TB visiting a Cache?

[+WarNinjas]

I was wondering how you all feel about your TB visiting caches when a cacher has it? When I log I picked up a TB my phone automatically logs them as visiting any cache I go to. I want to keep this setting for my personal TB to track all my finds. I can click to make one not visit a cache but would have to do it for each bug on every find. I try not to keep them very long but I also keep some until I can find the right cache I want for that TB. Even if I only keep it for a week it could have visited 20+ caches before I drop it. I see it kind of fills up there page. If you are in a race for getting to a lot of caches/distance it might be a good thing but I also think some TB owners might only want to see the grabbed it and dropped it off logs on there TB page. I believe one TB owner deleted all my visits down to only the found it and dropped off. I am fine with that but wondering if I am annoying other TB owners with all the visits. Not that I would do it all the time but if it is annoying to a TB owner I would make an effort to click on the not visited option for the bugs when I can remember. I would be happy to see my TB move anywhere as ours have mostly not moved at all. Just wondering your thoughts.

-WarNinjas

[+Walts Hunting]

Personally no more than one cache a day. I don't want to get 20+ logs in a day.

[+Bear and Ragged]

If it fills part of the TB's mission, or you can tell a good story for the log, fine, visit, otherwise why?

[+The Blorenges]

It doesn't "annoy" me - I like to see that a cacher has my trackable safe and is moving it around - but pages of just "XXXX took it to..." logs can be a bit dull. If the cacher has time to edit and add a comment later it makes it more engaging.

 

(Incidentally, re. Visit logs being deleted by trackable owners: I have a few trackables in races where the organisers have decided that mileage from Visit logs will not count towards the final results. This could be one explanation why some people may have delete those logs.

 

Edited to add... after thinking about it... I don't think deleting Visit logs will delete the mileage accrued by the Visit, although maybe some people think it does. Hmmm.)

 

MrsB

Edited December 7, 2011 by The Blorenges

[+NOSNOW]

To me it does not add anything to bug/coin but a bunch of logs on its page. It's not like the bug/coin actual spend any time in the cache or even seen the cache.

 

When I see one of my with a bunch of visit, I will delete them.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

A blow-by-blow breakdown of some thoughts here...

 

I was wondering how you all feel about your TB visiting caches when a cacher has it?

That's great, it shows movement and we like to see where our travelers have been to, but read on...

 

When I log I picked up a TB my phone automatically logs them as visiting any cache I go to.

Whereas it may just be me, I really, really, really dislike anything that is set to do things "automatically" -- for one thing, in 50+ years, I have found that it creates laziness. As you see, from somebody deleting the long list of visits, it may well bother others for different reasons. Think of this -- 40, 50, 60 or more "visits" w/o one solitary word of what a nice cache it is, or the trip to get there, a photo of that beautiful lake/waterfall/stream or the mess behind WallyWorld even -- all of this, with the caches anywhere from .1 mile apart to 3.68 miles (or something akin to that) apart.

 

I want to keep this setting for my personal TB to track all my finds.

Now, this I can see and understand why. We don't "visit" our personals with each and every cache as we strike out in different directions when we go caching. To do this inflates that "mileage" because of the criss-crossing, but that is just us. So far, multiple trips west for us would've really racked up a lot of "repeat" miles. We just don't do it that way. To each his/her own.

 

If you are in a race for getting to a lot of caches/distance it might be a good thing(...)

Many if not most of the TB "races" have a race rule against "dipping" or "visits" of multiple caches by a single cacher -- at least the ones that we have encountered. In those cases, ALL of them had that rule, only drop-offs and retrievals were counted. That rule may or may not disqualify a TB for that race. Ya gots to read the race rules for that TB instead of letting the "automatic" thing do it's number. If you have moved a lot of TB racers, thinking that you have really helped them, you may very well have put them out of the race (So much for that "automatic" log...)!

 

I believe one TB owner deleted all my visits down to only the found it and dropped off. I am fine with that but wondering if I am annoying other TB owners with all the visits.

You probably are not annoying all of the TB owners, but you obviously did one... with that being the case, you will invariably find others, too.

 

Not that I would do it all the time but if it is annoying to a TB owner I would make an effort to click on the not visited option for the bugs when I can remember.

This sounds like the best option, to me. True, if you are carrying a large number of travelers, it could be a pain if you are toting many travelers around. If that is the case, then perhaps you should rethink how many you are carrying at a time, and why.

 

A related matter comes up in the forums from time-to-time. Usually, it pertains to somebody holding a TB (or geocoin) for months on end, "visiting" each and every cache they go to. The owner comes to the forum and remarks that somebody is holding their trackable for a long time. A quick glance at the TB page shows two, three, four or more pages of "visits" and nothing else, all the while never having left the city of Atlanta or some such thing. Is it a pain? For some owners, it certainly could be. For others, not-so-much.

 

All-in-all, I would say the "auto-log" is something that could be done without, at least as far as "visits" go. In other circumstances, "auto-logging" may have its' place. Does it have an off/on switch?

 

That's my 3¢ worth (inflation).

