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The Official Travel Bug Obituary....


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I found a TB called Annie the Owl in Sussex, UK. She had a note in the net bag with her saying she had come from Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia. The person who dropped her in this cache was not the original owner as she had apparently not been activated before release.

 

If the real owner would like to contact me I can put you in touch with the member who activated her.

Edited by gvmhb
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Hi everyone I read that the number is still yours from a travel bug and or track able so you can write etch or what ever on something else and send it out. Is this true?? I know that the one you sent out is kinda loved lol but at least the memory and mission will live on right?!?!

 

Yes this is perfectly true ... frankly it amazes me that people don't simply revive their long lost trackables after they have been missing for a reasonable length of time. Most cachers agree that waiting a year at least is reasonable, but personally I think it depends upon the circumstances, though I would normally wait a year myself, then release a revived version ... for my own I simple engrave the tracking code onto a blank dog tag (available on Ebay) and attach a laminated tag with details and a wee travelling companion and off it goes on the road again.

 

For other people, I make a laminated tag using any photographs I can find of their original and/or photo's from the interweb to make a laminated tag, I add a tag with info and a random travelling companion (usually sourced from local charity shops) and I drop it in a cache nearby ... usually one of my own caches. Although most cachers are happy to move a proxy/copy on it's journey I know some cachers don't like the proxy versions very much, but I would never release an original geocoin into the wild as I lost the very first one as soon as I placed it in a cache.

Edited by Auld Pharrrt
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I love trackballs and have found a few that were cloned to new TBs (or they kept the original and released the clone). I have also looked up pictures when I just find the TB tag and attach a picture of what the traveling companion was.

 

Just released my first TB and hope both tag and attachment travel along for a while without being separated. But I did photograph all my tags with ID number so I can clone as necessary to keep them going. Too bad the clone won't keep on the same track I started it on (none are starting from my home base). Anyway to find a cacher in other locations to forward it to, to keep it on a close track?

Edited by CGTeri
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I placed one of my favorite trackables in a multi-cache that has had great TB drops and retrievals. Shortly after I dropped it off some younger cachers picked it up and held onto it for forever. When they finally dropped it, they marked it as palced in a micro cache. The owner graciously went out and checked on it when I posted on the page about the trackable, but he didn't see it there.

 

I know that when you release a TB that it is out of your hands, but this is just infuriating.

 

I also had the TB in a large baggie with a printed off sheet of instructions on what the item was and how to log it; and explicitly stated to not keep the trackable for long.

 

Trackable: Путешествие единорога

Edited by KaRue
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I have relaunched one of my first TBs after it went missing in the hands of a local geo cacher. Contacted them and asked for it to be moved on and no response. The problem I have is that the local Geo Cacher stated in the post that when the TB was retrieved that it was cute. Should that give me an indication that it was never going to be moved on? So I purchased a new tag and the same replica of my avatar, okay, a chimpanzee, but it is Lancelot Link, look it up on youtube, and set him in motion. Hopefully this one will make it and not become a plastic teething rusk for a baby!

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R.I.P to my trackable Dem bones. A guy picked it up in Portugal (he has quite a few other trackables too) three years ago. I wrote him with no response. I was hoping he'd eventually put dem bones in another cache but no such luck.

 

Also R.I.P to my 12 year old son's dragon trackable Stomps. Barely moved before it disappeared without a trace. Hasn't been seen since earlier this year. I still have hope for this one though so if someone in the Merseyside, UK area picked up Stomps (red dragon with Stomps written down the side and a curse on the back) please contact me. I had someone that had picked it up earlier that thought it was a key chain before they saw the curse on the back so someone could have picked this up and not known that it wasn't supposed to be kept.

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I am really new to Geocaching and I really don't have much experience at all so I guess I am naive. I can't believe that people would just take the trackables and keep them! Do they really know what they are and just keep them? I know that at one of the cache there were little trinkets available for the taking, is it possible that people just mistake them? Yeah I already know that answer.

So, I am so excited about this! I bought 2 of the trackables and I am so excited to drop them (I think that's the term). How do you decide where and when to drop them? Do you just pick a place? Does it have to be in YOUR cache?

