People still have my trackables in their inventories for months.

[+kcreek88]

I have multiple trackables out in the world with various missions. 3 of the trackables have stopped moving for a few months or more - one stopped in April, one in June and one in July. They are still in the inventories of the last person who found them so it is not like they are stuck in caches (even though I have one that has stopped in a cache). It's more that they seem to be still with the geocachers. 

What do I do? I would love to see them keep moving. 

 

[+qqnonrev]

We message the cacher after a year of non-movement.  But that is a timeline we feel like watching.  Life happens sometimes, and caching takes a back seat.  We have some we have had for months, but with family health issues we have only been able to find the occasional micro and attend an event or two (which sometimes folks don't pick up trackables).  And we continue to visit them on our travels.  Only one person has contacted us and we made a specific point to ensure that trackable moved on (coincidently enough it hasn't moved from where we dropped it, and could have travelled with us some more). 

 

Once it is let loose into the world, a trackable gains its own life, sometimes it stalls - both with people and in caches.  Just hope it moves again someday.  We have had them start moving again after many years missing.

[+NanCycle]

With the proliferation of micro caches, even if the people who have your trackable are active cachers, it can be a few months before they find caches large enough for a trackable.  Check on the person's activity and if they are active I would wait at least 6 months before sending a very polite message.  I have had trackable that people picked up from their very first find and then were never heard from again.  And everything that qqnonrev is also valid.  

[+Goldenwattle]

20 hours ago, NanCycle said:

With the proliferation of micro caches, even if the people who have your trackable are active cachers, it can be a few months before they find caches large enough for a trackable.

Here is a map with caches small and bigger where I live. Plenty of caches big enough for trackables, even if you need to revisit a cache. And one where you live. There did appear a lot of micros, but it also appears enough to leave a trackable in.

 

    

[+kunarion]

53 minutes ago, Goldenwattle said:

Here is a map with caches small and bigger where I live. Plenty of caches big enough for trackables, even if you need to revisit a cache. And one where you live. There did appear a lot of micros, but it also appears enough to leave a trackable in.

 

I've been frustrated by the popular excuse for keeping a Trackable item forever, "there are no caches big enough".  I absolutely never would grab a Trackable without an idea or two of where I will next place it, and I never hold it "for at least two weeks because Groundspeak tells me to", I often place it the same day.  In any case, I would never leave the Owner hanging, that is so obnoxious!  If one is holding a Trackable for so long that everyone is asking what's going on, and one is now making dumb excuses instead of placing it properly, one is doing this wrong.

 

The cache where a Trackable was found, is big enough, and as a bonus, it's safe enough to find a Trackable inside.  Put it back.   There is truly no excuse for not placing it there.  And "I was so fast on a world-wide Geocaching tour and shall never return to that cache" is also no excuse for not placing the Trackable.  The issue is 110% not that "there are no caches big enough".  Reject that excuse.

[+Goldenwattle]

9 hours ago, kunarion said:

 

I've been frustrated by the popular excuse for keeping a Trackable item forever, "there are no caches big enough".  I absolutely never would grab a Trackable without an idea or two of where I will next place it, and I never hold it "for at least two weeks because Groundspeak tells me to", I often place it the same day.  In any case, I would never leave the Owner hanging, that is so obnoxious!  If one is holding a Trackable for so long that everyone is asking what's going on, and one is now making dumb excuses instead of placing it properly, one is doing this wrong.

 

The cache where a Trackable was found, is big enough, and as a bonus, it's safe enough to find a Trackable inside.  Put it back.   There is truly no excuse for not placing it there.  And "I was so fast on a world-wide Geocaching tour and shall never return to that cache" is also no excuse for not placing the Trackable.  The issue is 110% not that "there are no caches big enough".  Reject that excuse.

I often do keep trackables longer than two weeks, because I often travel. I have a couple of trackables I picked up in Singapore last month for instance. They have had a few local visits here in Canberra, but in about three weeks I will be travelling again; only in Australia this time, but a few thousands kms. I have kept them for that trip. I plan to find somewhere to leave them on that trip. If I don't find somewhere that matches my 'standard' (seemingly safe away from muggles, dry and visited enough) I will put them in my own trackable hotel when I return, but at least they will have had another journey. I supply 'holiday' photographs of their trip too. I have had quite a few messages thanking me for the photographs, and only one negative message from a nark* (Aussi definition: annoying person🙄) after I had had the trackable for a whole four days. "When am I going to release it!" He changed his mind when he found out I put photographs ("Oh that's different"), but too late by then, as I had dumped the trackable in the first cache big enough, whether it met the normal standards (safe enough, dry, etc) or not. The trackable went missing, but I did as he demanded.

This TB I have been trying to remember to take its picture with coffee breaks on caching trips. Planned drop off somewhere between here and Adelaide, with a few more coffee break pictures before that.

https://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=5544552&page=1

 

Edited September 23 by Goldenwattle

[+justintim1999]

Guilty as charged.   I've had a TB I picked up in NY for about 2 months now.   To be honest I completely forgot about it for a while.  When I did realize I had it and planned on dropping it off, something seemed to pop up.   I'm glad you posted this.  It reminds me that these are important to someone and as such should be important to me.   

 

Thanks

[+CCFwasG]

I've been guilty of this but a few comments. I disagree with the people who think "no cache big enough" is not an excuse. I have traveled with TBs to fulfill goals and then not found any place to leave them. (Caches too small, caches too wet, caches with TBs listed but none there, etc.) Where I live there is only one potential cache close that is large enough, but it is basic not premium and the track record for TBs in basic vs premium is DIRE in my experience. My area is partly urban so lots of nanos and MKHs, so unless it's a micro-TB or just a tag, no luck. Areas more urban it's tougher. HOWEVER, if I hold a TB for too long (over a month+) and have not found a spot for it, I will usually message the CO and explain. I might not message a CO if it is obvious they are inactive (which to me means both no website login and the ability to see no finds for a year or more). Active TBOs I definitely communicate with. Opinions will vary, as will experience!