Geocaching Travel Bugs
To make geocaching even more exciting, there are some additional activities involved. One of them is travel bugs.
To cut the long story short, a travel bug is a tag that can be tracked. You attach it to an item you left in your caches and leave instructions for those who find it to move it around. You may request, for example, that the item is taken to ten big cities or five countries or establish a particular route. People who find your cache will take the item and move it to the next one that is closer to your required location.
Of course, you may leave your bug the way it is, with no additional tasks. The fun is to track it's way around the world. People will take it from one cache to another and you can see it's route.
Each travel bug has a unique number attached to it. It serves as an identification. Travel bugs are tracked via the websites. The idea is to grab the item from one website and move it to the next one, mirroring the way it traveled in the real world. Each travel bug has its own travel book, sort of a diary, that reflects its previous locations.
If you've found a travel bug, the first thing you should do is to find it online. To find its website you can either go to the cache listing and search there or use the search engine on the Travel Bug Home Page Enter the number you've found on your tag into the search box to go to this bug's home page.
The next step is to log your finding to let the owner know you've found his or her bug. Logging also serves as "grabbing" the bug. Its online logs reflect its real life adventures.
If the bug is listed as being in the cache you can either retrieve it or grab it. If you have physically removed it from the cache, choose the "grabbing" option. This will allow you to virtually drop the bug into another cache. Once that's done, you will have it in your online inventory until someone else "grabs" it from you or you put it in another cache.
Remember, this virtual journey is supposed to mirror the real life. Don't report bugs you haven't found. Also, if the bug has a goal, try and follow it. Don't place it in a cache that's further South if the bug's desired direction is West. The game is only fun if you observe the rules.
There are also some travel bugs without recognizable tracking numbers. Some people invented their own systems of tracking the bugs. Normally, they're not to be found on geocaching.com. Don't panic, you can still find them. Seek for some characteristic features. Codes or ciphers, look around some forums – there are plenty of options. One thing to be remembered. Make sure there's a travel bug barcode on your tag. This is proof that it's a legitimate travel bug.
The idea behind Travel Bugs is to see them travel. Don't hold to your bug for too long once you've found it. If you're planning to keep it for longer than two weeks, an email to the bug's owner would be a nice gesture.
If you're interested in getting your own travel bug, visit one of many online shops. They're not expensive and they add to your fun.
If you're planning to get your own travel bug, here's what you'll need to do. First, activate your bug using Travel Bug Activation Wizard . Once that's done, you can start placing your bugs in the caches.
It may happen that someone will remove your bug without reporting it. In that case, users who find your cache and notice the missing bug will report it to you. In that case, you may report your bug as missing until it's found again. Simply move your bug from your cache to the unknown location and wait for someone to report it again.
Geocoins are a particular kind of travel bugs. They are produced especially for the game. The identification numbers are different than barcodes for the more commonly used dog tags but the rules are similar. You should remember that Geocaching.com doesn't track all the coins, though. The two kinds that are tracked there are USA Geocoins and Moun10bike geocoins. However, there are plenty of local geocaching sites and it's more than certain that you'll be able to find your particular kind of coins somewhere on the Net.
Apart from the coins, there are also various other traceable items. Bumble Buttons or Hiking Staffs and Sticks are just examples. If you're not thrilled about any of those, you can always get yourself a dog tag and attach it to an item of your choice.
The whole idea behind Traveling Bugs is to track how the items are moved from one cache to another. You may be surprised how fast and how far your favorite toy or button can travel thanks to geocaching players. You may never visit the North Pole but you can see your Bug go there in no time!
Similarly, you may set the task for your bug to visit ten countries around the world. People who find them will try to move the bugs closer to the border and wait for foreigners to grab them and get them to their own country. Provided you have made it a part of the task, you can get photos of various places that your bug travels through. Such photos are reported and published on the Web. Staying home all the time you can peek around the world.