Thank you for your understanding and patience

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I am really new to Geocaching and I really don't have much experience at all so I guess I am naive. I can't believe that people would just take the trackables and keep them! Do they really know what they are and just keep them? I know that at one of the cache there were little trinkets available for the taking, is it possible that people just mistake them? Yeah I already know that answer.

So, I am so excited about this! I bought 2 of the trackables and I am so excited to drop them (I think that's the term). How do you decide where and when to drop them? Do you just pick a place? Does it have to be in YOUR cache?

Thank you for your understanding and patience

 

I'm afraid that they do go missing quite often ... I now buy cheapest ones I can find and release them with a travelling companion, but I have learned the hard way, DO NOT RELEASE ANYTHING PRETTY OR CUTE OR USEFUL ... it will disappear.

 

Bear in mind, that in some (probably only a very few) that it could have been for genuine reasons that it was never dropped off again, people do have accidents, fall ill and even die sometimes, if no-one else in their family/circle of friends knows about Geocaching and these seemingly random trinkets, then they wouldn't know what to do with them.

 

Some are probably genuinely lost by accident ... not too long after my daughter and I joined, she found a gorgeous geocoin lying in the grass near a cache. If I'd parked my van 8 or 9 inches further onto the grass it would never have been spotted. The coin wasn't logged into or recently out of the cache it was close to, but once she grabbed it and explained where she found it, both the owner and the person who'd misplaced it were very grateful to her. The person who'd dropped it is a well established, regular and experienced cacher and he was mortified that he'd been careless enough for this coin to have fallen out of his pocket at the side of the road.

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We're fairly new to geocaching, just been doing it a little over a year now. We released our first ever TB on vacation 5 months ago... his mission was to come back home to us. An experienced geocacher picked him up... told us he was collecting TBs to make a TB hotel, and we haven't heard anything since. Should we give up on our first little TB? How long does it take to build a TB hotel? No responses via email to the guy holding him...

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I am really new to Geocaching and I really don't have much experience at all so I guess I am naive. I can't believe that people would just take the trackables and keep them! Do they really know what they are and just keep them? I know that at one of the cache there were little trinkets available for the taking, is it possible that people just mistake them? Yeah I already know that answer.

So, I am so excited about this! I bought 2 of the trackables and I am so excited to drop them (I think that's the term). How do you decide where and when to drop them? Do you just pick a place? Does it have to be in YOUR cache?

Thank you for your understanding and patience

 

I'm afraid that they do go missing quite often ... I now buy cheapest ones I can find and release them with a travelling companion, but I have learned the hard way, DO NOT RELEASE ANYTHING PRETTY OR CUTE OR USEFUL ... it will disappear.

 

Bear in mind, that in some (probably only a very few) that it could have been for genuine reasons that it was never dropped off again, people do have accidents, fall ill and even die sometimes, if no-one else in their family/circle of friends knows about Geocaching and these seemingly random trinkets, then they wouldn't know what to do with them.

 

Some are probably genuinely lost by accident ... not too long after my daughter and I joined, she found a gorgeous geocoin lying in the grass near a cache. If I'd parked my van 8 or 9 inches further onto the grass it would never have been spotted. The coin wasn't logged into or recently out of the cache it was close to, but once she grabbed it and explained where she found it, both the owner and the person who'd misplaced it were very grateful to her. The person who'd dropped it is a well established, regular and experienced cacher and he was mortified that he'd been careless enough for this coin to have fallen out of his pocket at the side of the road.

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I've lost a couple TBs, but my current situation is new to us. We started 2nd place horseshoe medal from Qatar during Desert Storm. It traveled pretty soon over to England. Bounced around a little until one guy picked it up and has been dipping it in every cache he's found since Dec 5th last year. Nine months dipping a TB! Yeah, what have I got to complain about, it's still in existence? My aim was to keep sharing it around, not to wind up as someone's personal TB. Would it be small of me to suggest to the dipper to move it along, or simply wait until he gets tired of it? Not sure of etiquette on that.

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I don't think it's unreasonable to say something like," Thanks for taking such good care of our horseshoe TB ! I We'd like to give someone else a chance to log it now, so if you get the chance, please drop it in a cache. Thanks :) ".

