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Travel Bugs posing as Geocaches


Seth!

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Okay, explain this one. This has appeared on the Washington new geocaches list. But if you take a look at it, you'll see it's essentially a travel bug. I think that this should be archived and reincarnated as a Travel Bug. What do you think? There are six of these "georovers". Are there other travel bugs posing as geocaches? It doesn't make sense to me. What if everyone made their travel bug a "roving geocache"?

 

GeoRover #2

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=11488

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As best as I can tell, it sounds like a travel bug, not an actual geocache. Here's something that sounds similar The Parasite. I haven't quite figured this one out - it seems that its a cache that's supposed to be deposited in other caches. But the coordinates show it as being several miles off the coast of Georgia in open water.

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What you are looking at is called a Hitchhiker. It pre-existed before Travel Bugs were intorduced, and Jeremy is on record saying that TBs and Hitchhikers can co-exist, TBs were not meant to superseed hitchhikers.

 

Hitchhikers are stand-alone items, many with their own cache pages, like the one that prompted this thread.

 

It is indeed an actual cache, as it has its own co-ordinates used to hunt it. If you hunt a hitchhiker, you will almost always discover a cache at the same spot that the hitchhiker is hiding inside of. This of course allows you to log that cache and get a bonus find.

 

You can read more if you like HERE

 

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Yes, I see that these can pre-date Travel Bugs. I just hope that these "hitch hikers" die off before long. The Travel Bugs seem like a much better plan.

 

The good thing about the travel bugs is that once someone picks them up, they show up in their inventory and not in a geocache.

 

The bad thing about these other ones: Looking at the example I gave (georover 2), it is at someone's house in Portland, just hanging out. Yet the coordinates show it in a geocache here in Seattle. AND it is showing up on my nearest geocache page AND is shows as a NEW geocache. That latter two not being true.

 

I'll just hope that there aren't many more out there and that they don't come to my area. icon_wink.gifThank you for clearing this up and I'd be happy to see this thread sink to the bottom.

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Yes, I see that these can pre-date Travel Bugs. I just hope that these "hitch hikers" die off before long. The Travel Bugs seem like a much better plan.

 

The good thing about the travel bugs is that once someone picks them up, they show up in their inventory and not in a geocache.

 

The bad thing about these other ones: Looking at the example I gave (georover 2), it is at someone's house in Portland, just hanging out. Yet the coordinates show it in a geocache here in Seattle. AND it is showing up on my nearest geocache page AND is shows as a NEW geocache. That latter two not being true.

 

I'll just hope that there aren't many more out there and that they don't come to my area. icon_wink.gifThank you for clearing this up and I'd be happy to see this thread sink to the bottom.

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Seth!,

 

If a hitchhiker is in someone's possesion (called being in transit), yet its co-ordiantes do not reflet that, then the hitchhiker's owner is not doing due diligence (IMHO). Having been the owner of a hitchhiker (it was in a cache that got plundered), I took great care in changing the hitchhiker's co-ordinates to a fictitious location anytime the hitchhiker was in transit. That way it didn't show up in serach results.

 

Now, I also own a couple of Travel Bugs. You know what? They OFTEN end up showing up on caches that they are no longer in because the person who retrieved it failed to log the retrival (didn't know how, didn't know they were supposed to). I have often had to e-Mail the cacher asking them to log the retrieval as folks have gone to get the TB just to find it gone already.

 

My point is that hitchhikers are no better or worse than TBs in this issue. Please, don't wish their early demise, those of us that have/had hitchhikers put an imense amount of work into them and get considerable pleasure in them.

 

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Actually, I hope the 'Traveling Caches' do not die and go away. If you look down the list of people who have logged the GeoRover you reference, you will see my GeoNick. I started two of the early 'Traveling Caches' before the Travel Bug was invented. I have two Mars ROVER Traveling Caches that are running around in and out of physical caches. What I like about them is that you can actually get a 'Found It' log for finding my Traveling Cache. People compete and race to find my ROVER in caches when they get into their town. I update mine quickly, and I also indicate whether they are HIDDEN or IN TRANSIT. I thought we were being innovative, personally, and it must have been a good idea since the Travel Bugs came out shortly after so many of these started traveling. I am happy to have created one of the first 'Hitchhikers'.