[+NanCycle]

I was wondering how you all feel about your TB visiting caches when a cacher has it? When I log I picked up a TB my phone automatically logs them as visiting any cache I go to. I want to keep this setting for my personal TB to track all my finds. I can click to make one not visit a cache but would have to do it for each bug on every find. I try not to keep them very long but I also keep some until I can find the right cache I want for that TB. Even if I only keep it for a week it could have visited 20+ caches before I drop it. I see it kind of fills up there page. If you are in a race for getting to a lot of caches/distance it might be a good thing but I also think some TB owners might only want to see the grabbed it and dropped it off logs on there TB page. I believe one TB owner deleted all my visits down to only the found it and dropped off. I am fine with that but wondering if I am annoying other TB owners with all the visits. Not that I would do it all the time but if it is annoying to a TB owner I would make an effort to click on the not visited option for the bugs when I can remember. I would be happy to see my TB move anywhere as ours have mostly not moved at all. Just wondering your thoughts.

-WarNinjas

 

Thank you for asking; and thank you for the explanation (When I log I picked up a TB my phone automatically logs them as visiting any cache I go to.) The repeated "visits" are only mildly annoying as I don't get an email for each one; they only get really bothersome when I see a bunch of caches that the TB could have been dropped in and the cacher is still keeping it.

 

I won't be deleting the visit logs--and I won't be grumbling (too much) about them. In addition I second everything that Gitchee-Gummee said. (Except the part about not visiting their personal trackables at each cache--because that's a situation unique to them.)

[+WarNinjas]

Thanks for all the replies! That is why I was asking because I thought it looked weird as well. I don't think the bug owner gets a email except when it is dropped off but when they do they probibly look at it and think..What?? I will look into shutting it off or at least clicking them off from now on. I have one TB that we just keep as our shadow so we can view how far we have traveled on the map.

-WarNinjas

Edited December 8, 2011 by WarNinjas

[Pup Patrol]

I'm glad I don't get emails for every "visited" log, or I would have gone insane. As it is, I'm somewhat annoyed.

 

Holding onto the coin for over a month and logging 7 pages of "visited"...

 

http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=2999256&page=1

Edited December 8, 2011 by Pup Patrol

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

I'm glad I don't get emails for every "visited" log, or I would have gone insane. As it is, I'm somewhat annoyed.

 

Holding onto the coin for over a month and logging 7 pages of "visited"...

 

http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=2999256&page=1

Now that is a classic. Not one word of anything, nor any photos posted (as requested asking for photos of its' travels).

To add insult (of sorts), when first retrieved, the log says "will travel with it a bit and drop it off later this month"!

For sure a busy cacher, but.......

[7rxc]

I was wondering how you all feel about your TB visiting caches when a cacher has it? snip%<

-WarNinjas

 

I don't have the problem, no TB's, My few coins are for personal tracking.

I may have contributed to your defined 'problem' though... I had one TB for almost two years and logged most of it's travels as visits, but that was also unplanned and the result of some things beyond my control... AND I might add, I was in personal email contact with the owner throughout the process and he was aware of why, and enjoyed most of what went on through the pics! I have finally fulfilled my part of the arrangement and it is on it's way again thanks to it being moved out of it's desired location for the winter months... Now it is out of our hands, and we hope the current holder reads the mission sheet/TB Page well. The other one I don't visit since the owner has failed to respond to email in two years... I wanted to know what was going to be a new destination/mission. It will be released, once I find out what to do with it, General Travel or a similar but different 'mission'.

One could say that I made the same commitment to it that I did the other, but the drop spot wasn't suitable for the second ones needs.

 

One thought that comes to mind on the process, is if it is deemed to be undesireable, why is it a provided feature (Visiting)?

 

I realize that the main problem is with keeping them for longer than the two week window in this instance, but the complaint also seems to be with visiting (or dipping for that matter) at all to read some responses... Not sure why. I do think the idea of logging the better caches of a cluster, instead of all of them is valid. I did more on these two to fit better with the combined missions (in my opinion of course, and agreed to by the one owner who responded) it led to some enjoyable times for both of us.

 

The auto phone logs are probably the settings on whoever's phone more than intent, I think that it would be within the scope of a TB owners rights to thin out clusters that are over logged, but then the log is for the Cacher as well. All part of the cache/TB history that the space is provided to record for all to read. Gray area there for sure.

 

Doug 7rxc

[+ZombieDad]

I'm fairly new to this but it seems to me that the TB should be able to physically fit inside a cache. Is it proper for TBs to be logged as visiting caches too small to accommodate them?

[+t4e]

Personally no more than one cache a day. I don't want to get 20+ logs in a day.

 

you don't get emails for visits

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

I'm fairly new to this but it seems to me that the TB should be able to physically fit inside a cache. Is it proper for TBs to be logged as visiting caches too small to accommodate them?

Sure they can visit a cache that is too small. It would seem appropriate to "visit" a TB at a cache when you intended to place it there, but found out upon arrival that cache was too small to place it -- it happens.

 

Aside from that, a "visit" is perfectly acceptable at an EarthCache (no container at all)...

