Once in a while, I come across a nice little piece of information that would be great for reference. Sometimes it is something that most of us know, but put succinctly so that when asked by a newbie or an oldbie who just never knew, it is easily markwelled.

This time I found it in my E-Mailbox. It came from Geocaching.com in my weekly notification. It's not a hugely complete list of information about travel bugs, but it is a great start. I am sure with all the input from our fine members we could expound on the topic. Besides it's been a little quiet in here.

Here it goes:

I. Missing Travel Bugs
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Despite geocacher's best efforts and good intentions, Travel Bugs are sometimes lost. If you feel you have misplaced a Travel Bug, email the owner immediately and let them know. If you are Travel Bug owner and are wondering what to do, here are a few recommendations:

1. Send a polite email to the geocacher who last grabbed your Travel Bug and remind them of its goal. Please allow adequate time before sending this message; remember that this geocacher may be on vacation or have other extenuating circumstances for which they cannot go geocaching.

2. If you have not received a response and you feel your Travel Bug is lost forever, mark the Travel Bug as "missing" so that another geocacher does not expect to find it in a cache.

3. To prevent your Travel Bug from being lost or mistaken as a signature item, place it a zip-loc bag with a printed mission. The more obvious you make it, the less likely it will be kept as a trading item.