View Full Version : Travel Bug Etiquette



Sudonim
01-25-2005, 12:55 AM
I need some member input.
I was recently e-mailed from someone in the Virginia/North Carolina area. He has a TB that wants to go to Prince Edward Island. He saw that the Bangor Airport TB Hotel has a TB that wants to go to his area. He is proposing that he mails me his TB, and I mail him mine.
The question is that, while this is fulfilling both TB goals, it seems to defeat the purpose of being carried long distances by cachers. I assume that the bugs would be "grabbed" at the receiving end and placed in local caches. It really helps out the bugs, but something seems shaky about it. What do you guys think?
Fire away :D

attroll
01-25-2005, 01:18 AM
Personally I don't agree with doing this. But this is just my opinion. Your right it does seem to defeat the purpose. If he wants to do that then why doesn't he just mail it to Prince Edward Island and then it will be there. To me it seems like cheating. But in the long run he is only cheating himself.

brdad
01-25-2005, 07:00 AM
I think emailing TB's is kind of lame too. Possibly it'd be ok if it was stuck in some cache where cachers never go or the like, but hw often does that happen? Why don't we just mail each other our caches while we are at it, so we can log them? :rolleyes:

RanMan22
01-25-2005, 07:27 AM
I think emailing TB's is kind of lame too.

How does one e-mail a TB? :) :) :) ;)


-RanMan22

Beach Comber
01-25-2005, 07:34 AM
Why don't we just mail each other our caches while we are at it, so we can log them? :rolleyes:
;)I never even thought to ask you to mail me the Old 470 cache.
:pOr perhaps it was in the mail each time I tried to find it - hehehe

WhereRWe?
01-25-2005, 07:55 AM
Mailing TB'S??? BAD, BAD, BAD... :(

brdad
01-25-2005, 09:19 AM
How does one e-mail a TB? :) :) :) ;)


-RanMan22

Good thing you used 4 of them smileys, sport.....

Haffy
01-25-2005, 09:30 AM
Don't think Brdad said e-mail the TB's, he said mail....lol :)

parmachenee
01-25-2005, 09:54 AM
I guess I'm a little more open-minded about this. Why limit the options of moving tb's around to moving by hand? We use many different means in finding caches: gpsr's, pda's, computers, planes, boats, and trains but we are going to limit moving tb's to one means, by hand. I think unless the tb's goals specifically state as to how it wants to achieve its goals, any means of getting there should be an option. But that's just my opinion. :D

Haffy
01-25-2005, 10:28 AM
I kind of agree with Parmachenee, I think it should be up to the owner as to how he or she wants them to move around.That's why I think it is a good idea to have a goal for the TB and state in the goal what the objective of the TB is to be. That way the cacher who finds the TB has an idea as to how and where the TB is to travel and they can decide if they want to continue the TB's travels or wait for someone else to get them on their way. Just my 2 cents. :)

brdad
01-25-2005, 02:50 PM
I agree that if the owner wants it mailed that that should be ok, but I don't see much purpose of a TB being mailed from one location to another, unless maybe it collects the stamps along the way. Hmmmmmm....

WhereRWe?
01-25-2005, 04:54 PM
I think mailing a TB defeats the whole purpose for having a TB. Part of the fun of TB's is that you never know if they'll reach their goal, how long it will take, etc.

If everyone just mailed their TB - what is the purpose? To say that you're TB reached it's goal? So what. That's like having your picture taken with the trophy fish that you bought in the fish market.

Sheesh!

As I said in another thread, I thought it was really cool that one of my TB's is on an island off the coast of Africa. It would be meaningless if I had mailed it to someone there...

Double SHEESH! :D

Mainiac1957
01-25-2005, 06:26 PM
A DOUBLE Sheesh Bruce! You feel strongly on this don't you. :p I personally like to see them go the old fashioned way. I'm sure there are extenuating circumstance to be found even in our humble little world of Geocaching. I look at like Vegitarians. You got you every day garden variety (no pun intended). Then you have your Vegans. The both want the same thing, it's just about the degree of intensity. It's like back when a certain Tennessee cacher would a log a group of finds for one listing. I chose not to participate in that. That was my choice. And according to what Attroll found out from GC.com it's fine either way in there eyes. IMHO Thanks again for the great time Saturday, and when are we doing this again?

WhereRWe?
01-25-2005, 06:34 PM
Well, I always say it IS about the numbers, and some cachers are more concerned about the numbers than others! :D

But I see a picture of you with a big fish, you'd better have worm doo-doo on your hands! LOL!

:p

Which reminds me - I've got to remember to bring the pictures of the big trout I caught in Quebec last summer to the next event. :eek:

parmachenee
01-25-2005, 06:36 PM
I agree that in its truest form...moving a tb from one cache to another should be done physically by the cachers involved. I'm NOT in favor of a tb reaching its goal simply by mailing it to its final destination and I don't believe any owner of a tb would want this. After all, the fun is in watching where it goes and the experiences it has. But using mail as an option in moving them along if it fits the goal of the tb should be a consideration. If owners don't want their tb's to move in this manner they should indicate that in the goal. Just clarifying my humble opinion. :D

Sudonim
01-28-2005, 01:53 AM
Thanks for the input. Everyone had good reasons, pro and con, but I decided that it didn't pass the "sniff test". I emailed back that I wasn't interested. It isn't always about the numbers :p

WhereRWe?
01-28-2005, 07:58 AM
Thanks for the input. Everyone had good reasons, pro and con, but I decided that it didn't pass the "sniff test". I emailed back that I wasn't interested. It isn't always about the numbers :p

Well, glad you made the right decision about the TB
:D

But you're wrong about the numbers! LOL! :p

Dextah
01-28-2005, 09:34 PM
Mailing TB'S??? BAD, BAD, BAD... :(
Ditto :mad: - defeats the purpose

WhereRWe?
02-01-2005, 07:43 PM
Well, if you want to get your TB somewhwre in a hurry, there's always this:

http://www.todayscacher.com/2005/feb/tb.asp

Sudonim
02-01-2005, 10:50 PM
I think that a cache like that would use up WAY more AA batteries than my GPS uses :D