vb:literal>

Page 1 of 11 12345 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 107

Thread: Time for a Rant: Travel Bug Goals

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Solon, Maine
    Posts
    5,965

    Default Time for a Rant: Travel Bug Goals

    What do people think about placing "goals" on their travel bugs (reaching a certain country, event or cache, for example)?

    I've mentioned before that we consider moving TB's one of the more enjoyable parts of geocaching, but lament that - even though we've gone out of our way to help a TB to it's goal - that we've NEVER received a thanks from the cache owner.

    (And several times we've gotten emails from TB owners asking why we haven't moved a dropped of their TB yet - when we've only had it for a week or less!)

    I think communication between cachers is great, and often email a cacher to thank them for a photo of a TB in an interesting spot, or for helping move the TB along.

    Why can't people say "Thanks"???


  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    ME
    Posts
    3,529

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by WhereRWe? View Post
    What do people think about placing "goals" on their travel bugs (reaching a certain country, event or cache, for example)?

    I've mentioned before that we consider moving TB's one of the more enjoyable parts of geocaching, but lament that - even though we've gone out of our way to help a TB to it's goal - that we've NEVER received a thanks from the cache owner.

    (And several times we've gotten emails from TB owners asking why we haven't moved a dropped of their TB yet - when we've only had it for a week or less!)

    I think communication between cachers is great, and often email a cacher to thank them for a photo of a TB in an interesting spot, or for helping move the TB along.

    Why can't people say "Thanks"???

    Bruce, I have to agree with you that thanks go a long way. I have tried, when a cacher has done something special with one of my TBs to email them. Have met some wonderful folks by taking the time to write.

    Some of my TBs have gotten stuck but I try not to bug who has them until a long time has gone by. Fortunately I have had wonderful luck with folks response. One TB I had was really packed away in a back pac and the folks returned it to me via mail.

    A pet peeve of mine was a cache I placed and asked for "one for one exchanges" and folks were taking a few Tbs or coins and leaving less than they took. Then the cachers assumed if their TBs were in this cache they were being held "hostage". As you and I know, not so. Their movement would only be controled by the cachers who visited.

    Most folks have down how to log caches but the logging of TBs sometimes is a problem for new folks. Also, if they take one from a cache and it hasn't been dropped into that cache on line - it is nice to give folks a bit of a chance to log dropping it. Not everyone logs their caches, TB/coin drops, etc. within a few hours - especially if folks are on vacation.

    Thanks for starting this tread - it should be interesting.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Lyman, Maine
    Posts
    44

    Default

    OK, well to add to this rant..... A fellow cacher has had my daughter's TB since April!!!! She has been very dissappointed as she loved watching it travel around! I waited about six weeks to email the cacher, (I thought that was more than reasonable) HE NEVER RESPONDED! I waited another month...same thing...and another month same thing! Each time I have been nice asking him to please move this bug on, because it is my 8 year old daughters.....NOTHING! I hate when cachers who don't go out caching often take these TB's and don't place them in a resonable amount of time. If you would of asked me how I felt about it a couple of months ago, I was patient to say the least! NOW, 4 months later, I AM JUST PEEVED!

    Bottom line don't take a trackable if you cannot move it on! I don't take them anymore, just because of the reponsibility and I feel guilty if I have one for more than a week. The only time I take one now, is if I can help it along with it's goal. Like last month I grabbed a TB in a cache and it wanted to visit each state. NH was not checked off, so I took it and moved it to NH on our camping trip!

    As far as emails of thanks, I can honestly say that I have gotten quite a few of thanks. Maybe I have just been lucky so far and I have had the luck of having TB's with owners that have ethics and morals. LOL! I myself try to email some one when a TB of mine moves on. However, I only own 2 in circulation. One that has been stuck in a cache for a while and the other that has been stuck in some cacher's backpack since April being held hostage! So I haven't had much luck with our bugs moving on that often.

    Anyhow, there is my rant!!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Bangor, ME
    Posts
    3,968

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by WhereRWe? View Post
    What do people think about placing "goals" on their travel bugs (reaching a certain country, event or cache, for example)?

    I've mentioned before that we consider moving TB's one of the more enjoyable parts of geocaching, but lament that - even though we've gone out of our way to help a TB to it's goal - that we've NEVER received a thanks from the cache owner.

    (And several times we've gotten emails from TB owners asking why we haven't moved a dropped of their TB yet - when we've only had it for a week or less!)

    I think communication between cachers is great, and often email a cacher to thank them for a photo of a TB in an interesting spot, or for helping move the TB along.

    Why can't people say "Thanks"???

    I agree, it is nice to hear back from a TB owner that's tracking their TBs... but most of my emails to other cachers about my TBs have never been very positive... both of our TBs are gone, I got an email from a cacher saying that he found parts of My Hiram TB left in the cache (but I did send him a thank you for letting me know his fate) and our Donkey TB has been MIA for a few months now, (I've sent 2 emails to the cacher with no response) I think if people communicated about their TBs more, maybe less of them would end up into the great unknown...
    Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Solon, Maine
    Posts
    5,965

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Hiram357 View Post
    I agree, it is nice to hear back from a TB owner that's tracking their TBs... but most of my emails to other cachers about my TBs have never been very positive... both of our TBs are gone.
    I think a major problem with missing TBs is that new cachers get excited, pickup a TB, then quickly lose their enthusiasm and forget about the TB. Several of my lost TB's were in the hands of cachers who don't cache any more.



