› Forums › Archived Forums › Old General Forum (Busted) › Logging Travel Bugs
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Cheesehead Dave.
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06/22/2004 at 1:11 am #1721293
We recently experienced something we’ve never run into before. We wanted to throw this out there to see what ya’ll think. We noticed that at a recent event, teams were logging Travel Bugs that they didn’t physically take away and dropping them back at the event. We wouldn’t have even noticed, but when we went to drop a Travel Bug we had in our hands on a cache page, it said we didn’t have it… we don’t know what to think. We’re leaning toward the whole, some people like to log pocket caches at events and others don’t, some teams cache exclusively together, others don’t, etc. Comments?
06/22/2004 at 1:38 am #1747062I guess this falls into “whatever trips your trigger”. More and more cachers are carrying their very own Travel Bug with them and having others log it by the number and eventually grabbing it back.
I have seen this concept three times now and have found it to be appropriate to log as the TB owners requested. After all it is something that makes geocaching more interesting to them.
The only concern comes from those who might feel this violates the spirit of the Travel Bug.
My own opinion is that I “own” 9 travel bugs and from the looks of it – all 9 are lost. My investment would be much further ahead if I had all nine hanging from my belt.The travel bug concept appears to be failing in general as many hang onto them way to long and keeping them has become the norm for some. It is the rare TB that continues on for some time.
I think WISearchers does have some in a race that have gone on much longer then most.06/22/2004 at 1:39 am #1747063I’m laughing because I know what’s coming…
06/22/2004 at 1:43 am #1747064My niece, Messa & I have both types of Travel Bugs .. 11 “traditional” ones out in the world on missions .. and 1 each of our “own”. The purpose of our personal bug is to serve as a log of our travels. We drop and pick it up from all the caches visited and write about our experiences there. All anyone has to do is ask, and we do allow others to log our personal bug.
06/22/2004 at 1:43 am #1747065Seems I misintrepreted the whole question – now I am mystified.
Why would anyone do that?06/22/2004 at 1:48 am #1747066That’s right…. BAN ALL TRAVEL BUGS………
No, just kidding!!
I have seen a quite a few people recording bug numbers. Last I knew, it’s not even necessary to pick one up and drop one off; all that has to be done is post a note on the bug’s page and it gets added to your list of bugs found.
As they say… To each, his own.
06/22/2004 at 3:02 am #1747067Or, is there concern about a special geocoin that is part of a memorial book?
Socko is attempting to take a photo of all the geocaching teams in Wisconsin .. and any others he comes across . . and is putting the photos in a memorial book for his sister who died.
If you see Socko at an event, please step up so you can be part of his mission.
And, he has a special memorial geocoin on the cover that he will share with you to log as part of your being in his book.
Another variation of the “personal travel bug” .. very special, neat .. hope you will consider being part.
06/22/2004 at 3:13 am #1747068quote:
Originally posted by Auntienae:
Or, is there concern about a special geocoin that is part of a memorial book?Socko is attempting to take a photo of all the geocaching teams in Wisconsin .. and any others he comes across . . and is putting the photos in a memorial book for his sister who died.
If you see Socko at an event, please step up so you can be part of his mission.
And, he has a special memorial geocoin on the cover that he will share with you to log as part of your being in his book.
Another variation of the “personal travel bug” .. very special, neat .. hope you will consider being part.
That is VERY cool! I’d love to see the book sometime!!!
~Mama Fishcacher
06/22/2004 at 3:41 am #1747069I think what Geoffnsara are referring to is those who were copying the TB tag numbers down at an event and logging them in their travel bug count without taking the bugs and dropping them elsewhere. I don’t think they were referring to those with personal travel bugs. Some people missed the whole point here.
I do not log travel bugs unless I take them with me and drop them in another cache. Isn’t that the purpose of travel bugs? At an event, I only log the bugs that I take with me. To me, copying down the numbers and logging them like you found them when you really didn’t have it in your possession is kind of like cheating in a way. I don’t think posting a note on the TB page will increase your TB count anymore, unless you pick it up and drop it off.
What probably happened here is that Geoffnsara logged that they picked up a travel bug, then another team logged the same travel bug after them (grabbing it from Geoffnsara and dropping it back into the event cache). This can really screw things up for the person who has the TB in their possession, as it takes the travel bug out of their inventory when they really have it in their possession and they have to grab it back.
Bottom line is this…don’t log a travel bug unless you plan on taking it and are going to drop it off in another cache. “Visiting” with a travel bug shouldn’t count unless you take it with you.
[This message has been edited by whitnallgps (edited 06-21-2004).]
06/22/2004 at 4:23 am #1747070I ditto Whitnallgps…I had 2 travel bugs at the breakfast and I couldn’t believe how many e-mails I had from each one saying they were picked up and dropped off at the breakfast. Travel bugs are supposed to travel. From what I remember, they stayed on the picnic table until being physically removed by someone. Why are there still so many travel bugs listed on the homepage for the Mother of all Breakfasts? Earth Angel
[This message has been edited by ecorangers (edited 06-21-2004).]
06/22/2004 at 11:00 am #174707106/22/2004 at 12:30 pm #1747072quote:
Originally posted by Geoffnsara:
We noticed that at a recent event, teams were logging Travel Bugs that they didn’t physically take away and dropping them back at the event.
I had no idea some people were doing this. It seems bizarre that anyone would want to. What’s the point? I guess I don’t understand the fascination over travel bugs. I brought 5 TBs to the breakfast, including 3 Jeeps, and left them on the exchange table, thinking this would be a good chance for people to move them along because I didn’t know when I would be able to do so. I didn’t worry about being irresponsible for them any more than I would if I were to leave them in a Tupperware box somewhere in the woods.
06/22/2004 at 12:35 pm #1747073So that’s what’s going on… I’m still getting dozens of emails noting that people are dropping travel bugs into the breakfast cache two days after the event is over!. While I like the idea of doing TB exchanges at events, I think that this completely goes against the spirit of what TBs are supposed to be for. I think this can be filed under the “It’s all about the numbers” category, as the only reason I can see to be doing this is to inflate your “Travel Bugs Found” stat.
Unfortunately, I don’t see much of a way to prevent this. You could put out a box for people to drop their bugs into and keep it sealed until people leave. Then they could reach in and pull one out to take with them as they go. This wouldn’t prevent people from sharing the number before or after, but at least it would help to prevent people from writing down numbers of all the bugs present. The other problem is if you pick out a bug which has a goal that you cannot fulfill.
Hopefully we Wisconsin cachers can rise above this and set a better example…
06/22/2004 at 2:37 pm #1747074As someone who has had to drop his travel bugs in the “travel bug graveyard cache” only after being to one other cache, I welcome people at events logging my bugs. I mean, I bought the things so I could hear from other cachers, and get an email when someone logs it. Most of our bugs never make it outside of Milwaukee before they disappear forever. One of our coins went to a Minnesota event, and suddenly we had pictures, and a slew of notes. I see nothing wrong with posting to a travel bug that you’ve seen and touched. I remember one of our first travel bugs was shared with another friend cacher of ours. We went to the cache, picked up the TB, both took a look at it for a while, took a few pictures, wrote down the number, and then placed it into the next cache. Instead of arguing who should log the bug, we both did. And I’m sure the bug owner loved to see that his bug finally moved (because that’s what he paid the $6 dollars for) and was dually excited by getting both emails from us. Anyways, that’s just my 2 cents.
06/22/2004 at 2:38 pm #1747075Oh yeah, and rememeber, one thing that makes geocaching great is that there’s very little rules. Each to his own, to enjoy the sport! That’s what makes it great.
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