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The Official Travel Bug Obituary....


Go JayBee

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Well, I may as well join the mourners...

I own 43ish tracakables (some unactivated some activated)but about 9 are missing or being held by a no-longer-caching-cacher.

1) My very first travel bug (link)got stolen from a travel bug hotel along with 7 other unfortunate bugs. :angry: (at least for this one the owner eased my pain by archiving the cache since the same person had been stealing for awhile.

2) One of my first geocoins (link) went down in Deadwood, SD. I think I know who took it but they seam to have given up caching as well as giving up answering their geocaching related emails. :blink:

3) My Norwegian Geocoin (link), after reaching Norway, got stolen from a cache in an old church!

4) My giraffe travel bug (http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=2455957) got taken from a travel bug hotel in Hawaii.

5) My British Bobby geocoin (link) had been held onto by the same geocacher for almost a year and he had apparently fallen off of the planet but eventually dropped it in a cache. :grin:

6) My worts disapearance was of a geocoinfest 2010 cachekinz of mine (http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=3036550). I release it at the event and it quickly went to the world's oldest cache (GC30). It then preceded to travel more before going to the Groundspeak headquarters. I was really happy that it went to both of these unique caches but then it got stollen from HQ!!!! :angry: :angry: :angry:

(I have other trackables missing too but they went down less dramatically)

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How about shortest distance before going MIA? A whopping 11 miles for one of my geocoins! Probably more vulnerable to being 'souvenired' than a regular TB.

 

How about 0 miles? I've had several (both GCs and regular TBs) go missing from their first caches. Starting to wonder why I bother now with the number that have vanished off the face of the earth

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It appears that "Sew Glam One" is also deceased.

 

Dear TBN2CK was created by Older Girl Troop 513 as the last requirement for their "Sew Glam" and "High Tech Hide & Seek" Interest Project Awards back in January 2007. Each girl signed a small piece of fabric, we put the scraps on a key ring, and attached the dog tag. It was dropped in a cache in Griffith Park, California appropriately named "Can I Have S'More?" and started journeying shortly thereafter.

 

We'd check on the travels of our little bug about once a month. Even though the members of the troop are not static, with girls moving in and moving on, everyone was amazed at the places dear TBN2CK had been.

 

Alas, right around January 2011, the cache in which Sew Glam One was residing was apparently muggled and quite a few travel bugs went missing.

 

The girls are very philosophical about the whole thing - circle of life and all that, and amazed at the longevity, and impressed by the travels; but there's a certain amount of sadness that Something That Was is no longer.

 

But, we have yet another collection of Older Girls, ready to be introduced to geocaching and travel bugs, so we'll start another traveler sometime soon.

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This whole topic is starting to make the BlackCats think that owning a TB is not very successful... How often would you say this happens, if clear instructions are attached to the bug?

 

It's a gamble, like sticking $5 into a slot machine - sooner or later you're going to lose it.

 

Whether it lasts for 10 miles, 100 miles or 10,000 miles is mostly down to luck and whether your TB lands up in the hands of cachers who know what they are and how to log them, or ends up in the bottom of the bag of someone who was taken out caching by a friend, was given a TB to log... but then loses interest and forgets all about it.

 

Yes, attaching some instructions will shift the odds a bit more in favor of extended life. Those who release TBs accept the odds and believe the potential interest and entertainment value outweighs the other risks.

 

It's still a gamble.

 

Are you going to play? ;)

 

MrsB

 

7_15_4.gif

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It just seems like there has been a rash of TBs and coins that just go missing in the area and I was wondering why this would happen and if there was any thing that could be done.

 

Sorry for the late log on this topic, but I was perusing the obituary to see if this topic had been discussed.

 

This is a real problem in the Seattle area. I've launched 51 bugs and/or coins over the past two years and 17 of them are now listed as unknown location and a few others may very well be missing. Of the 17 that are missing, well over half of them disappeared from caches in Seattle before they had a chance to leave the area.

 

Many of the cachers I know in Seattle are no longer putting out trackables locally because there doesn't seem to be much point -- they last a cache or two and then are getting collected.