    But there ARE bright sides! I've been told that my GeoMaine Furby TB, that has been to China and is now in Germany, is on it's way to New Zealand!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Bangor, ME
    Posts
    6,343

    Default

    I have never had great luck with TBs. Mine keep going lost, and like a bad luck charm, almost every time when I pick one up something comes up and I end up holding onto it longer than I had expected. I picked up one about a month ago I that was suitable to visit Old 470, and since then my caching activities have all but stopped. My logging of the Delorme Challenge has been delayed, My qualifications for Tat's Delorme Unique areas cache is up in the air, and my available caching time has been cut drastically due to family and friend commitments. Not sure I will ever bother picking one up again!

    But I agree - communication is a good thing. This particular TB was placed in a cache but never logged into it, so the TB owner had no idea where it was. I emailed her when I picked it up and told her. But I never heard a thanks or anything back!
    DNFTT! DNFTT! DNFTT!

    "The funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realize it doesn't say anything it's to late to stop reading it..."

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Solon, Maine
    Posts
    5,965

    Default

    To add to the misery, here's the text of an email I just got:

    "FawverFamily posted a note for Looking for Roger (Travel Bug Dog Tag) at 7/16/2007

    Log Date: 7/16/2007
    I am sorry to report that the cache this bug was in has been taken by someone. They didn't just take the bugs, they took the entire ammo can as well. I hope this bug turns up in another cache soon. If I find any information, I will let you know...."

    And this was a TB hotel, so several other TB's went missing in the snatch!


  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Topsham
    Posts
    360

    Default

    Ok I will add my two cents to this topic.......

    Team Teebow doesn't pick up TB's anymore from caches nor do we send out any personal TB's anymore. We have several TB's out there some where.

    On a positive note, Our daughter had great luck with her Crocky TB. Crocky went missing for months and then showed up in the hands of an Australian. Crocky's goal was to get to the Australia zoo and meet Steve Irwin. Well, guess what!! Crocky made it to the zoo and the cacher took many pictures at the zoo and even sent our daughter a great package filled with many items from the zoo and Australia. This cacher went above and beyond. We sent a thank you card and some Maine items back to the cacher. Now our daughter has a pen pal from Australia. The cachers grandson. So, I guess we had great luck with this one TB but the others, well.........they are all MIA.

    I could add much more to this rant but I think I will just keep my post short and sweet. I will add that yes, we have been guilty of keeping a TB too long or a coin too long. We just pick them up and then forget we even have them.
    I said WHAT!!! You just took me the wrong way......

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Unity, Maine
    Posts
    3,874

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by WhereRWe? View Post
    To add to the misery, here's the text of an email I just got:

    "FawverFamily posted a note for Looking for Roger (Travel Bug Dog Tag) at 7/16/2007

    Log Date: 7/16/2007
    I am sorry to report that the cache this bug was in has been taken by someone. They didn't just take the bugs, they took the entire ammo can as well. I hope this bug turns up in another cache soon. If I find any information, I will let you know...."

    And this was a TB hotel, so several other TB's went missing in the snatch!

    Sadly there was a TB Hotel here in Maine that had a similar fate. I never found the cache container, but I did manage to find one TB. I sent this TB along its way and e-mailed the owners of the other TBS listed in this cache to let them know of the possible fate of their TBs.

    I must also admit that I don't often thank folks for moving my TB . . . although I have done so for folks who post pics. Conversely I don't expect or necessarily want a thank you from folks when I have moved their TB -- I just figure it's part and parcel of the game and no thanks is necessary, but rather implied.

    I think I've been fortunate with my TBs. Two have been moving for several months now -- one of which is surprising since it is a bit larger than most TBs I have seen. One TB however has been stuck in a cache since last November . . . or it may not be there at all. I have since posted a question at the cache asking someone to confirm if it is there or MIA.
    "Courage is not the absence of fear, but the realization that there is something more important than fear."

    "Death is only one of many ways to die."

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Solon, Maine
    Posts
    5,965

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by team teebow View Post
    On a positive note, Our daughter had great luck with her Crocky TB. Crocky went missing for months and then showed up in the hands of an Australian. Crocky's goal was to get to the Australia zoo and meet Steve Irwin. Well, guess what!! Crocky made it to the zoo and the cacher took many pictures at the zoo and even sent our daughter a great package filled with many items from the zoo and Australia. This cacher went above and beyond.
    I have "The Moxie Bug" traveling around - currently in Alabama. Some time ago, a cacher in Michigan had it and emailed me asking about Moxie. I, being a nice guy, offered to send them a can of Moxie. They accepted the offer, I spent $5 to send it, but never heard from them again - not even a 'thank you".

    (Oh - and I just checked. "The Moxie Bug" is not located in the cache it's listed in. Seems many other TB's have vanished from that cache as well...)
    Last edited by WhereRWe?; 07-17-2007 at 02:09 PM.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •