Bugs while Geocaching?

Yes, you can get bugs while Geocaching, travelbugs that is, also known as trackables or a TB. A trackable is a physical game piece that is normally supposed to move from Geocache to Geocache. They vary in size and shape and can be very small or very large. My car is a trackable. I purchased a sticker that has a home on my car’s back window and anyone can “discover” it. It doesn’t matter where you see a trackable tag on a vehicle. Take a picture and discover it.

Any Geocacher can own a trackable. They are available from several sources with the most common being Geocaching.com or Landsharkz.com. Once you have one it can be activated in your name (usually your geocaching name), given a description and mission and placed in a geocache that is large enough for it to fit into. The geocaches that are large enough are sometimes called TB hotels and will usually hold several TBs.

You can follow it around online. Make sure that you keep a record of the TB number to do this with. Each TB has its own web page diary that follows its movements. The owner and any finder are able to follow it around.

Trackables can be sent out on their own or can be attached to another object with which it will travel around with. This item is known as a “hitchhiker” and is usually somehow related to the name that is given to the trackable. The name is something that the owner will give it.

As you wander around looking for the geocaches you are eventually going to come across a TB. You can do one of two things with it.

You can discover it. The easy way to do this is to record the number that is on it either with a pen and paper or take a photo with your phone. When you return home go online and record it under the “trackables” tab. It is also possible to record it with a phone app while still with the geocache that it is in.

You can also take it with you to drop off at another geocache. You should go to the same tab at geocache.com as you would with discovering it and log that you have picked it up. Until you do drop it off at another geocache you will be able to log a visit at every geocache that you find, it will remain in your online inventory until you drop it off at another cache or someone grabs it from you.

A TB that you have picked up should be dropped off at another geocache within about two to three weeks. There are a lot of reasons that you may take longer though. You may not come across a geocache that is big enough to drop it off in during that period. You can also hang on to it to help complete a part of its mission. For instance, if the mission is to get to Germany and you will be visiting France in four or five weeks, then hang on to it until then.

Unless the owner has stated in the write-up that you may keep the TB please do not keep it. A TB is meant to travel sometimes to a certain destination and sometimes just anywhere.

At times you may find one that has not been activated. You should try to find who dropped it off by checking the online logs. If there is no way to find the owner then you are free to activate it yourself. 

There are opportunities to obtain free TBs. Sometimes a Reviewer may show up at an event and hand out a TB that has on it “You have met a geocaching community volunteer”. This has a trackable number on it and can be activated in your name. On other occasions you may get one as a prize or at an event.

I have several out there. My first one was picked up by someone that decided not to continue geocaching after their first find and my TB has not moved from their inventory since. Another went from Winnipeg out to the east coast, all the way down the eastern seaboard to DC, back to New Brunswick and out to Europe where it visited several countries and is presently in Germany. As someone said recently, it’s a gamble, but a lot of fun following them.

Have fun with your bugs and hopefully I’ll see you on the trail.