...and there is always the "person" personal trackable that probably wouldn't fit into a geocache anyway -- at least not without some discomfort. I was logged as placed into a geocache once, and it was a micro to boot! Dunno why the cacher wasn't satisfied with a "discover" log. Oh well, once I grabbed myself back (took a while to unfold these old legs), I went to the Stetson shop to get my hat re-shaped!

 

Yes, a "visit" is appropriate to most any cache.

[+Kochibu]

I think you should have a good reason to log a visit. I'd enjoy seeing those visited-logs if it actually is in some way TB-related...if it's just spamming to rack up some miles, I'd not be fond of it and delete the logs once the Cacher has dropped the TB (not earlier, because I'd not want to upset anyone holding my TB...). Be crative and write something about the TBs experiences...and TAKE PICTURES. These are probably most enjoyable for Owners and anyone who might come across the TB later.

 

Here are two examples of TBs I logged "visited" on (German, but you get the point):

 

http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=3823226

http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=3286909

Edited December 13, 2011 by Kochibu

[+dampan]

If visiting other caches are not within the TB's goal, leave it be! Visiting caches around town .25 mi-1 mi are meaningless if the bug is trying to get across the continent. My 2 cents worth.

[+BlueDeuce]

Keep in mind that any movement is better than none. I've had people Discover bugs instead of moving it because "they weren't going to the destination anytime soon". If all those people had moved them even .10 of a mile it would be that much closer to the goal.

 

On top of that I am happy if anyone picks up my bug, the point after all is to share the experience. If I get upset that someone visited a few caches then maybe I need to stick with just showing some geocoins at an event.

 

 

bd

Edited December 23, 2011 by BlueDeuce

[+dampan]

Keep in mind that any movement is better than none. I've had people Discover bugs instead of moving it because "they weren't going to the destination anytime soon". If all those people had moved them even .10 of a mile it would be that much closer to the goal.

 

On top of that I am happy if anyone picks up my bug, the point after all is to share the experience. If I get upset that someone visited a few caches then maybe I need to stick with just showing some geocoins at an event.

 

 

bd

[+dampan]

Keep in mind that any movement is better than none. I've had people Discover bugs instead of moving it because "they weren't going to the destination anytime soon". If all those people had moved them even .10 of a mile it would be that much closer to the goal.

 

On top of that I am happy if anyone picks up my bug, the point after all is to share the experience. If I get upset that someone visited a few caches then maybe I need to stick with just showing some geocoins at an event.

 

 

bd

OK, sombody grabs a bug, puts it in their pocket and visits a few other caches to log the bug's visits, then drops it near where they picked it up. If that's not the bug's goal, what's the point of the visits?

[+BlueDeuce]

OK, sombody grabs a bug, puts it in their pocket and visits a few other caches to log the bug's visits, then drops it near where they picked it up. If that's not the bug's goal, what's the point of the visits?

 

Someone picked it up, moved it around, actually logged it, and put it back. Considering the life of a bug, I don't see a problem.

[+Bhob]

some of the "blame" for all of this must be laid at the feet of Groundspeak

 

with a single click, they have made it possible for someone to have every trackable item that is currently in their inventory visit the geocache that they are logging

 

and, the way that the syetem works, you do not have the opportunity to post any comments (or photos) at the time that the visit (or drop, for that matter) is done - you must go to the trackable item page in order to do that - only a retrieve prompts you for a message at the time of the action

 

that said . . .

I am always happy to know that a trackable is still in play

no matter what is happening to it

I'd much rather see a bunch of visit logs, than no logs at all

[+BlueDeuce]

Ayep. On all points.

[+E_ZIG_A]

I like my TBs being visited; it shows they are still in the game. I personally visit other people's TBs into many of the caches I visit and more often than not I have a story and the odd photo to add as well. I like to look at the map of where a TB has been, as that pictorally shows the interesting path all of our TBs take on their journies! I think surely this is interesting, irrespective of a wordy log note?

[+BlueDeuce]

I like my TBs being visited; it shows they are still in the game. I personally visit other people's TBs into many of the caches I visit and more often than not I have a story and the odd photo to add as well. I like to look at the map of where a TB has been, as that pictorally shows the interesting path all of our TBs take on their journies! I think surely this is interesting, irrespective of a wordy log note?

 

The only way you are going to see a wordy log Note on a TB is if someone actually take the time to add it. It doesn't come form the cache log nor is a log available when you Drop it.

 

If I had my druthers, both Visited and Discovered would be removed as a TB option. It's for coins.

[+Seaglass Pirates]

I am a TB addict and cant wait for mine to put out. I would rather get mileage than not so fine by me...

Edited January 19, 2012 by Seaglass Pirates

[+and off we go]

I figure once the TB is out there I really do not have controll over it. Do as you will I am just glad it is moving and not MIA. Most of my bugs are my kids and they like to hear that their bug was in such and such location and look at it in the map. It is a bit of a geography lesson for them. My kids are adopted and this makes the world a little more than where they are right now.

Thanks for moving TB's !!!!!!