geocache travel bug

How to use a Travel Bug ®

The page is broken out into three sections, picking up a Travel Bug, dropping off a Travel Bug, and troubleshooting . The web site tries to mimic the adventures in the real world. Cache listings work like virtual containers for each Travel Bug listing.

Picking up a Travel Bug

A Travel Bug is usually a dog tag that is attached to a "hitchhiker," or an item that travels from place to place. If you found a Travel Bug the first thing you need to do is "grab" it online so you can add your own story to its journey. Refer to the FAQ for answers to other questions not covered on this page.

Step 1. Get the Tracking Number

Step 2. Visit the Travel Bug Trackable's Page

Each Travel Bug has its own web page. To visit the Bug's page, either go to the cache page for the geocache where you found the Bug and look for the Trackable in the inventory list, or visit the Travel Bug home page and use the search tool. To use the search tool, enter the tracking number in the supplied box and click the search button.

Step 3. Found it? Log it!

Once you reach the Travel Bug listing, you will need to write a log to let the owner know that you found it. By logging the find you are also 'grabbing' the Travel Bug and putting it in your account's online inventory. This will ultimately allow you to drop the Travel Bug in another cache.

If the Travel Bug is listed as being in a cache, you will have two options, retrieving it or grabbing it. If you took it from the cache in which it is listed, choose to retrieve it. If you took the Travel Bug from elsewhere, choose to grab it. Both logs require the tracking number, so keep the tracking number handy for the Bug you plan to log .

Once you have successfully grabbed or retrieved the Travel Bug, it will remain in your online inventory until someone else grabs it from you or you place it in a cache.

You also have the option to 'Discover' a Travel Bug under the 'Found it? Log it!' menu. This log type is used when you see a Travel Bug in person, but are not planning to move it to another geocache. This log type will not add the Travel Bug in your trackable inventory.

Dropping off a Travel Bug

Once you log that you have retrieved or grabbed a Travel Bug, you can drop it into a cache. The cache listing acts as a virtual container allowing you to indicate that you have placed the Travel Bug in the physical cache.

If the Travel Bug has a goal, please try to follow the goal as best as you can . If the goal is to move the Travel Bug to the west coast, don't put the Travel Bug in a cache farther east.

Step 1. Visit the Cache Listing

Visit the cache listing for the cache in which you placed the Travel Bug.

If you already logged your find, don't panic! You can still post another log note.

Step 2. Visit the "log a cache" Page

As you normally log a find, click on the link to log the cache. You will need to log in first.

Step 3. Select the Travel Bug to drop off

After entering the text for your find, scroll down to see a list of Travel Bug Trackables in your inventory. Using the dropdown menu, select either "dropped off" to leave a Travel Bug in the cache, or "visited" to record a visit while still retaining possession of the Travel Bug. Once you are ready, click the button to submit your log.

Troubleshooting

There were no travel bug trackables listed on my "log a cache" page.

There are two possible reasons why the Travel Bug Trackables were not listed on your "log a cache" page.

Some cache types can't hold Trackables. This option will not show up for these cache listings.
Someone grabbed the Travel Bug from you before you were able to log it. Revisit the Travel Bug page to see if it was grabbed by someone else. If so, contact the user and see if you can grab it back to add your story to the Travel Bug Trackable's page. If you wait too long you may be unable to log your find if it has moved too far.

The Tracking Number doesn't work!

Is the tracking number you used the one that was stamped on the dog tag or geocoin?

Often, the Travel Bug reference number (aka "TB number") is confused with the tracking number. The "TB Number" is the reference code on each Travel Bug Trackable's page, which is the "safe" number to help users reference each Travel Bug without giving out the bug's actual tracking number. This will not work when picking up and grabbing Travel Bug Trackables.

If you send a request to http://www.geocaching.com/help for the tracking number and receive an automated response, the tracking number for the email message is not the Bug's tracking number.

If you lose the tracking number...

Try and contact the Travel Bug owner and ask them for the tracking number. As a policy, geocaching.com does not give out the tracking number to users who request it. The Travel Bug owner can ultimately decide whether to give it to you.

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Geocaching Travel Bug®

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The original Groundspeak® trackable. A Geocaching Travel Bug® is a unique tracking tag that you can attach to items and give them goals for others to try and complete!

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I found a Travel Bug®. What now?

Trackables (Travel Bug® and Geocoin) add a great twist to the Geocaching adventure but there can be some confusion as to what to do with them. Read below to get your questions answered.

You get 2 tags. 1 that travels and 1 to keep.

Jump Ahead To

What is a Travel Bug ® or Geocoin?

A Travel Bug® is a dog tag that is attached to another item (small stuffed animal, keychain, action figure, etc.) and has a special number assigned to it. The number is used to prove that a cacher discovered or picked up the tag. By entering the number here , you will be whisked away to the trackable’s web page where you will be given the following information:

Name – What the owner has named the tag
Release Date – When the Travel Bug®was set out on its journey
Origin – Where the release was made
Recently Spotted – Which cache the tag is currently in or the name of the Geocacher who has it in their possession.
Current Goal – This is the mission that the owner has dreamed up for the item. Some goals are to just travel from cache to the cache, where others are to visit caches with specific criteria (near Major League Baseball parks, the Eiffel Tower, etc.)
About This Item – Anything the cache owner wants you to know about the traveler.
Gallery Images – Pictures of the tag’s adventures
Tracking History – This is where you can see every hop the Travel Bug® has taken. The really cool feature here is the map that will show you every stop.