 

I'm from the uk and placed a coin in Vegas on holiday, it's now in Seattle! Ahhhhhhhhh!

Someone do me a favour and get it outta there!!!

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Gosh. This is really sad! I'm a newbie, who has yet to reach my 100th find. Here I've been telling everyone what great people geocachers are. My first TB (Jerry) has logged a whopping 299 miles so far in the six weeks he's been out there looking for lizards, and I'm quite thrilled with that. Nautuernut's Felix has logged has traveled 3,314 in roughly twice that time! I guess we've been really lucky. We'll have to take precautions with the next ones we send out.

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Gosh. This is really sad! I'm a newbie, who has yet to reach my 100th find. Here I've been telling everyone what great people geocachers are. My first TB (Jerry) has logged a whopping 299 miles so far in the six weeks he's been out there looking for lizards, and I'm quite thrilled with that. Nautuernut's Felix has logged has traveled 3,314 in roughly twice that time! I guess we've been really lucky. We'll have to take precautions with the next ones we send out.

Abwon-- Our first was picked up tha day after we left it, travelled about a thousand miles, then spent six months sitting in someone's backpack. Then its journey was resumed and ccntinues almost 2 years later. The several other travel bugs we've released have gone in fits and starts. The more chances you take, the more adventures you get, and yes ... the more you risk a disappointment. It hurts less if you have several out there going new places.

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TheBlackCatKnowsAll, on 24 July 2011 - 09:31 AM, said:

 

This whole topic is starting to make the BlackCats think that owning a TB is not very successful... How often would you say this happens, if clear instructions are attached to the bug?

 

 

It's a gamble, like sticking $5 into a slot machine - sooner or later you're going to lose it.

 

Whether it lasts for 10 miles, 100 miles or 10,000 miles is mostly down to luck and whether your TB lands up in the hands of cachers who know what they are and how to log them, or ends up in the bottom of the bag of someone who was taken out caching by a friend, was given a TB to log... but then loses interest and forgets all about it.

 

Yes, attaching some instructions will shift the odds a bit more in favor of extended life. Those who release TBs accept the odds and believe the potential interest and entertainment value outweighs the other risks.

 

It's still a gamble.

 

Are you going to play?

 

MrsB

 

Thanks for that, MrsB, we have just ordered some travel bugs, so hopefully, they'll arrive soon and join the fun!

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I just found a travel bug in a cache which had been missing for 3 years. It wasn't logged in the cache and I grabbed it while I was up there. I logged it without looking at the dates and such and the owner noted it had been gone 3 years so I went back to look. I'm kind of excited to get it moving again.

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I've had two bugs that bit the dust. One traveled, made it's way back to the area, and I noticed that it had changed. It was named Round Metal Ring Thing (it was a round metal ring from hardware store). Apparantly the chain came off, and the tag was lost. Someone ressurected it (don't know how without the tag), and taped the tracking number onto a metal cap. I went to the cache it was in and retrieved it. Yes, it was mine, but with a transmogrification. Well, I set it free again. And the cache I let it loose in, got plowed over with a backhoe! Oh, the horrors! That cache site has been muggled and plowed more than once. I bought a new ring, attached it to the copy tag with a split key ring, and hauled it around a bit with me before letting it loose again. And then, someone took it to Geowoodstock this year! Yeah!

I don't know what happened to the other bug, which just happened to be related to the round one. This one was Flat Metal Ring Thing. And yes, bought at the same store. Got another flat ring, attached the copy tag with a split ring, and away we went.

Both are still moving, thankfully.

I spent a year, thinking on what I wanted to release, and have since let loose things that I hope don't turn a fancy to others (especially the little ones). One of my first bugs, HighTechHighTouch Flyer, is debatable on whether it is still alive. We do worry about our beloved travelers, though, don't we?

