GeoSnippoits Reboot Podcast: Episode 009 - Geocaching Trackables

Here is episode 009 of the GeoSnippits Reboot Podcast.

Recorded LIVE at the GeoSnippits Studios in Raleigh, NC on March 14, 2013

Tonight's show -- It's the hitchhiking guidelines of our favorite geocaching game pieces the travelers (travel bugs, travel tags and Geocoins). Host Andy HeadHardHat Smith and Dave Debaere discuss a full hours worth of geocaching insights dealing with travelers. So what are they? What do they do in the geocaching world? What makes the difference between travelers and geocaching swag? All of this is discussed and more. So everything you want to know about travel bugs, travel tags and geocoins and so much more.

It is an episode you do not want to miss.

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions for the show you can call our voice-mail at (919) 341-9519.



If you can't see the video above you can see it here on YouTube: http://youtu.be/PZV7sGN8ibQ OR
Listen on our GeoSnippits Reboot Podcast website: http://www.geosnippitsreboot.com
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On Your Mark, Get Set -- Geocaching Travel Bug Races!

You can almost feel the anticipation when ever this one particular style of geocache racing is about to begin. Each of the racers are poised for the start and all eager to be the first to the finish line. Get Ready.. Set.... GO!


No I am not referring to going down to your local speedway where you can smell the exhaust and feel the sound of the cars as they wiz past. Instead I am talking about a Geocaching race using travelers better known as Travel Bugs thus a travel bug race. 

Over the years I have participated in several travel bug races and they can have all the spills, chills and thrills as the auto ones. So how do they work?

The concept is simple with some variants depending on who are actually running them. In a nutshell all you need are a bunch of geocachers who are willing to enter their own travel bug for the race itself. A race can be tracked by distance in an allotted amount of time, point system which can be calculated until a certain point amount is achieved or the most points based on an amount of time or a combination of the above.  The idea is an official starting date begins the race and a finishing goal ends it. Who ever achieves the goal the best- wins.

Depending on how the race starts there can either be all the racers begin in the same geocache at once or they must be registered into a geocache somewhere on a particular date. Then it is up to other geocachers to find them and move them from geocache to geocache. It can be a lot of fun to watch and also a bit frustrating at times. Just like any race things happen. Your racer could be held for an extended period of time by a geocacher who doesn’t realize it is in a race. It can go the wrong way instead of what the goal states. They can be lost, forgotten or misplaced. On the flip side a geocacher can take the racer to a distant country tacking on big miles. You just never know. Either way I highly recommend starting or participating in a travel bug race when you get a chance. At the very least it is a great way to meet fellow geocachers. At best, them be some great bragging rights!
I you have any questions about travel bug races be sure and email me. I will be glad to tell you what I know.

- HHH


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Where In The World Is Pete The Parrot? Groningen, Netherlands

Well know geocaching travel bug Pete The Parrot

Ah, world renown travel bug Pete the Parrot (TB21K5T) has been on the move again and back in January traveled an additional 11,378 miles from New Zealand all the way up to the Netherlands. Pete is one well traveled party animal with well over 36,000 miles under his belt.

Pictured below Pete is making a new friend at a game preserve called The Parrot Place near Kerikeri.

Pete The Parrot has been travelling the world since April of 2008 and has been enjoying all the fun and excitement down under. Even though the temperatures are not as warm where he is now. Pete stayed for quite the extended stay in Europe back in 2010.

If you want to check out Pete's map, photos and everything else he has been up to visit geocaching.com and use the travel bug code of TB21K5T. Enjoy.

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Geocaching Travel Bugs Can Go Away For A While: Green Dragon

Guardian Angel the Green Dragon is back in geocaching circulation.

I have had geocaching travel bugs disappear for a long time. Many never to be seen or heard from again. So it is always nice to see one come back from the great beyond and placed back into the wild.

