Many people love watching their trackables make their way from cache location to cache location more than finding geocaches. Sometimes they even get to watch them travel out of this world (GC1BE91 – International Space Station).

It’s a Geocacher’s world

What are Trackables?

A trackable is like a physical game piece that is sometimes collected by individual geocachers and sometimes “dropped” in a geocache to be “discovered” and “moved” by other geocachers.  Each trackable is etched with a unique code that can be logged on geocaching.com so its movements can be tracked by the owner and those who find it. Often it is a dog tag attached to another special or unique item called a “hitchhiker” which the owner wants to share with the world.

Geocoins are also trackables which are customizable coins created by geocachers to be used as a type of calling card or to commemorate a special event.  Geocoins are more often collected by the owner and shares with others at event and gatherings, but will sometimes be found in a geocache.

Teddy Bear Trackable

Other trackables come in many forms, such as key chains, patches, geo-gems, license tags or window stickers.  I have even logged a trackable tattoo!

When you find a trackable

Not every cache contains trackables, but when you find one it is important to know what to do with it.

You are NOT required to do anything with trackables when you find them and if you don’t understand what to do, this is the best option to choose!

If you choose to play the trackable game, you have two options”

1. Discover it – You see a trackable in person, but do not intend to take it and move it to another cache, you would log that you discovered it.  To discover it, you would enter the unique tracking code on the geocaching.com website.  This will create a log of its present location or where you saw it and notify the owner that it is still active.
2. Move it – Taking it from the geocache and moving it to another location.  Many trackables have goals which the owner wants it to accomplish, such as, traveling to a specific location or visiting all of the waterfalls along its path.

It is important to remember the trackable already has an owner and that it is NOT yours to keep.  If you cannot help it along the path to reach its goal and place it in another geocache within a few weeks, it would be best if you go with option 1 or do nothing at all!!

Property of Alcatraz Trackable

How to log a trackable

1. When you decide to discover, move, or drop a trackable, you need to be sure to write the tracking code down or log it on the geocaching phone app immediately.
2. If you do not have access to the phone app, be sure to look up the trackable’s page on geocaching.com as soon as possible and log your actions there. To find its page, either go to the cache page where you found the trackable and look in the inventory or use the trackables search page.
3. Once you have reached the listing, you should write the owner a note letting them know that you found it and what you plan to do with it.  Sometimes you may want to add a picture of the trackable at a certain location or doing something(sometimes geocachers get really creative with this).  Just make sure you don’t show the tracking code in the photos.

So, now you know a little about trackables and what to do when you find one.  Now get out there, do some geocaching and find some trackables!

As I side note: I will be including photos of some of my trackables from time to time in random places on this site.  You are welcome to discover them if you find them.