 

One MAJOR problem with the Travel Bugs to me are the fact that newbies take them and DO NOT log them. Then they show that they are still in the cache when they are not. I have gone after two in seven days and they show that they are in the cache but when I get there they are gone. Here is example 1 and 2. Neither of the Bugs shown are in these caches as of my posting. I am starting four Travel Bugs right now. I am putting them in a ziplok bag and I am including a detailed explanation sheet in each one so that they will not be mistaken as a 'trade item'. I tell newbies and good old seasoned cachers exactly how to log these Travel Bugs. My original Traveling Caches have a luggage tag on them that tell cachers the exact web page and give them instructions on exactly what to do with them. Still, the 'Fly'... ROVER in Canada has just been kept by someone who did not log the cache it was in or my cache page, so what do you do when a looser newbie takes your Bug or Hitchhiker and does not log any of the cache pages.

 

My Traveling Caches:

Fly... Mars ROVER 1 (Hitchhiker, now in Canada)

ATL... Mars ROVER 2 (Hitchhiker, must stay in Atlanta, GA Metro)

Mars ROVER 3 (Travel Bug, just released)

Mars ROVER 4 (Travel Bug, to be released VERY soon)

 

3512_200.jpg

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"...so what do you do when [someone] takes your Bug or Hitchhiker and does not log any of the cache pages."

 

This is my main problem with hitchhikers. If someone fails to log a Travel Bug, then the little icon stays on the cache page. That's annoying. If someone fails to log a hitchhiker OR the owner fails to change the coordinates, then an entire geocache page stays open and unfindable. That's REALLY annoying and misleading. It seems like a Travel Bug accomplishes the same thing with less hassle. As for being able to log a separate find, I don't see that as a plus. (Of course, I'll still log the find if I do find one icon_wink.gif )

 

I appreciate that you folks have taken the time to explain the process and your logic. I'll be looking for a hitchhiker near me...

 

- Seth!

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"...so what do you do when [someone] takes your Bug or Hitchhiker and does not log any of the cache pages."

 

This is my main problem with hitchhikers. If someone fails to log a Travel Bug, then the little icon stays on the cache page. That's annoying. If someone fails to log a hitchhiker OR the owner fails to change the coordinates, then an entire geocache page stays open and unfindable. That's REALLY annoying and misleading. It seems like a Travel Bug accomplishes the same thing with less hassle. As for being able to log a separate find, I don't see that as a plus. (Of course, I'll still log the find if I do find one icon_wink.gif )

 

I appreciate that you folks have taken the time to explain the process and your logic. I'll be looking for a hitchhiker near me...

 

- Seth!

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This thread clears up a bit of mystery surrounding hitchhikers vs. TBs. MarkL32 picked up GeoRover #2 while in WA. After he logged it the owner asked him to hang on to it so he could send a new tag with a better explanation of what to do with it. The confusion stems from the fact that it doesn't have a TB # and it's not immediately obvious that you should go to its waypoint to find a hitchhiker page. Now that that's all cleared up Mark will log the fact that it's sitting here in our office waiting to be placed this weekend. If someone wants to hunt for it at these coordinates, the instructions will be in his log . . .

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Update. GeoRover has received upgrades and is ready to travel! I intended to put in an other cache. Bodoni called my attention to the forums regarding pre travel bug “hitchhiker” technology, so now I am offering it up for the hunt during business hours. Go to the coordinates listed below to find the GeoRover. If you have some optics (binoculars, pocket telescope) you can even spot the GeoRover and the Geocache symbol to confirm your in the right spot. When you can see the symbol and the rover call 503 243-5222 x421 or x423. I’ll deliver it too you personally. If you do not have a cell phone there are pay phones in the area. Your hint is Lawrence. If its not picked up by Friday it will go in a cache this weekend for sure. I may even end up in the world renowned contact cache… So get it now and save it from its extraterrestrial destiny.