For example my Guardian Angel the Green Dragon travel bug which was last reported way back in August 29 of 2010 suddenly was placed in a geocache today I was very pleased to see this.

Green Dragon was placed June 10th, 2008 and has accumulated a modest 1600 miles. If you want to learn more as to why it is so duly named and his travel exploits go to geocaching.com and check out TB26XYW.




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Discovering a Geocaching Traveller in Sputnik 2010

Recently I attended a really cool Geocaching event hosted by none other than the Dirtbag Geocaching Society. I will be telling more about this event and the DGS in a not so distant future posting. In fact we featured them in an upcoming Geocaching World (RVNN.tv) episode. Until then let me tell you about a travel bug I discovered there that did some real out of this world traveling.


Meet "Bryan Lightyear" (TB3XWR8) a founder's gnome tag that has been transferred into a near-space astronaut. Bryan was one of three travel bugs that were placed in a geocache, attached to a weather balloon and shot 101,000 feet into the air. It landed 124 miles from where it took off and is now a multi-cache.

Stage one is where it took off and stage two is where it landed. Not only is this such an amazing idea to begin with, the photos that were shot during the flight are breathtaking. You can read all the details at the Sputnik 2010 project's main website here:
http://gaia.terrasunder.org/

I want to thank DantonioG and the rest of the geocachers at the Dirtbag Geocaching Society event for all the information and really amazing discoveries.

-HHH


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This Week On Michigan Magazine TV - Show 1602: Gregory Madden/Carver & Andy Smith Geo-Travelers

You can see MMTV on the RFDTV Network

Recorded on 1/12/2011 Join Michigan Magazine's Barry Stutesman for visit with Alger, Michigan backwoods carver Gregory Madden as he shares his love of carving, wood, bone, antler and horns, into keepsake masterpieces.

Then we review the Michigan Book: LADIES OF THE LIGHTS. A book documenting the Lady Lighthouse keepers on the Great Lakes.

Then Andy Smith discusses Geo-travelers on today's GEOSNIPPITS



If you cannot see the viewer above please click the link below to see the entire episode:
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/11968733

You can see Michigan Magazine Television twice each week on the RFDTV Network. We are seen in all 50 states!

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Where In The World Is Pete The Parrot? North Island, New Zealand

I received a status on Pete The Parrot one of my well traveled travel bugs. Pete is a party animal and apparently has whooped it up pretty good in the North Island, New Zealand area. Currently on the move in the hands of a geocacher named The Toffeez. Pete had quite the new year already. One of the things I also thought really cool were all the photos taken of him while he has been in NZ. Here is one of the more recent shots.

Pete The Parrot enjoying some NZ foliage

I am so glad on how well Pete has been taken care of on his adventures and really want to thank everyone involved. 

Currently Pete has over 23,000 miles under his wing with much more to come. You can check out his page here:
http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?guid=e4e943e3-ea67-405b-96c5-eaa278109f82 and his public ID tag is TB21KST.

Party on Pete!





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This Week on Michigan Magazine TV - GeoSnippits Make Your Own Travel Bug

Recorded on 12/1/2010 14 yr old Vicksburg singer Megan Rae has an update on her career.

Then Head Hard Hat Geocaching Guru Andy Smith shows us how to make a Travel Bug on todays Geosnippits..

Plus we review the book TEN LESSONS LEARNED by Mi. author Janet Mary Senki of St. Johns Mi.



If the player above is not accessible see the entire show on Ustream: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/11188516

GeoSnippits Geocaching Videos twice each week on Michigan Magazine TV (RFDTV Network).

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GeoSnippits - Make Your Own Geocaching Travel Bug

Pete The Parrot is a real party animal travel bug.