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I need some help moving a travel bug along. I left it in a remote area in North Carolina that evidently isn't frequently traveled. So, my little (yes, he is CUTE!!!!!) bear has a journey that needs to begin and time is tickin' away. I have emailed the cache owner and haven't received a response. Is this an appropriate place to put a plea for someone to check on him? Yes, I've read the other blogs and not to get attached to him, blah, blah, blah. But, it's already a done deal. ;) Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

nvhappycamper

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I need some help moving a travel bug along. I left it in a remote area in North Carolina that evidently isn't frequently traveled. So, my little (yes, he is CUTE!!!!!) bear has a journey that needs to begin and time is tickin' away. I have emailed the cache owner and haven't received a response. Is this an appropriate place to put a plea for someone to check on him? Yes, I've read the other blogs and not to get attached to him, blah, blah, blah. But, it's already a done deal. ;) Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

nvhappycamper

 

The website tb-rescue.com might help you out, you can log that you lost it and nearby cachers will try to help you out. Make sure to check for travel bugs that you can help out too!

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Well, after more than a year missing, I guess it's time to admit the sad fact that the family that picked up my wee sheep, Peaty, has tossed him in the toybox to be smashed in with the McDonald's Happy Meal toys and broken Matchbox cards. Repeated emails have been ignored. He's been out since January 2006, and has logged over 17,000 miles. His flockmate Boggy has won the race by default, although he hasn't made it to Ireland, either. He's in the UK, and has been for nearly 5 years, but hasn't made it to the Emerald Isle. So, so close.

 

Guess I'll have to find a new excuse to return to Ireland.

 

Raise a pint to Peatey if you will~

 

Little Bo O'Peep

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I'm impressed...

 

My trackable was picked up by a newbie. I wrote him in his mother tongue to explain how to log it out of the cache. After a month, he did it.

 

After two more months, I asked as kindly as I could, if he had been able to drop the trackable - perhaps in any of the regular sized geocaches he had recently logged.

 

After another month or so, he writes that he has dropped the trackable. No log. I write him to explain how to log the trackable drop correctly. He logs the trackable as dropped off - dated the day after he picked it up (3 months earlier than reality).

 

The next geocachers that find the geocache, write to me that my trackable is not in the container.

 

I write to the geocacher who had my trackable, to ask if he is sure about which cache he dropped my trackable in. The geocacher replies that he is very sure, but he is not surprised that the trackable is missing, as the geocache was devastated.

 

The cache in question is a multi cache, with lots of favourite points, and no "needs maintenance" logs.

 

What do you think, was my trackable dropped in a trash bin mistaken for a geocache, or something like that? :mad:

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I'm impressed...

 

My trackable was picked up by a newbie. I wrote him in his mother tongue to explain how to log it out of the cache. After a month, he did it.

 

After two more months, I asked as kindly as I could, if he had been able to drop the trackable - perhaps in any of the regular sized geocaches he had recently logged.

 

After another month or so, he writes that he has dropped the trackable. No log. I write him to explain how to log the trackable drop correctly. He logs the trackable as dropped off - dated the day after he picked it up (3 months earlier than reality).

 

The next geocachers that find the geocache, write to me that my trackable is not in the container.

 

I write to the geocacher who had my trackable, to ask if he is sure about which cache he dropped my trackable in. The geocacher replies that he is very sure, but he is not surprised that the trackable is missing, as the geocache was devastated.

 

The cache in question is a multi cache, with lots of favourite points, and no "needs maintenance" logs.

 

What do you think, was my trackable dropped in a trash bin mistaken for a geocache, or something like that? :mad:

 

Oh dear. That's a very sad saga. :(

 

MrsB

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How do I find TB Hotels? I'm not sure how to search for them. I only recently found out that they existed. I have 2 TB's to move along. I would like to put them in a cache where I know they will continue on their journey. Given what I have read about TB hotel guests being hijacked, should I drop the TB's in a hotel?

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How do I find TB Hotels? I'm not sure how to search for them. I only recently found out that they existed. I have 2 TB's to move along. I would like to put them in a cache where I know they will continue on their journey. Given what I have read about TB hotel guests being hijacked, should I drop the TB's in a hotel?

 

With a little research, you can check the history of the hotel, and see how trackables do there. Otherwise, as I always say, any cache is a good cache for a TB if it fits, and the lid will close tight. Check the goal of the TB, and see if the Hotel will help its goal.

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I sent a tb off on a romantic virtual honeymoon after my wedding. We had a real honeymoon on a cruise ship around the Med...the tb never even left the cache I left it in (well it did, but in a 'it was stolen' kind of way!) Very disappointing!