 

45°31.210

-122°40.299

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We started a hitchhiker on his way around the world last May. Right now he's waiting in a cache in Hawaii for someone to take him west. You can read about his adventures here.

 

I should add, he does not have a geocaching.com web page, so he shouldn't be irritating anyone.

 

[This message was edited by Ken & Robin on March 14, 2002 at 02:52 PM.]

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I agree with those who would like to see hitchhikers go away. I've got two that show up everytime I do a search from my home coordinates, but they haven't been there in months. I have emailed the owner and gotten no response. I realize that there are problems with travel bugs also, but at least they don't show up as a cache on my search list.

 

[This message was edited by Geo Leo on March 14, 2002 at 10:58 PM.]

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I agree (of course) that the hitchhikers need constant updating. Mine is Scooby Doo, Where are You?® and has been travelling since June 23,2001 (with two minor interruptions). Take a look - it's a pretty good page and keeps updating with each move (usually within 12 hours of a notification being sent to me).

 

Die out? icon_eek.gif I hope not! I plan on keeping it alive as long as I can. I've already replaced the pair after a mishap with the Chicago River and replaced Scooby Doo after someone absconded with him in the southeast.

 

However, if the cache owner doens't maintain his hitchhiker cache, why not do the same thing you would with a cache that is missing and never archived? First step: contact the cache owner, Second Step: contact Jeremy and have him archive it.

 

But don't ruin it for the ones like the Mars Rovers, Stinky and Shaggy and Scooby.

 

As a side note: in keeping with the spirit that Jeremy has said he would never make this game pay-to-play (forgetting the whole Members Only and Charter Memberships), the only way someone could effectively do a hitchhiker without buying a bug is to use the hitchhiker method and keep updating the cache page.

 

Markwell

Non omnes vagi perditi sunt

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I agree (of course) that the hitchhikers need constant updating. Mine is Scooby Doo, Where are You?® and has been travelling since June 23,2001 (with two minor interruptions). Take a look - it's a pretty good page and keeps updating with each move (usually within 12 hours of a notification being sent to me).

 

Die out? icon_eek.gif I hope not! I plan on keeping it alive as long as I can. I've already replaced the pair after a mishap with the Chicago River and replaced Scooby Doo after someone absconded with him in the southeast.

 

However, if the cache owner doens't maintain his hitchhiker cache, why not do the same thing you would with a cache that is missing and never archived? First step: contact the cache owner, Second Step: contact Jeremy and have him archive it.

 

But don't ruin it for the ones like the Mars Rovers, Stinky and Shaggy and Scooby.

 

As a side note: in keeping with the spirit that Jeremy has said he would never make this game pay-to-play (forgetting the whole Members Only and Charter Memberships), the only way someone could effectively do a hitchhiker without buying a bug is to use the hitchhiker method and keep updating the cache page.

 

Markwell

Non omnes vagi perditi sunt

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Dang. Wishing caches would go away... icon_frown.gif

 

markl32, interesting idea to keep the cache moving. I hope someone contacts you. Innovation! You have to love that. I hope you will give us an update later as to whether someone gets it personally or you have to put it in a cache.

 

clatmandu, thanks for moving the ROVER. I am glad you enjoyed the challenge of racing to the cache to get the ROVER. The detailed instructions are in fact on a luggage tag attached to the ROVER and on the Geocaching Cache page. I call them my "RULES".

 

I agree 100 percent with Markwell. If a cache is gone, be it a physical cache or a traveling cache, you do two things... notify the cache owner and if there is no response then notify the contact at geocaching email address. I applaud those that will go as far as to even adopt caches when the person who hid the cache disappears. There are some in Louisiana who are thinking about adopting a cache right now because the cache owner has evaporated. It is a good cache that they think should go on. Should they just let the cache go away? Personally I say no.