It never fails, not that it is a bad thing mind you. I have a tentative list of all the GeoSnippits videos that I want to do in the near future. Hundreds of them actually but I usually keep a list of about thirty near me at all times. I was just about to start the next on the list and suddenly I get a bunch of requests from our viewers that pertain to a subject I had no intention of doing right now but how can I let down my peeps? So that is why out of the blue I created this latest GeoSnippits - Make Your Own Geocaching Travel Bug. I literally received five requests from different viewers in the same week. So why not?

This is actually a really informative and fun video to watch. Filmed almost entirely in green screen we show you how to make your own travel bug, register it on geocaching.com, package it so it is ready to go into the wild and finally actually show you it's placement into a nearby travel bug hotel.

By the way I don't actually note in the video that you can purchase travel bug id tags just about anywhere online. There are tons of online stores that sell them and they cost about $5.00US.

Hope you enjoy this informative GeoSnippits geocaching video and keep those suggestions coming cus yours might be the next one.

-HHH



If the video player does not show the video you can get a direct link here at you tube:
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Where In The World Is Pete The Parrot? - New Zealand

Apparently my travel bug Pete The Parrot (TB21K5T) has heard about the amount of miles his fellow traveler Wolfgang Von Pitter Pat (TB21K6H) has put on recently.

Not to be undone, Pete has now flown from China to New Zealand for an addition of 6,469 miles. This puts Pete in the lead for total miles with an accumulation of 22,133 to Wolfgang's impressive 21,083.

What is in store for either travel bug is uncertain but it is such a thrill watching them go from one country to the next. Pete is such a party animal. Let's see where they go next.

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Who Says Penguins Can't Fly - TB Wolfgang Von Pitterpat Update

                                                                                                 

Who says that penguins can't fly. 

My daughter Geoness's geocaching travel bug Wolfgang Von Pitterpat (TB21K6H) has just put on 10,572.67 miles in one swoop. The flight went from Southern England, UK to Victoria, Australia. Which means this is the closest to Wolfgang's goal of actually visiting Antarctica that it has ever been.


The total miles under this pesky penguin's belt is now 21083.1 miles. That beats our party animal Pete the Parrot (TB21K5T) who now is in second with 15664.1 miles and is currently enjoying China.


It never ceases to amaze me how and where geocaching travel bugs can end up. With any luck Wolfgang will hook up with a military person who will take him to his goal into the frozen tundra of Antarctica.




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Where In The World Is Pete The Parrot?

Pete The "Party Animal" Parrot

Pete The Parrot is a real party animal. He is a geocaching travel bug but he is a real party animal.

For about the last two years Pete has been swinging the night life in the country of Germany. I am not sure why he liked it so much but overall he moved from one geocache to the next about two dozen times. This of course doesn't count his hiatus while being in possession of a dead geocacher (not making this up). Overall it's been an interesting journey for Pete and it appears to only be getting wilder.

Pete is now in Beijing, China. The geocache is GC1TCE6 - Olympic Forest Park and is the site of the 2008 Olympic games. This amazing little travel bug now has over 15664 miles under his, err, wing.

UPDATE: Within hours of being dropped off someone has already picked up Pete and he is off to party somewhere else.

Go Pete Go!


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Travel Bug Wolfgang Von PitterPat is now in Europe

On an April day in 2008. I believe the sun was shining and the air smelled of honeysuckle. My then 11 year old daughter looked at me with her crystal blue eyes and said, "Daddy, Wolfgang Von PitterPat is going to be okay, right?"

I smiled at my child and said, "Why sure darling, this little travel bug will see the world and go places you might want to visit some day. It will be just fine."

So we took little Wolfgang (a Chinstrap Penguin) to it's first drop off point which was one of my nearby geocaches and it disappeared into the wild.

Little did I know then of the life expectancies of a Travel Bug or Geocoin in the geocaching world. For many, the fates cause them to be lost, stolen, destroyed and just plain misplaced for years at a time. I know of several geocachers who have put out hundreds of travel bugs only to have just a few still in circulation. Then there are the others who chug along happily as they get picked up from one geocache and dropped back into another as they attempt to reach some goal. As far as Wolfgang goes he is on one crazy ride to Antarctica where he wants to meet up with some of his real time buddies.