I am slightly amused though as it's not a cute cuddly teddybear or a rare collectable item - it's a cheap plastic keyring with a photo of me & the wife riding a camel in Morocco - Who would want to keep that??? :huh:

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What happens to a trackable item after it has been logged as missing? What happens if it turns up after it has been on the missing list?

Once logged into a cache, it becomes active (it is now listed as "In ****** Cache" and is no longer in "Missing").

Likewise, once "Grab" is logged, it is now "In the hands of ******".

 

I do not know if "Retrieve" is a viable option on a "Missing" traveler, if so, it should work the same.

 

EDIT: Check the last few logs of this TB: http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=19406

Edited by Gitchee-Gummee
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What happens to a trackable item after it has been logged as missing? What happens if it turns up after it has been on the missing list?

 

Once marked as Missing (by either the trackable owner, or by the owner of the cache where it was listed) it moves to "Unknown Location".

 

If somebody later finds the item somewhere else they can use the tracking number on it to record that they've found it - They can 'grab' it to bring it into their possession. Then it's back in the game and can travel once more.

 

If a trackable has been Missing for a year or more the owner may decide to re-release the item on a Copy tag. It may be a completely different item and they may change the mission to something different. It's recommended to wait at least a year because trackables often re-appear months (sometimes years) after going missing.

 

MrsB :)

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I think the term "collectable" should be removed from all Geocaching publication. The TB's should be called --- GAME PIECES. Geocache.com should send a friendly welcome to the game to all new players and then a polite "don't steal the bugs !"

 

If new players do not start with a good instructor then they have no rules to follow and COLLECTABLE screams--take me home.

 

I have sent emails to players who post they took the bug but never post where they release it. I don't think they know how to log the TB's I never hear back from my emails---

 

So--if you are missing the missing TBs--please send some polite emails too and ask the players to learn how to move and log the bugs !!

RedSkirt

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[quote

I have sent emails to players who post they took the bug but never post where they release it. I don't think they know how to log the TB's I never hear back from my emails---

 

We have a bug taken by a student last January. We've sent many emails over the months without an answer. Now I wonder if those emails that are sent thru Geocaching.com were 'non-deliverable'. Could it be that all our email tries have been non-deliverable, and therefore a waste of time?

 

Flutterwheelers

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My one-and-only Travel Bug, SPIKE, has gone missing. Poor Spike was trying to escape midwest winters and get to warm and sunny Arizona. He was last heard from somewhere in Wisconsin. Uh, wrong direction folks.

 

At least now, in reading the Forum, I realize there are a lot of sad TB owners out there.

BooHoo!

 

Until we meet again, SPIKE...

 

Kimbo25

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I have moved about 300 trackables. Can't tell you how many times I have had to write to person that last had it to ask them if they forgot to drop it into such and such cache. Just recently picked up two travelers which were not logged to the cache and wrote to person that was supposed to have them. He finally emailed me back after about 3 or 4 days and thanked me for letting him log it into the cache. Said he completely forgot to do so. Had a terrible time getting a couple of others straightened out that I picked up in Fl. Emailed holder etc. finally grabbed it, dipped it in the cache where I picked it, dropped it in my own cache back in Ohio and lo and behold that person grabbed it and was moving it along down in FL. Come to find out after several emails he was way behind (like a month) on his logging and was catching up. Had to have him send me the numbers on three different travelers so that I could get them straightened out and placed where I actually put them. Lesson learned to keep the trackable numbers in case something like this happens again I guess. Thought it was in poor taste to grab them back after they had been moved especially after they had been logged to another cache just because you failed to log them in a timely fashion. And neither of these instances was it a new cacher. Everyone seems to blame new cachers but there are lots of seasoned cachers that mess up too. I love moving trackables and am discouraged at how many I have to write a note (on trip to and from FL I posted over 100 such notes) to that are not in the listed cache. Many that haven't been there for years. Just wish the TBO or the cache owners would mark them missing after such notifications. I personally feel its part of the cache owners responsibility to keep their cache "clean". That includes the trackable inventory too. However, since that is not in the guidelines for cache owners they don't feel its their responsibility so they go unchecked. Some travelers will be listed in caches for years as the TB owners are no longer caching and the CO won't mark them missing.