 

As far as my Example 1 and 2 above, I have done what Markwell suggested. I have contacted the TB owner in example 1. I heard back from the owner of example 1 today. I have been waiting to contact the owner of example 2 for a few more days to see if the person will log the TB and cache pages. If you want caches that are gone to disappear from your search screen, you have done half the work. Now just send an email to the contact at geocaching people and they will archive the caches in question. I bet that will get the cache creator's attention! If not, then he must really be gone.

 

Boy, one thing I do not want is for any cache to just go away. Be careful what you ask for, you might just get it.

 

3512_200.jpg

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Dang. Wishing caches would go away... icon_frown.gif

 

markl32, interesting idea to keep the cache moving. I hope someone contacts you. Innovation! You have to love that. I hope you will give us an update later as to whether someone gets it personally or you have to put it in a cache.

 

clatmandu, thanks for moving the ROVER. I am glad you enjoyed the challenge of racing to the cache to get the ROVER. The detailed instructions are in fact on a luggage tag attached to the ROVER and on the Geocaching Cache page. I call them my "RULES".

 

I agree 100 percent with Markwell. If a cache is gone, be it a physical cache or a traveling cache, you do two things... notify the cache owner and if there is no response then notify the contact at geocaching email address. I applaud those that will go as far as to even adopt caches when the person who hid the cache disappears. There are some in Louisiana who are thinking about adopting a cache right now because the cache owner has evaporated. It is a good cache that they think should go on. Should they just let the cache go away? Personally I say no.

 

As far as my Example 1 and 2 above, I have done what Markwell suggested. I have contacted the TB owner in example 1. I heard back from the owner of example 1 today. I have been waiting to contact the owner of example 2 for a few more days to see if the person will log the TB and cache pages. If you want caches that are gone to disappear from your search screen, you have done half the work. Now just send an email to the contact at geocaching people and they will archive the caches in question. I bet that will get the cache creator's attention! If not, then he must really be gone.

 

Boy, one thing I do not want is for any cache to just go away. Be careful what you ask for, you might just get it.

 

3512_200.jpg

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I should clarify what I meant by hitchhikers going away. It is the practice of making the hitchhiker its own cache that I see as a problem. I like the idea of hitchhikers and travel bugs, but I prefer the travel bug method for logging them. It makes more sense to me to do it this way because I don't like seeing hitchiker caches showing up in my search lists when they no longer exist at the location indicated, which happens frequently.

 

I don't want to see the travelers go away - I would just like to see them tracked in a better way, which the travel bug method seems to do.

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Travel bugs do track more automatically, if they are logged correctly. I personally prefer my maps to Jeremy's shapefile maps when the area is tight. Take a look at Scooby and Shaggy's Chicago area travels...

3420_5400.jpg

vs. Geoffrey's entire travel map...

gen_travelbugmap.asp?TID=232&Cmd=Image&Left=-181.44&Right=181.44&Top=123.80910168457&Bottom=-130.20689831543&Pos=10

Mind you - Geoffrey has travelled 583 miles and there's still no other landmark on the map.

 

Logging our hitchhikers is more intuitive, too. My accompanying card gives the cache website (so does my TB's cards). Go to Scooby's site and Log it just like you would any other cache. I take care of the rest.

 

There has been only one time I had someone confused as to the nature of my hitchhiker, in that they went out looking for Scooby and Shaggy and found the APE cache they were in. That seemed to confuse them a little, so they didn't take Shaggy and Scooby and didn't know how to log it. That was one time in 25 legs of the journey and 2876 miles.

 

I've thought about converting Shaggy and Scooby to a Travel Bug, and even seeing if Jeremy would convert the entire history and photos of Scooby and Shaggy to reflect the entire history. However, until I see that the TBs are going to be more intuitive to log and we get less and less complaints about lost bugs, I think I'll keep them like they are.

 

Markwell

Non omnes vagi perditi sunt

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