Until recently Wolfgang has stayed in the United States traveling from one coast to the next. He made it big when his travels included being with the Subaru Leave No Trace gang for a month or two and was given a whole new set of bling.

They took him all over the place on the west coast and even wrote a couple of articles about him in their newsletters.

You can check them out here.

http://headhardhat-geocache.blogspot.com/2009/10/update-to-tb-wolfgang-von-pitterpat.html

Now after 10510+ miles Wolfgang Von PitterPat finds himself in the United Kingdom. Who knows what adventures await him overseas? What I can tell you is every time I give my now 14 year old daughter updates about it. Her eyes sparkle just a little more blue than usual. Sure bad things can happen to these travelers but the fun of watching them go over the years is worth the risk.

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Where in the World is Pete the Parrot? The Black Forest

Oh this is so awesome.

My buddy Pete the Parrot who is THE true party animal has been hanging around Europe for quite some time. Well now he is partying in The Black Forest of Unterbraend.

A geocacher, EinHaufchenSand, took these photos when he visited the geocache that Pete is currently residing in.

I don't know about you but I want to go geocaching in the Black Forest.

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HHH's Lunchtime GotD - What a Cluster

Geocaching cluster that is. You see when you have an area that is saturated with geocaching finds it is commonly known as a cluster. That would be a play on words... Mmmm hmmm. Oh look at the cute bunny travel bug...

Anyways, I have cleared out all the easy lunchtime geocaches around my workplace so I have moved my searching to an area about four miles west of me. The area is accessible via the freeway so commute time is minimal. It should take me a couple of months to clear this area out as well.

Today's find was a really sweet ammo box in a slightly wooded area. The sun was shining, the birds singing and the warmth of the sun on your face.. What more do you want? Okay lots of geocaching finds but that is a given.

Time for a quick ride via the drive-thru and on to the rest of the work day.. Tally Ho!

-HHH

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Where in the World is Pete the Parrot?

Well apparently my travel bug Pete the Parrot is back to his wondering ways. He attended a geocaching event in Germany over the weekend where he was discovered about a dozen times and since then has landed in Espace Mittelland, Switzerland (BE/SO) that is about 335.6mi S of where he was.

Pete has 10617 miles as the crow flies and it now does not appear to be slowing down. I hope he sends back some nice photos of his time in Switzerland.

Go Pete Go! What a party animal.

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TB Pete The Parrot Back To His Partying Ways

Okay this one falls under the category of "never expected this, now what?".

Pete the Parrot is a real party animal. He is a travel bug that went into the wild way back in April of 2008. Since then Pete left the United States in August,2008 in search of the companionship with geocachers abroad.

Pete has partied in Turkey, Oppland, Sweden, Islas Baleares and over a year ago landed in Nordrhein-Westfalen. He has seen more of the world and hung out in more interesting places than I can only dream of.

Then suddenly around September of last year Pete stopped moving. I didn't really notice until recently and sent out an email to the last person who recorded having him. The response that came back sort of bugged me a bit.

Apparently the geocacher who had found Pete in September had died. The email was from his wife who said she had found Pete with the geocaching stuff left by her husband and that she would get him back in circulation soon. I wrote back and gave my condolences and thanked her for getting Pete back into the wild.

Now how many times does something like that happen? I have heard of travel bugs being lost, stolen or abandonded by noob geocachers who lost interest in the game but to loose a travel bug due to a geocachers death? Hit me odd for some reason.

Has anyone heard of this happening before? Let me know.

-HHH


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Update To TB Wolfgang Von PitterPat

Was just checking on my daughter's Travel Bug 'Wolfgang Von PitterPat" and found out he has some new tags added and some great new pics as it had travelled with the Leave No Trace Travelling Trainers.