 

Holding since Dec., I'd really be curious if they even still had it, and were simply logging codes by now.

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Would it be small of me to suggest to the dipper to move it along, or simply wait until he gets tired of it? Not sure of etiquette on that.

I've asked a couple of cachers. They each "will drop it off in a couple of weeks when I go to ______", and they never do.

 

I added some text to my TB pages. There are no references to "I'd like to visit a lot of caches!" nor anything that might be interpreted as "keep this and make Visit logs forever".

 

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.

 

This text doesn't seem to make any difference. Surprise! :ph34r:

 

But many of these hoarders appear to be howling at the moon a couple of feathers short of a whole duck, whacked. And they use Trackables (and various other things that are other people's property) and anything and everything else in their lives that they can, as a cry for help. Contact them, and these people make a point to make your situation worse. It's weird.

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The geocache has been archived... is there another one out there where we can drop dead TB's?

You can just mark it missing and forget it...

You have a couple archived caches, put it in one of yours if it'd make you feel better.

You can log into most archived caches, use one for your own personal "tb graveyard". :)

I use one of my archived caches for pics in the forums.

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Saw this on another thread, and thought it was appropriate....

 

QUOTE (Renegade Knight @ Feb 13 2004, 03:20 PM)

Survival Tip for when it turns south.

 

It's just a dadgum bug. If it goes missing, its par for the course. It might turn up a year from now, or that might of been it and you will never really know. You will still need to go to work, eat, sleep, and otherwise get through life somehow. Your dog will still love you and birds will still drop presents on your car.

 

If when you realise your bug is gone you must go through a grieving process. Make it into a event cache and call it a wake. Serve lots of beer. It helps. If you are single and throw a wake you just might find a Conejo Tourism bug widow or widower that needs some consolation.

 

Hi,

Thanks for sharing this information....

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I've been geocaching since 2008 and of course it's an on and off thing, but I usually try to keep an eye out for the status on my trackables, but every one of them eventually goes lost or kept. Here are 3 (between my 2 sons and myself) that apparently aren't coming back...

 

Mine: TB2AWQX ▼Travel Bug Dog Tag CocaPack

 

My son PowerSonic: TB2AWRF ▼Travel Bug Dog Tag Wall.E

My older son Domo_Caching: TB2AWNW ▼Travel Bug Dog Tag Eve

 

Rest in peace... :(

Edited by blobabee
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4 hours ago, Bimmergirl said:

I'm embarrassed to say I have a TB that I picked up a while ago and unfortunately there are no details on it and the tracking number doesn't show up on a search.  How can I contact the owner or find out who the owner is?

 

Don't post the tracking number online (nor part of it, nor photos of a hard to read number), but you can try entering some ideas into the Trackable Search box and see what comes up.  In particular, try letters and numbers that may look the same like O and 0, I and 1, S and 5. There are many others. One I found had a “C” that had perfect scratches to look like a “G”.

Is it a genuine "The Travel Bug" dog tag, or just an item with a handmade number on it?

What cache did you find it in, and when? What other info do you have about the item, such as what is attached?

You could contact Groundspeak and ask for help with the detective work. If they are no help, let us know. If all else fails, place it back into a cache such as the one where you found it. And include a log of everything you know about the item (description of what you found and where, photo of the item without the tracking number in view, and that you can't figure out how the tracking number), which is an important log to do regardless.

 

 

Edited by kunarion
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On 7/26/2004 at 4:51 PM, tujessie69 said:

Hi my name is Jes. Unfortunately, I'm not a TB Owner, let alone a cache owner. There so many MIA TB's and who's at the bottom of the list? Jeep 4x4 TB's. I haven't even had the opportunity to enhale the paint on one of these and they're droppen' like ants. :blink:

I see so many Caches that say they have TB's in them and there are none :(

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I already bought a kick arse turtle tracker to send out... however, I think in the future, I'll purchase the 4 pack that are just like dog tags, and then attach them to a custom *tag* engraved on to this:  https://smile.amazon.com/Vet-Recommended-ID-Personalized-Anodized/dp/B019G35SF8/ref=sr_1_6?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1528746848&sr=1-6&keywords=dog+tag

 

They're only a couple bucks apiece, and less likely someone would want to *acquire* and keep it.

