Table of Contents

Cover Page

The Care and Feeding of Travel Bugs

The Utah Travel Bug Race

Lizard Toads in Operation Desert Command - Part 1

Regular Features

Updates and Notes

Chuckles

Credits

OK, so you're out caching, and you come across an item with a silver metal "dog tag" attached. What do you do?

Well, you can write down the number, log that you found it, and forget about it, OR... you can develop a personal relationship with the little fellow! Call us nutty nurturers, but we are just drawn to take these guys in and give them some TLC before sending them back out into the big wide world. Consequently, we have travel bug buddies all over the country!

If you want to go above and beyond the casual handling of TBs, here are some ways that you, too, can become a friend to travel bugs:

1. Take them home. Because most travel bugs don't include an itinerary, we generally take them home to do a little research. When we log the pickup, we read all about our new houseguest. The web page usually tells us why this TB started traveling, its goals, and where it has been so far. We enjoy reading other cachers' comments about the travel bug, and we like to look at any pictures that have been posted. You might be surprised at how much personality some of these guys have! Take a look at the description for "Dinner & A Movie Melanie", and you'll understand how someone could get personally involved with a mere travel bug.

2. Make needed repairs. Our house is somewhat of a travel bug hospital. We have glued broken pieces, stitched splitting seams, and washed off a lot of dirt. (I might note that after we gave Melanie a bath and combed her hair, she got a lot more dates). We try to make sure each traveler is in good enough condition to hold up through further travels-that might mean laminating paper tags, attaching the metal ID tag more securely, or putting the whole thing in a sturdy Ziploc bag.

Editor's Note: The Washington State Geocaching Association (WSGA) has an online utility you can use to create a "Travel Bug Instruction Sheet".

3. Add an information card. If a travel bug includes no notation of its goals, a well-meaning cacher might move it in entirely the wrong direction. Or worse, an inexperienced cacher might think it's a regular trade item and simply keep it. If a travel bug has only the dog tag, we often add a card that states the bug's goals. We get this information directly from the TB's web page, using the owner's own words. On the back of the card, we include a short explanation of what to do with a travel bug.

4. Plan an adventure. We like to put some thought into what each specific travel bug would like to do.

We took "Major Tom" to the Clark Planetarium.

We took "Little A's Fish" to a swimming pool.

"El Toro" went in search of other cows.

We find there are plenty of things right in our house that travel bugs enjoy, including lots of friends to visit with.

"Jeremy's Blue Hornet" goes to a fly-in.	"Rover 3" shows his stuff.	"Love-a-Lot My Grandkids" (front & center) attends a family reunion.
"Slipper" the dog meets a friendly cat.	"Winnie" finds a great treat.

5. Take pictures. Most travel bug owners are eager to see what their bugs are up to, and pictures are universally appreciated. When the owner of "Three Horn" told us that the 6-year-old who started it was making a scrapbook of the dinosaur's travels, we were inspired to add more pictures to our log. Since then, I always imagine a child waiting eagerly for news of his or her traveler.

Three Horn talks with a big friend.

Three Horn goes sledding.

Three Horn visits the Holy Babe.

Our penchant for photographing travel bugs sometimes leads to embarrassment as we snap pictures in public places of what look like silly toys. But, hey, it's for a good cause, right? One of us hid his face when we took this shot of Melanie at a Jazz game.

"Colby's Police Van" takes a break with his buddies.

With some creative photo editing, you can even give your TBs imaginary adventures.

Important Note: When photographing travel bugs, make sure their ID tag number isn't showing.

6. Place it in the right cache. After we have taken loving care of a travel bug, we can't place it in just any old cache. Of course we make our best effort to help the bug accomplish its goals. We also consider whether there is a clearly appropriate cache for the bug. For example, we put "LOTR-GIMLI" into the "Lord of the Rings #10-Mordor" cache. The mysterious "Senor Misterioso" went into the equally secretive "Stomper's Mission Impossible" cache. "Go-Go-Frog" felt at home in a cache near some ponds. If no cache fits the travel bug's theme, maybe you could even create one: "Travelling Pooh" inspired the placement of "Edge of the Hundred Acre Wood"!

We try not to put travel bugs in caches that are seldom visited. If we placed a TB in a five-star difficulty or terrain cache (not that we've ever been to one of those), chances are good that it would be sitting there a long time. If we place a bug in late fall, we consider whether the cache will be accessible in winter.

We also don't like to place travel bugs in caches that are not well concealed or that are in high-traffic areas. If the cache is stolen, the bug will probably never be seen again. Poorly maintained caches are also not the place for beloved TBs. Your new friend could suffer damage from a cracked lid or from being crammed into an overly-full cache.

Take good care of any travel bugs that come into your possession, and you will be rewarded with memories of every TB on your list-and often by a thank-you e-mail from the travel bug's owner.