trackable is physically with us when we find a cache then I believe it qualifies for a Visit log. I don't physically put it in/take it out of the cache.

 

And I don't "mass Visit" all trackables in our possession to all caches we find - I try to do it selectively.

 

MrsB

Edited June 25, 2012 by The Blorenges

[+kunarion]

Should you physically take them out of your pocket, put them in the cache, let go of them, pick them out of the cache again, and return them to your pocket to mark them "visited", or is it ok to just leave them in your pocket the whole time and still mark them visited (assuming you find the cache and sign the log)?

Many Trackables have specific missions, for photos, etc. Regardless, I take pictures of Trackables at various cool places, as part of (I hope) interesting logs for the cache Visits. If they never leave my pocket, I can't take their pictures.

[+AussieCacheHunter]

Thanks.

[+6 Land Pirates]

And I don't "mass Visit" all trackables in our possession to all caches we find - I try to do it selectively.

 

Why not mass visit? I'm still new and love TBs. I'm holding on to some TBs a bit longer than I'm completely comfortable with in order to get them moving hundreds of miles on some trips that are finally almost here. I like to log them all everywhere I go.

1. Let's them know they're not lost.

2. I often add pix especially since I have kids and I'm trying to teach them stuff through the TBs we've sent out.

3. Thought they'd like to have more miles added.

 

So I'll go ahead ask a related question. Did I make the wrong decisions to hold to (for example) a TB for over a month, knowing it would be moved 800 miles closer to its goal? Many go that much time or way longer with no activity at all.

[+BlueDeuce]

Provided the trackable actually made the journey to the cache location there's no need to rattle it around the inside of the container. If you forgot it back in the car then the bug didn't actually make it to the cache.

 

My personal TB is my shadow so it fits into most any cache size, day or night.

[+Harry Dolphin]

And I don't "mass Visit" all trackables in our possession to all caches we find - I try to do it selectively.

 

Why not mass visit? I'm still new and love TBs. I'm holding on to some TBs a bit longer than I'm completely comfortable with in order to get them moving hundreds of miles on some trips that are finally almost here. I like to log them all everywhere I go.

1. Let's them know they're not lost.

2. I often add pix especially since I have kids and I'm trying to teach them stuff through the TBs we've sent out.

3. Thought they'd like to have more miles added.

 

So I'll go ahead ask a related question. Did I make the wrong decisions to hold to (for example) a TB for over a month, knowing it would be moved 800 miles closer to its goal? Many go that much time or way longer with no activity at all.

 

Because it's incredibly annoying to check the TBS that visited a cache, and find that cacher K has logged 42 trackables as having visited the cache that day, and the other sixteen cache that he found that day. SErves no useful porpoise. Just clogs up the page.

If you're trying to show the tb owner that it is still moving, one visit every two weeks will show that.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

<snip>

So I'll go ahead ask a related question. Did I make the wrong decisions to hold to (for example) a TB for over a month, knowing it would be moved 800 miles closer to its goal? Many go that much time or way longer with no activity at all.

In this instance, letting the TO know or actually asking if it is OK -- knowing that you are going to do that trip -- is the proper thing to do.

We have never had anyone say "NO"!

[+Walts Hunting]

I travel a lot and am always picking up bugs for the trip. My last trip was 14,000 miles and several bugs made the trip with me. I only log one visit per location i.e. Dallas so as not to clog up their pages. I consider it a visit if they are in my possession (not necessarily on my body) when I do the cache. I have always thought that when a visit or drop is registered the log from the cache should be automatically posted to the bug but that doesn't seem to be on the horizon.

[+Candcteam]

Bear with me here, but what's with the idea of "clogging up the page"? As opposed to what? Is there more glory in having a screen with three logs as opposed to thirty? Is this more aesthetically pleasing?

 

I'm truly seeking to understand. I thought the point of Travel Bugs is to travel. It has never occurred to me not to log a bug visit because because I might clog up the log page.

[+Walts Hunting]

It isn't glory but if you want to see your bugs travel having pages of visits 528 feet apart doesn't do it. One in each city gets the mileage and you can see where it had been. Sort of like that annoying friend we all have who checks in everywhere (gas stations, Starbucks, home work, going potty, etc) on Facebook . Save the check in for something people really want to see.

[+6 Land Pirates]

I guess it's really helpful for the TO to specify there feelings on log activity on its page. We just sent out 6 and I'm hoping for A LOT of logs. I show the kids where it's been on the map. If there are no pix included, I'll look for pix on the cache page. They can learn so much. The little ones don't necessarily stick around for all it, but it's even fun for me. Activity was the point of sending them out. And since half of mine have so far gone MIA, I'm hoping the others might pick up the slack. We go out of our way to fill the requests of a TO.

[Pup Patrol]

I guess it's really helpful for the TO to specify there feelings on log activity on its page.

 

Been there, done that, made no difference.

 

It's very annoying to have someone hang onto your trackable for MONTHS, logging page after page after page after page of nothing but "visited". Especially when those "visits" just go back and forth over and over again in the same province, and completely ignore the clearly stated mission on the trackable page and in the note included with the trackable.

 

I'm not sure why this phenomen seems to be gaining in popularity. It deprives other cachers from getting a chance to move the trackable. It deprives the trackable owner from reading any enjoyable logs, or seeing any interesting photos.

 

It's a bizarre thing to do. I'm guessing the person who posts endless amounts of these "visited" logs gets something out of doing it, but for the life of me, I can't figure out what.

 

 

B.

[+BlackRose67]

I usually keep TBs for two weeks, only carry 2 to 4 at a time, pick TBs that want to visit many caches, and log a visit for each cache I log a find for (if the TBs are with me).

 

I've handled other TBs where I moved them quickly and dropped them off, only to have them languish in a cache because no one else will pick it up.

[+Walts Hunting]

When I take them on long trips I email the owner and tell then I will drop them of at any time they want. Never had our happen and my last trip was five months. But remember I only do one visit per location.

[+blackhorse221]

I have a similar question, related to the OP. We have a trackable patch on our family Geocaching bag. We log it as visited any time we find a cache as a family. (I don't log it if I go solo). The goal is to track our GC mileage as a family? Is this appropriate, or too spammy?

[+BlueDeuce]

I have a similar question, related to the OP. We have a trackable patch on our family Geocaching bag. We log it as visited any time we find a cache as a family. (I don't log it if I go solo). The goal is to track our GC mileage as a family? Is this appropriate, or too spammy?

 

I log my personal TB through every cache I visit. If it's your bug you can do as you wish. The only person who might complain is someone who decided to watch it. Not your problem.

 

I've had people watch my personal tb but considering I only log "." (That's a period symbol) every time I retrieve it, they get bored of the emails. (Fine by me)

[+dprovan]

I have a similar question, related to the OP. We have a trackable patch on our family Geocaching bag. We log it as visited any time we find a cache as a family. (I don't log it if I go solo). The goal is to track our GC mileage as a family? Is this appropriate, or too spammy?

First of all, of course lots of people do this, so it's hard to object. The issues we've been discussing here are complaints an owner might have, so since you're the owner, those aren't a factor.

 

On the other hand, I have found this a little annoying because it clogs up the past trackable lists on all the caches. Sometimes I look at the past trackables list because I'm trying to determine what TBs were in a cache when, but this is useless on a popular cache because there are so many mileage TBs dipped. From the past trackables list, it's impossible to distinguish TBs that were actually in the cache from TBs that just passed by. (Admittedly not quite as bad as it sounds: you can spot mileage TBs because they're normally in the owner's hands.)