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31 minutes ago, SmuversNinjas said:

I already bought a kick arse turtle tracker to send out... however, I think in the future, I'll purchase the 4 pack that are just like dog tags, and then attach them to a custom *tag* engraved on to this:  https://smile.amazon.com/Vet-Recommended-ID-Personalized-Anodized/dp/B019G35SF8/ref=sr_1_6?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1528746848&sr=1-6&keywords=dog+tag

 

They're only a couple bucks apiece, and less likely someone would want to *acquire* and keep it.

 

Cool, that's a pretty good deal with engraving included. I see some in stainless steel for a dollar more. Nice for replacement tags.

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I was at an event long ago when someone proudly held up a bag full of TB's, her collection she called it....I left never to return to another. Recently I was looking on the map for a place to cache when I came across this. 

 

GC81AGE  - 

Geocache Description:

Come out to show off your geocoin and/or trackable collection. Being right after the holidays I’m sure members of our community will have new ones to share. Note bringing trackables and/or geocoins is not mandatory to attend. This event may have some with this month’s souvenir. Details - McDonalds 149 street and 89 ave. 5:00-7:00PM.
 
I don't get it, these are seasoned cachers.....she was there, I bet she has hundreds now.  
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event caches are graveyards for trackables. If you pay attention at events you know who is taking the trackables but holding anyone accountable, gosh forbid. I started a thread for geowoodstock "how many trackables have you plundered from caches so you can bring them to GeoWoodstock". the bragging quite literally never ended.

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As a newish type member we feel a little guilty when I state that I have taken a TB and will move it to a different state within a certain time frame and then take a little longer to move them on. Another thing we try to do when moving on TB from experience is to try and find caches that are just a little bit out of the way. That way it is more likely seasoned cachers will find they cache and move on the TB. That said we currently have 4 TB in our possession that we will try and move on in the next couple of months. Also there is nothing worse than finding a cache with TB listed and no TB in the cache when found.

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6 hours ago, InspectorrexTeam said:

As a newish type member we feel a little guilty when I state that I have taken a TB and will move it to a different state within a certain time frame and then take a little longer to move them on. Another thing we try to do when moving on TB from experience is to try and find caches that are just a little bit out of the way. That way it is more likely seasoned cachers will find they cache and move on the TB. That said we currently have 4 TB in our possession that we will try and move on in the next couple of months. Also there is nothing worse than finding a cache with TB listed and no TB in the cache when found.

 

I was almost ready to agree, then saw one's been in your possession since March (lovey pup) . 

Hopefully you're keeping the TO updated with an email,  "Visit" logs don't send notifications to owners.     :)

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I have released my share of tb's over the years,  most have gone missing, until today.  I received discovery logs for 3 of mine and 1 of my sons that have been missing between 4 to 12 years.  I emailed the person and his reply was that he saw them in a tote or listed on a paper in the Midwest.  He didn't say exactly where, but I did see he attended the GeoBash mega event in Ohio.   I hope if they were there more people will log them.  

 

  • Surprised 1
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5 minutes ago, SCOUT98 said:

I have released my share of tb's over the years,  most have gone missing, until today.  I received discovery logs for 3 of mine and 1 of my sons that have been missing between 4 to 12 years.  I emailed the person and his reply was that he saw them in a tote or listed on a paper in the Midwest.  He didn't say exactly where, but I did see he attended the GeoBash mega event in Ohio.   I hope if they were there more people will log them.  

 

That same cacher logged another's trackables "Discovered" , and were "missing" as long.  Thread is here...     :)

"I saw them in a 'tote' or listed on a paper"  kinda shows it's either being held by a hoarder and brought to large events (odds on being caught less in a crowd), or just part of a "sharing" list of trackable codes .

So busy just grabbing codes, they don't even remember where they got the codes from.

They're still missing...

 

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5 minutes ago, cerberus1 said:

 

That same cacher logged another's trackables "Discovered" , and were "missing" as long.  Thread is here...     :)

"I saw them in a 'tote' or listed on a paper"  kinda shows it's either being held by a hoarder and brought to large events (odds on being caught less in a crowd), or just part of a "sharing" list of trackable codes .

