Trackables not being move

[+BeazelBabyGirl]

People have logged the cache and don't help move the trackable that's sitting in the cache. Why?

Edited September 15 by BeazelBabyGirl
miss spelling

[+Max and 99]

4 hours ago, BeazelBabyGirl said:

People have logged the cache and don't help move the trackable that's sitting in the cache. Why?

There are so many possible reasons! I might do it if I don't think I will find a cache big enough for trackables in the next 2 weeks. Or I saw the trackable's goal and don't think I can help.  Lots of valid reasons.

Another consideration: is the trackable actually in the geocache or just listed in the geocache? Maybe the people finding the geocache didn't see a trackable in it cuz it was already picked up? It happens.

Edited September 15 by Max and 99

[+qqnonrev]

I find many caches listing trackables that aren't actually there.  Personally, we add a note to the trackable saying that we didn't see it, and hope it is logged properly soon or that we just missed it somehow.

[+TeamRabbitRun]

On 9/15/2024 at 12:09 AM, BeazelBabyGirl said:

People have logged the cache and don't help move the trackable that's sitting in the cache. Why?

 

Many people just aren't into every part of the hobby.

I like seeing and moving TBs, but others just don't, or don't know what they are, or collect them, or take them and hand them off to their kids to play with, or most commonly, use them to fill the spaces between their couch cushions or the spaces under their car seats.

 

Used to read a lot about people KNOWING about trackables, but thinking they were like swag in that in order to take one and log it, they had to HAVE one to put in ots place.

 

[+Viajero Perdido]

I gave up* on trackables.  If I see one in a cache, I won't grab it, though occasionally I mention "noticed the TB" in my log.

• Too many expectations from TB owners.
• Too few containers big enough to hold a TB.
• Groundspeak made it too hard to follow up on a TB you moved; what happened next?  It's hidden beyond infinite pages of took-it-to.  You feel a connection to the TB, but can't see how it turned out.
• Feelings of guilt if you're the last one known to have handled a TB that disappeared.
• There are nuisance TBs, eg extremely big or heavy, that nobody wants.  Sometimes they're dumped upon you.  It's funny the first time.
• Some people sabotage your best efforts.  I took a TB to Korea, very close to its target of Japan.  Next cacher took it to Europe.

 

(* With the odd exception, if there's a personal angle.  I'm not a total ogre.  For example, at a Hong Kong event I was given a TB whose mission was to reunite with its owner who lives in my home city.  It was gratifying to help complete that mission.)

 

Edited September 19 by Viajero Perdido

[+kunarion]

On 9/15/2024 at 12:09 AM, BeazelBabyGirl said:

People have logged the cache and don't help move the trackable that's sitting in the cache. Why?

 

Can you say which Trackable it is?  I wasn't able to identify the one you're asking about.

[+cerberus1]

On 9/15/2024 at 12:09 AM, BeazelBabyGirl said:

People have logged the cache and don't help move the trackable that's sitting in the cache. Why?

Good question.  Probably a ton of answers, but really, who knows?    

I put two Trackables from separate promotions in caches. Both sat almost a year before someone Retrieved it.  I thought they'd be missing...

Here, "gotta catch 'em all" from a familiar game kinda hit this hobby, and some folks just don't "have the time" now to move Trackables along.

I've been ill.  The rare time I can get out, it wouldn't be fair to a TO to hold onto their Trackable, not knowing when it'll get placed in another.

I might Discover it though, JIC it's not in the "correct" cache, or its condition isn't right.  

[+Hynz]

15 hours ago, Viajero Perdido said:

Groundspeak made it too hard to follow up on a TB you moved; what happened next?  It's hidden beyond infinite pages of took-it-to.  You feel a connection to the TB, but can't see how it turned out.

^this 1000x ^this

But I have not (yet) given up on trackables.

[+NanCycle]

A lot of reasons have been given, but IMO the biggest problem is that there are so few caches nowadays that are big enough to hold even a small trackable.  The old idea that it must be placed within 2 weeks just doesn't work anymore; often I go for months without finding any cache larger than a micro.  (Also I don't go caching every weekend.). I still take any trackable that isn't really big, knowing that I may be holding on to it for months.  

[+Goldenwattle]

1 hour ago, NanCycle said:

often I go for months without finding any cache larger than a micro.

I had to look where you live, as here in Canberra I have no problems finding caches big enough to hold trackables. A few days ago I must admit when I went out and found about 20 caches, only one of those was a small; the rest micros, but I wouldn't have left a trackable in any of those, as they are not found enough. However I recently did another row of caches and almost all were small or larger. I have  a TB Hotel which is regular sized. It's the 'attic' of a street library, and as well as room for trackables and a big log, it has room for doll house furniture. It's a popular place for some locals to leave their trackables, and after events, such as a Mega, I have found it full with all the left over trackables, which was a lot of trackables. It's locked which makes it more attractive I guess.

