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Hoarding Travel Bugs


brodiebunch

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I am reasonably new to geocaching, active since October 2003. In my area (Seattle, WA, USA) I have noticed that a fellow cacher seems to collect Travel Bugs from the various caches but they never find their way back out to another cache. I have checked the TB section of the website, and this person seem to have about 40 or so in their possession. Is that common? I know there doesnt seem to be any set rules regarding this, but what's the point to hoarding them?

 

Has anyone else noticed this in my area. Or in their own area? Any comments?

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Does he have plans to make some sort of hotel??? How long has he been holding them? Personally as a TB owner I would give him a piece of my mind but then again there's no gauruntee I'd ever see my TB again... Its not the norm. But hey maybe he's got something planned, e-mail him and see whats up.

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Hey Team Geo Rangers you guys are perfectly fine. Its really not how many TBs you have more or less its how long you keep them. A TB wants to move so thats really the only rule to follow. Then there are TB goals in which some cachers have them, some don't, some are serious about them, and some aren't. If you plan on keeping the TBs for 3 weeks or more I'd write a quick e-mail to the owner telling them of your plans just so they know. Its not required but its always a nice thing to do. :(

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I am reasonably new to geocaching, active since October 2003. In my area (Seattle, WA, USA) I have noticed that a fellow cacher seems to collect Travel Bugs from the various caches but they never find their way back out to another cache. I have checked the TB section of the website, and this person seem to have about 40 or so in their possession. Is that common? I know there doesnt seem to be any set rules regarding this, but what's the point to hoarding them?

 

Has anyone else noticed this in my area. Or in their own area? Any comments?

I think I know who you are talking about. He has held some of the TB's for several months.

 

I spoke with him in person about it yesterday and politly told him that several people are quite concerned about his travel bug collection. It seems he was planning some grand travel bug hotel but has somewhat given up on the idea.

 

The good news is that he released several bugs yesterday at the Olympia cache machine, including two of mine.

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The answer to the question is NO it is not common for people to hold that many for so long. I had five in my possession for a month or two and I felt completely guilty about it. If for some reason I am having a hard time getting out - then I will stop by one of my hides and drop them off. One of my caches is located where my wife works. If I go and pick her up I will usually take a bug or two with me and drop it off while waiting for her to leave her office.

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I have had the experience of holding a bug a little too long. I did know they would be held about three weeks and either posted a note or emailed the owner. I felt the owner would be happy to know the bug was not lost or forgotten. I did let them know they would be in for a long trip, but not how long or where. It left just a little intrigue left to ponder. I did push them to their goals, though. Lately, I have just been picking them up in a cache and moving them a couple miles and dropping them the same day. I also keep in mind traffic to a cache so they will be picked up quickly. I would rather see a TB moved 6-10 times in a month a short distance than have them sit. That way several cachers have the option to enjoy the bug.

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Does he have plans to make some sort of hotel??? How long has he been holding them? Personally as a TB owner I would give him a piece of my mind but then again there's no gauruntee I'd ever see my TB again... Its not the norm. But hey maybe he's got something planned, e-mail him and see whats up.

Yea mabey hes is going some where far away and is gunna put them all in a hotel there or cache. Who knows.

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Has anyone else noticed this in my area. Or in their own area? Any comments?

I am reading this with great interest as my TB Micro-Moose Norvegicus (http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?ID=40618) has gone missing in the Seattle area. Last seen in a cache called Malcontent's beach. It has not been logged, though. If anyone has seen it I'd be happy to hear about it.

Kind regards

Morten, Oslo, Norway

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Yea mabey :rolleyes:

I dont have a problem with you Why do you have one with me?

What? I was just agreeing. Sheesh, lighten up...........

Is that why you sent me th Pm saying im annoying oh i get it.

 

Cant tell people on the forums what you really think about people but can tell me personally.

 

Opps your secret might be out now

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I think I know who you are talking about. He has held some of the TB's for several months.

 

I spoke with him in person about it yesterday and politly told him that several people are quite concerned about his travel bug collection. It seems he was planning some grand travel bug hotel but has somewhat given up on the idea.

 

The good news is that he released several bugs yesterday at the Olympia cache machine, including two of mine.

I guess someone missed this post.

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I am guilty of holding onto TBs for longer than I should. I was living in Georgia and was planing on a hotel. I lost my job and had to quickly relocate to Tennessee. My Geo-bag got lost in the move along with a dozen or so TBs. After awhile I forgot about them until a TB owner contacted me about theirs. We eventually found the bag and tried to for a location to release them. Apparently everyone in East Tenn loves Micros. I hated having them for as long as I did and am truely sorry. I have since found them homes.

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I am fairly new to geocaching and was given my first travel bug by my kids. I attached a nice little ornament to it and placed it in a cache to launch it on its way. It was picked up the next day. It has been a month now and my TB has been taken by the person who picked it up to 62 locations (where he logs it as visiting). He has 57 TBs in his possession and this seems to be his MO to take them all with him and log a bunch of them every few days. He doesn't ever leave them anywhere though. I have sent him a personal message asking him to drop my TB somewhere and let it continue on its journey. Hoping he will honor my request and let my TB move on! Any other thoughts on this kind of hoarding?