So busy just grabbing codes, they don't even remember where they got the codes from.

They're still missing...

 

Thanks for the info.  I thought it was too good to be true. 

  • Upvote 1
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Someone dropped off my first TB at a cache in a children's hospital. It had a tribute to my father, WW2 veteran, and a Navy dog tag. It wanted to travel the country he fought to save. What idiot parent would allow their child to keep that? Or what idiot adult would keep that? Do they not have any respect for those veterans who fought Japanese and Nazis and saved the world? 

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On 6/24/2019 at 4:34 AM, cerberus1 said:

 

I was almost ready to agree, then saw one's been in your possession since March (lovey pup) . 

Hopefully you're keeping the TO updated with an email,  "Visit" logs don't send notifications to owners.     :)

 

Lovey pup was finally dropped off at a cache during the week as we try and reduce the number of trackables we are holding.

 

  • Upvote 1
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Last seen 12 years ago in Arizona... after 10,155.9 miles and never reaching it's destination before being Shanghai'ed. :mad:

 

It is now posted on Travel Bug Rescue...

 

www.project-gc/Tools/TBRescue

 

***$10 reward for it's return***

If found, contact us here by PM or at z51stingray@outlook.com and we'll gladly pay postage to have it returned to us.

 

Baby Kong... TB156DJ

07ff2fde-b7fa-4c86-897e-ad44eb61d845_d.jpg.28a9660c4f47c424ce2d034ddbff1c22.jpg

Edited by INTIMIDAT3R
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Last seen 13 years ago in Georgia, and never reaching its destination before being Shanghai'ed. :mad:

 

It is now posted on Travel Bug Rescue...

 

www.project-gc/Tools/TBRescue

 

***$10 reward for it's return***

If found, contact us here by PM or at z51stingray@outlook.com and we'll gladly pay postage to have it returned to us.

 

Lightning McQueen... TB14TBE

46433756-fcee-4239-acab-039c59bfe759_d.jpg.965f9c4f264ed21225e93255db994e47.jpg

Edited by INTIMIDAT3R
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Last seen 8 years ago in Arizona, after 20,981.4 miles and never reaching its destination before being Shanghai'ed. :mad:

 

It is now posted on Travel Bug Rescue...

 

www.project-gc/Tools/TBRescue

 

***$10 reward for it's return***

If found, contact us here by PM or at z51stingray@outlook.com and we'll gladly pay postage to have it returned to us.

 

Live Long and Prosper... TB14TJF

9ab91058-6245-4b5b-9464-10cf7df06640_l.jpg.419908977f4fe5f8ee5ee7d9f378e860.jpg

Edited by INTIMIDAT3R
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Thunder Chick was MIA for years and then popped up in June 2020 when another geocacher actually found her and moved her on. Then she promptly vanished again.

 

It is now posted on Travel Bug Rescue...

 

www.project-gc/Tools/TBRescue

 

***$10 reward for it's return***

If found, contact us here by PM or at z51stingray@outlook.com and we'll gladly pay postage to have it returned to us.

 

Thunder Chick... TB14PJ0

a5010f9b-9d86-4ab0-9ded-da5f2bf0114f_l.jpg.f1b37d765b93fbf49c99aa8f69b1feb1.jpg.853be3386998bb8f1869dc5791cae5b3.jpg

Edited by INTIMIDAT3R
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I just found this thread.  I’m happy to read I’m not the only one who has had trackables vanish.  Most of my coins and bugs disappeared long ago.  I also never understood the point when people post “Discovered xxx coin or bug”. But now I’m understanding the point of it.  At least the owners can better keep track of when and where it is.

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2 hours ago, AlmondEyes said:

 I also never understood the point when people post “Discovered xxx coin or bug”. But now I’m understanding the point of it.

 At least the owners can better keep track of when and where it is.

 

Yep. 

Now not caching as much as years ago, so when I Discover a trackable the TO knows where I spotted it (even virtually), what condition it's in, and will tell them the name of the @%*%$# that has theirs (as well as a box fulla others...) showing them at an event like they own 'em.     :)

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