Try caches that are not power trails and maybe a bit more remote. You should be able to do a search for small sized caches before going out, although this is not always accurate, as I found out when trying to place a trackable I had picked up in the UK and which wanted to be put in a particular suburb in Sydney. I did another trip to Sydney and found almost all the so called smalls were LIES😡, being micro mintie tins. So frustrating to have especially travelled to do this. I did eventually find a proper small sized cache to leave it in that suburb.

If you have no caches big enough where you live to leave trackables, place one yourself in a safe place.

[+Viajero Perdido]

At a dinner event just now, I watched the now-familiar game of people pushing a baggie of trackables toward each other.  No, you take them.

 

Groundspeak, see a problem?  You changed at thing or two, and ... the tweaked recipe doesn't taste quite as good as the original.  Yesterday's project.

 

Edited September 20 by Viajero Perdido

[+BeazelBabyGirl]

Thank you everyone thats all food for thought! wow

[+Goldenwattle]

On 9/20/2024 at 11:36 AM, Viajero Perdido said:

At a dinner event just now, I watched the now-familiar game of people pushing a baggie of trackables toward each other.  No, you take them.

 

Groundspeak, see a problem?  You changed at thing or two, and ... the tweaked recipe doesn't taste quite as good as the original.  Yesterday's project.

 

What are you saying? That people no longer like trackables, or there are not enough small sized caches and bigger, or caches are being rated wrongly. I don't get what you mean.

[+Viajero Perdido]

1 hour ago, Goldenwattle said:

What are you saying?

 

Groundspeak added a "Visited" log type, making it easy to combine two steps (drop in a cache, grab back after typing code) into one.

 

Now we have TB kidnappings, where a cacher takes someone else's TB on a grand tour lasting months or more, adding a tiny bit of mileage with every power-trail stop.  And the log you're most interested in - what happened after I dropped it off? - is on page 42 of 108.  But you're unlikely have the patience to find that page, so it's just drop-and-forget, no emotional attachment or sense of commitment.  Like, um, the very shortest of human interactions in the night.

[+Goldenwattle]

23 minutes ago, Viajero Perdido said:

Groundspeak added a "Visited" log type

That has always existed, from when I joined in 2012. So what has changed?

[+Viajero Perdido]

I didn't say it was a recent change.

[+CAVinoGal]

We have a few nearby caches that are TB hotels, or caches at least large enough to hold a few travel bugs, so I can use that cache to revisit and drop off travel bugs that I have carried around and visited to several caches, given the bugs some miles, and then pass them along.  I try not to carry them for too long, though I have kept some for a few months when I know I will be traveling and can get the bug closer to its goal or even fulfill the goal.  In those cases, I will message the owner and ask if it's OK. I've never been turned down; in fact, most are happy to see it alive and well (I like to take pictures of the travels!).

19 hours ago, Viajero Perdido said:

And the log you're most interested in - what happened after I dropped it off?

 

I put the TB's I drop on a watchlist; I do get discovered logs, but NOT all the visits, and when it is retrieved or dropped or grabbed, I get a notification.  Once they've moved a couple of times, they are well beyond my control, and I take them off the watchlist, assured that I have done my part and they have been moving.  If they sit in a cache and it's kinda local to me, I can go get it and try dropping it in a different cache.  Every so often I'll go back to watchlist and see what's there; some haven't moved for years and probably are missing, others get moved pretty quickly.

 

But as others have noted, once the travel bug is "in the wild", it's not in your control any longer - all you can do is watch it.

[+NanCycle]

On 9/21/2024 at 7:00 PM, Goldenwattle said:

That has always existed, from when I joined in 2012. So what has changed?

"Always" and "from 2012" are not the same period of time.

[+Goldenwattle]

11 hours ago, NanCycle said:

"Always" and "from 2012" are not the same period of time.

Okay, reworded. That has always existed from 2012.

 

(That doesn't exclude it existing before that.)    Better?

Edited September 26 by Goldenwattle

[+TeamRabbitRun]

2 hours ago, Goldenwattle said:

Okay, reworded. That has always existed from 2012.

 

(That doesn't exclude it existing before that.)    Better?

 

Think you answered your own question, there.

[+Goldenwattle]

8 hours ago, TeamRabbitRun said:

 

Think you answered your own question, there.

That was the idea.