 

I have read the forum of ghost trackables and think this should be implemeneted to solve this problem. Wonder whether it will be or not. Hope so.

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Love this forum. Thanks, RBWI, for pointing it out to me.

 

Besides the fact my beautiful & fun TB "Book of Destinations" was lost along with the cache container in SC - BOO! :cry: - and my "Black Flower" got picked up by a first-time cacher who had no idea what I was talking about, I have had major success with a laminated card traveling around Europe! Those Europeans know how to take care of a TB. :antenna: Thank you very much!!!!

 

I have a great story about a first-time cacher... Three of us started a TB race from FL to WI. A woman picked up my coworker's and a man picked up mine. Now, remember, they only need to travel 1500 miles north. For some reason, the man decides MINE needs to go with him on his trip to Hawaii. As he is caching along the beautiful shoreline one sunny day, he realizes he lost my TB. Spent three hours or more going back to every location he was at, searched his rental car in and out, his luggage, etc. and determined it was <gulp> :lostsignal: LOST!!...as he explained to me in a message. ugh. A few weeks later, I receive another message that he ordered a replacement Oscar Mayer Weiner Mobile whistle off eBay, :surprise: bought a new TB tag for me to activate, and was ready to move it again...on his next trip skiing to Colorado (if you can believe it.) It has not moved since it was covered by an avalanche a few weeks ago. haha At least he's rooting for me to win!

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Well, bargaining worked!!! I got one of four of my bugs mailed back - not ideal I know - but now he is home to go through depression and acceptance with me.

 

RE: your missing TBs......

 

you can re-release them with the COPY TAG they came with.

 

also.......i make FREE replacement tags for anything missing for a year or more.

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I have a TB that was a sticker on my car which I wrecked. The TB went to the junkyard with the vehicle. So how do I "bury" it since it's no longer able to circulate? The "graveyard" link in the first post is archived so I can't "place" it there.

 

you can re-use the tracking number for that Decal.

i'll make a FREE replacement tag for you if you're interested.

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I sent a tb off on a romantic virtual honeymoon after my wedding. We had a real honeymoon on a cruise ship around the Med...the tb never even left the cache I left it in (well it did, but in a 'it was stolen' kind of way!) Very disappointing!

I am slightly amused though as it's not a cute cuddly teddybear or a rare collectable item - it's a cheap plastic keyring with a photo of me & the wife riding a camel in Morocco - Who would want to keep that??? :huh:

maybe the wife of that camel? :grin:

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I've officially given up on buying any more trackables to release. I've put out 15 in the past two years and only 4 are shown in caches, the rest in the hands of a cacher, some for over 6 months. Most of these are newbies with less than 100 finds. I know we were all newbies but we didn't take anything from a cache for the first few months. Actually took the time to learn what to do with these and have logged over 100. Wish more people would be considerate and understand that these TB's are not theirs for the taking.

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To all the mourners of their trackables - GREAT NEWS! There is still a chance for your trackable to show up just like this one did TB29WE7 Mario . The cacher grabbed it in June of 2009 and just dropped it off (April 2012) in another cache in Georgia, USA. We thought it's pretty cool story and was worth sharing ;)

 

It's a small world! My Mail Call geocoin just resurfaced today (5/15/12) as the cacher who had retrieved it in August 2009 started geocaching again and placed it in a cache. So, he held it for almost 3 years and it traveled 1.56 miles :P .

Not bad!

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I put my very first TB out there in the world and it's definitely gone from the cache, but no one logged it or anything. I've emailed everyone who found the cache and most have replied to say it wasn't there. I have it narrowed down to the first three people who logged the cache, but they haven't replied yet to tell me if it was in the cache or gone from the cache. I realize someone who didn't log the cache could have found it, but it's a pretty well hidden cache, so only a geocacher would have seen it. THe cache is A Belle's Isle View, in Windsor Ontario. Any suggestions, other than what I've already done, to locate my Pathtag Collector TB?

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