I first found Wolfgang with the Leave No Trace crew completely by chance as I was wondering the Internet one day. You can read that article here: Geocaching 101…We Need Your Help

Now there is a Part Deux which furthers the adventures of Wolfgang as he says good-bye and is placed in a new cache within the southwest. Find out what and where with all the information and photos here: Geocaching 101: Part Deux.

I want to thank the Leave No Trace crew for taking such great care of Wolfgang it was greatly appreciated by both myself and my daughter.

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Please don't forget to visit our GeoSnippits Geocaching Tutorial Videos Website at http://www.geosnippits.com

Small World For Wolfgang Von PitterPat

Oh this is just way too cool. A few days ago I was paroozing around the Internet looking at geocaching articles within blogs. I just happened to run across The Travelling Trainers - Leave No Trace Blog and what instantly caught my eye was the photo of a travel bug. It was of a penguin that looked exactly like my daughter Miss Geoness's Wolfgang Von PitterPat.

So I end up writing to the authors and asked if this was indeed Wolfgang. I just received the following email from them:

"Hey HeadHardHat! Yes, the TB in our picture and until this morning in our Subaru is none other than Wolfgang Von PitterPat! Very exciting, tell your daughter that he is doing great and check back soon for more pictures and another blog about Von Pitterpat's adventure with the Subaru/Leave No Trace traveling trainers! "

What a small world.

Now the shot itself is gorgeous and you will have to go to the link below to see their article:

http://travelingtrainers.blogspot.com/2009/10/geocaching-101we-need-your-help.html

it is well worth the read and you may even help decide where Wolfgang goes next. Check it out!

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The Great HOOHAA Travel Bug Race In Home Stretch

Hard to believe it will be one year this October 16th when nine brave travel bugs set out on a race that would take them to all corners of the globe. Some placed amazing amounts of miles under their belts while others not so much. A few seem to be missing and we have not heard from for a while. All travel bug racers to the end.

Below are the current standings for all of the HooHAA racers as of today. You can see all the information and the final conclusion this October 16th at the bottom right of my blog:
GeoCache: I'm NOT Obsessed... Right?
http://headhardhat-geocache.blogspot.com/

The Great HOOHAA Travel Bug Race

GCName: softball29 Name:P.J. From:Upstate, New York TB: HooHaa Race: Champion Quilt Miles To Date:1157.8mi Last Location: MAINE

GCName: golfgunny Name:John From:Okinawa, Japan TB: Gunny's HooHaa Race Electric Bug Miles To Date:6517.7mi Last Location: MISSING???

GCName: HeadHardHat Name:Andy From:Raleigh, NC TB: Just A Nut Miles To Date:3729.3mi Last Location: Northern Scotland

GCName: Hicks at Heart/ Name:Josh From:Temecula, CA TB: HooHaa TB Race: Hick's World Miles To Date:3934.1mi Last Location: Maryland

GCName: EMC of Northridge, CA Name:Elin From:Northridge, Calif. TB: EMC's Chocolate Chip Cookie Miles To Date:1619.4mi Last Location: Wyoming

GCName: o0jonna0o Name:Jonna From:South Carolina TB: Kiss My Cache's Peace Luv and Travel Bugs! Miles To Date:2457.7mi Last Location: MISSING???

GCName: Go_Man Name: From:Nova Scotia, CanadaTB: GoGo T. Urtle’s Miles To Date:135.2mi Last Location: Nova Scotia, Canada

GCName: Tonka_Boy Name: From:Central Minnesota TB:HooHaa TB Race: Geocats Racer Miles To Date:669.4mi Last Location: MISSING???

GCName: TripCyclone Name:Jeff From:Missouri TB:HooHaa TB Race - Easy Flyer Miles To Date:9672.8mi Last Location: Arizona

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Please don't forget to visit our GeoSnippits Geocaching Tutorial Videos Website at http://www.geosnippits.com