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Any other thoughts on this kind of hoarding?

Did you specify that you don't want your TB taken and carried around? Communication is essential. Groundspeak should prominently place text that the taker is responsible for making his intentions clear, we must not be requiring the owner to beg for some word on what's going on. It's popular to just grab a TB and not do appropriate logs, and Geocachers should speak up that this practice is unacceptable. No excuses. Unless the TO states otherwise, the lists of robotic "Visit" logs are not appropriate. Take it to a couple of nice caches, post photos (with no TB Tracking numbers in view, of course), then place it in a cache. Not "two weeks later", do it now.

 

On my TB pages, I have an ever-growing list of etiquette ideas for takers who don't seem to understand what the phrase "Don't Keep Me" inscribed on the TB dogtag means. Prepare for tons of rationalizations and even threats from alleged "Geocachers" if you suggest it be placed in a cache now, or even returned to its cache (a cache which is "big enough to hold a TB", go figure).

 

Something like this might be good on the TB page and on the info sheet with the tag:

"The unending automatic “visit” logs with no photos, no personalized text, make it seem like there's a problem. Please physically place my TB into a container and log that you did so."

 

But suppose your TB gets placed. The next taker may pocket it and carry it around some more. And this time may not log anything.

 

For the few TBs that have not been stolen, I just watch them go, or not go. Then I just thank the robot for the Visits, if he ever gets around to placing it. I don't expect etiquette, since plenty of Geocachers wouldn't know etiquette if it jumped up and bit them.

Edited by kunarion
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I am fairly new to geocaching and was given my first travel bug by my kids. I attached a nice little ornament to it and placed it in a cache to launch it on its way. It was picked up the next day. It has been a month now and my TB has been taken by the person who picked it up to 62 locations (where he logs it as visiting). He has 57 TBs in his possession and this seems to be his MO...

As kunarion asked, I think it's a good idea to state your preference on how the TB is to travel (in bold) on the TB page.

Unfortunately, "visited" (took it to) logging has become very popular.

I think it rare that someone's actually lugging a pack filled with kids toys and novelties cache-to-cache.

Without pictures included, I believe trackable owners have a false hope of, " at least it's not missing..." by these logs.

Edited by cerberus1
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Without pictures included, I believe trackable owners have a false hope of, " at least it's not missing..." by these logs.

That's one way that a TO may deal with non-standard TB handling:

Just watch and wait, let it fly in the wind as it goes. Maybe an occasional face-palm is in order. :rolleyes:

 

Any TB may return to the game with a real log someday. It's rare, but cool when it happens. The taker may be, who knows, a little... unbalanced. But one of his relatives or friends may notice some hoard of TB's, other people's property, and make things right. People who take and keep property that is obviously trackable to the owners are crying for help. Too bad they think Geocaching is a way to get that help.

Edited by kunarion
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I am fairly new to geocaching and was given my first travel bug by my kids. I attached a nice little ornament to it and placed it in a cache to launch it on its way. It was picked up the next day. It has been a month now and my TB has been taken by the person who picked it up to 62 locations (where he logs it as visiting). He has 57 TBs in his possession and this seems to be his MO...

As kunarion asked, I think it's a good idea to state your preference on how the TB is to travel (in bold) on the TB page.

Unfortunately, "visited" (took it to) logging has become very popular.

I think it rare that someone's actually lugging a pack filled with kids toys and novelties cache-to-cache.

Without pictures included, I believe trackable owners have a false hope of, " at least it's not missing..." by these logs.

So have I been playing the game wrong by taking trackables and visiting a few caches with them? I try to keep the goals in mind and write more on some of the visited logs than just "Visited."
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So have I been playing the game wrong by taking trackables and visiting a few caches with them? I try to keep the goals in mind and write more on some of the visited logs than just "Visited."

I hardly ever see a complaint that someone is making decent logs. :anicute:

 

The typical issue is someone takes a TB and then falls out of the universe with it. There are either no further logs, or there are logs “X Took It To Y”, endless pages and pages, with no evidence that the cacher even has the TB anymore (a button click not at all evidence the TB is in hand). In those cases, the TB is not available in a cache where others could confirm a sighting, and it makes the TO wonder if it will ever return to circulation. As for how long is too long to carry it around, imagine if it was your TB they're keeping, how long you'd appreciate them hanging onto it like that, making you wonder what their deal is. From that number, subtract a week or two, and that's how long to keep a TB.

 

If you're [excuse here] not placing the TB and logging that you did so, consider [no excuses] placing the TB and logging that you did so ;). But if you're at least communicating what you're doing, and especially if the TB page says to keep and carry the TB around with you, it's not a problem.

Edited by kunarion
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So have I been playing the game wrong by taking trackables and visiting a few caches with them? I try to keep the goals in mind and write more on some of the visited logs than just "Visited."

 

No, you're fine. The key words here are "a few"; the problem is with cachers who collect a lot of trackables and/or visit a lot of caches with them.

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