Click to go to this coin’s tracking page.

Geocoins are exactly like Travel Bugs® except they are a minted coin (like the military challenge coins). Sometimes you have to look on the edge to find the tracking number.

OK, so now you know what they are. It’s time to find out what to do with them. There are several scenarios that are likely. We’ll cover 4 of them.

How to Log Trackables:

You found it in a cache and you picked it up – When you get home to log the caches you found for the day, visit here . Type in the tracking number. Read all about it. Click on Add a Log Entry. Click the drop down for Type of Log and selected Retrieved from cache name. Check the date. The Tracking Number should be filled in for you. Add a comment and tell the owner about how you found their tag. Click on Submit Log Entry. The traveler will show up on your inventory list in the right column of your profile page. Now, find a cache that matches the bug’s Current Goal and place it there. When you log that cache select the Dropped option for that tag in your inventory.
You saw a Travel Bug® in a cache but you left it there – You do the same thing as in option 1 above but you select Discovered It as the Type of Log.
You got the tag from another Geocacher – Follow the steps in 1 above but select Grab It From Current Holder: cacher name. If the person you got it from has not logged it yet, use the Retrieve entry type. Don’t forget to use the Dropped option on the cache page when you place it in a cache.
You take the trackable to a cache but you don’t place it in the cache. When you log the cache as found select the Visited option for that trackable in your inventory section of the Found It log.

Some things you should know about Travel Bugs® and Geocoins :

Sometimes Travel Bugs® and Geocoins are NOT in caches as advertised. This could be for many reasons, the most common is that the cacher who took it out of the container hasn’t logged it yet.
It is generally considered fair game play to move the tag or coin in a reasonable amount of time which is about 2 weeks . Send a message to the owner if you will have to keep it longer (we all have life events that may affect when we can cache again)
Please respect the owner’s wishes and try to take it to somewhere that will get it closer to its Current Goal.
Don’t keep the tag or coin. The whole purpose of these game pieces is to travel. People pay their hard-earned money to watch it trek across the globe not become part of another cacher’s collection.
Generally tracking codes should not be published online in forums, Facebook, etc. If you take a picture of a tag or coin hide or blur the tracking code.

The Geocaching.com website will automatically keep track of all your trackable activities and this will add a new dimension to your caching. Watch as your stats quickly increase as you move trackables on their way. It is quite amazing how quickly something can travel across the country or across the world when Geocachers are involved!

Travel Bug® is a registered trademark of Groundspeak, Inc.

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How to Search for Good Travel Bug Hotels?

By BOTOCH April 18, 2021 in Trackables

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+ Max and 99

10 minutes ago, BOTO14 said: We just activated our first travel bug and we were hoping to put it in a travel bug hotel or somewhere where we know it will travel, like maybe off a rest area on a major highway or something similar. Are there ways to narrow searches specifically for travel bug hotels and any tips on how to know a good cache where travel bugs are taken for real travel and not just to be taken for swag or not get moved? Thanks!

It would be helpful to know the approximate location. There are sites for the most popular travel bug hotels.

Honestly, no - there's no good way to search for them. And if they have that in their name, that doesn't mean that they're reputable (i.e. your TB won't get stolen).

+ cerberus1

4 hours ago, BOTO14 said: We just activated our first travel bug and we were hoping to put it in a travel bug hotel or somewhere where we know it will travel, like maybe off a rest area on a major highway or something similar. Are there ways to narrow searches specifically for travel bug hotels and any tips on how to know a good cache where travel bugs are taken for real travel and not just to be taken for swag or not get moved?

You could do a search for the word hotel I guess, but you'd still miss a lot.

We never seemed to have much luck with "hotels". For us they've been more of a hoarder magnet than anything helpful.

Look for how many watches are on that cache may give a clue ...

We've found caches away from busy areas hold trackables safely, and wouldn't think of dropping someone's property in a busy area. YMMV...

Why do you have a different name for the forums ?

10 hours ago, Max and 99 said: It would be helpful to know the approximate location. There are sites for the most popular travel bug hotels.

South of Charlotte, NC.

5 hours ago, cerberus1 said: Why do you have a different name for the forums ?

Well the name here reflects when my wife and I opened the account back in 2005, well now we have an 11 year and she realized our name doesn't include her so we changed it to include her. I thought it changed it everywhere but for some reason not on the forums but I will see if I can change that to make it match our new geocaching name as well. We didn't want to start a whole new account and loose our logged caches.

Looks like signing out and back in made it match back up!

4 hours ago, BOTOCH said: South of Charlotte, NC.

https://www.geocaching.com/plan/lists/BM1YG3P?sort=name&sortOrder=asc&skip=0&take=50

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