Visiting the world via trackables
In geocaching, besides the activity of going out to find a geocache, it seems we all have our little favourite side activities. Some like the challenges, some like benchmarking (not that I think it’s possible here, does it even still exist?), some are FTF fanatics, and so forth. As for me, I am a “trackable” guy. I LOVE trackables, both geocoins and Travel bugs. I (or should I say we) own 20 geocoins, 11 dog tags travel bugs, 2 of the latest fancier travel bug tags (in the shape of a butterfly for instance) and one geogem. We have found some 300 trackables, and we (or should I say I) follow each and every one of them! Yep that’s right, besides all the email I get because I keep an eye on who finds what down here, I get an email each time a TB I found or discovered is either moved or discovered. And I love it.
I must admit that I do not read each and every email (most of the ‘’discovered’’ I just delete), but I tend to keep an eye when they are moved. Not only reading the post which is 90% of the time without any pictures and just the ol’ saying “moving along”, but I go on the actual cache page where the trackable is being dropped to look at where on earth it is. I essentially travel vicariously through the trackables. It’s always fun to see that a trackable you once held in your hands is now hidden near a castle in Germany. I like to check the pictures of the area when there are some (and sometimes where the scenery is great there are a lot of pictures, and some cachers take the time to take pictures of the TB as well). I check the map where it is, the area, use Google earth and street view to check out the surroundings and sometimes Google about the general area to learn about that spot on earth that I did not know anything about before. I also check the map on the actual Trackable page and I’m amazed at the distance some of them have traveled.
Of all the trackables, I prefer geocoins by far. Unfortunately, most of them tend to disappear, get lost or stolen. I think of all our 20 geocoins, there are only 4-5 that are still alive. On the other hand, it’s the opposite with the Travel bugs, only a few are missing and most are still in top shape and travel the world. Because of this, I tend to no longer buy geocoins. First I do not have ‘’collections’’ of anything, and I strongly believe that the purpose of a geocoin is to be out there. Although I know they tend to disappear, If I have one (either the ones I purchased in the past or the ones I get as gifts or as prizes etc), I let it go in the wild for others to discover and move along because this is what they are meant for. But I also understand people who like to have a few just to hang on to because they like them.
I also tend to take good care of the trackables. I might be a bit extreme about the maintenance subject, but I’d say I am probably as intense about trackable etiquette. I try to make sure they are always placed in a well maintained cache, a cache that gets a couple of hits (although I have placed some in less frequented caches but they were places of interest, well hidden from muggles, and which will surely get a find one day or another). I also do all that I can to respect the mission that is very often given to the trackable by the owner. I have been so frustrated with cachers not really giving a sh** about the mission of some of my trackables, that I now tend not to give them a mission that is too specific.
Here is a couple of links for a few of our trackables that are doing well. Check out some of the pictures that geocachers took. I always send a thank you note to a geocacher that takes the time to post a picture of my trackable in the area where it was found or dropped:
Here is some that we found that traveled great distances.
funkypancake emigration race – esther’s phone box
Neat eh? What’s your take on trackables?
If your GG Lamp one gets a little further south in Germany I would have a chance to get it back closer to it’s goal in sept, lol
I have released about 4 trackables and 3 disappeared in Nova Scotia and one is still alive and not moving much in the southern US. I do not discover, I don’t see the point. I am trackable but never have the patch on me. So I guess I am not a trackable fan.
I’m with you, Nemo. I wish people would put their trackable’s mission on the trackable itself so that I can decide if I should be grabbing it or not. It’s easier now that I have an iPhone and can check their missions when I find them, but otherwise I just hope for the best.
I’ve been fortunate enough to do some traveling and when I do, I try to take photos for the trackable owners. Here are two good logs to show you what I mean:
http://coord.info/TLX1Z12
http://coord.info/TL10V2H6
We like to have trackables travel so we grab all we find, even if the cache owner has rules about taking them.
We pick up tons before going on a trip. We brought 40 to California and 30 to UK. and we bring as many as we can back here with us.
We have most trackables visit the the giant lobster cache in Shediac virtually, although long ago we used to bring them all to have their picture taken there.
We do not discover trackables, which sometimes disapoints people with trackable vehicles and clothing.
We say that we dont collect coins, but we have a lot of them, all at home. We won some, got some as gifts, and got some from challenges, and bought some to commemorate special caching events
I also like picking up and passing on TBs. Coins as well. I have 5 trackables. 3 coins, and 2 TBs. I thought the TBs would get better mileage, but not so, the coins are doing much better.
One TB is travelling the Maritimes OK, but the other seems to be stuck in “a local cacher’s” pocket and has been since last September.
The coins on the other hand….One has a mission of going to Hawaii then to finish in a friend’s cache in Oregon. It’s only on state away from its goal, but someone dropped it in a remote, non-winter friendly cache.
Another has a goal of reaching my birth city of Prague, and the coin is in England.
The third coin has no mission, but the Winnipeg cacher who has it is taking it to South Africa. We’ll see about that one.
http://coord.info/TB3MEX2
http://coord.info/TB3T286
http://coord.info/TB1HEEW
http://coord.info/TB3VZG6
The AWOL one: http://coord.info/TB3MEWK
To me, trackables are a fun aspect of caching, but not a focus. But I do pay attention to missions, and track a few of the interesting ones.
I LOVE trackables, for all the reasons that you describe, Nemodidi. I keep track of every trackable that I have found and it is great fun to see where they end up. It is also totally mind-blowing to grab a trackable from some cache in the woods somewhere in rural New Brunswick and discover that it has been to Abu Dabai or Australia or somewhere else equally as “exotic” to me. Like you say, it is a great way to travel vicariously.
We set forth one coin, it was gone almost as soon as it left our hands and one TB that did travel quite a bit before it too bit the dust. But, we do enjoy taking them to Europe where they never seem to disapperar and travel all over and really rack up the miles. We keep track of a few, mainly ones we dropped off in really neat places.
I for one, do not get picking up a TB or coin and then never moving it on. We’ve left many a TB in a cache just because we knew we were going to be too busy to place it in another within a reasonable amount of time.
Funny you mentioned putting its’ mission on the trackable, when I was in Ireland I was in a hurry and grabbed what was in the cache and figured I’ll look later, thinking i’ll bring them back to Canada as I was leaving early the next morning. Low and behold when I looked at them on the train back to my place one of them had the mission attached and it wished to only travel around Ireland and its stops would decide where they will vacation the next time they are over. Well it was late and dark and I had no caches close by to drop it in so it made it’s way back home and I had to contact a local cacher in Ireland to mail it back to them and let it continue it’s journey. I’ll pay attention closer from now on lol
We have sent and email inquiry regarding our TB “JitterBug” as she was grabbed from a cacher here in NB and taken to ON where she had travelled a lot with the current holder. Upon checking the log of the current holder, they have not logged anything since we last saw her visiting about with them.
This is why it is important to note a bug’s number and log that you ‘discovered’ it. This helps the owner in a number of ways.
We keep a log of those we have moved and receive updates on where they are. One in particular that we watch is Mr. Lemon (TB2A9PX) we picked him up in TTs Cache in St Martins and he’s now in the UK.
We also have one “Kian 2 Cache” that is discoverable that we keep with us.