A hobo about to go traveling

Hi guys, I've just discovered a new hobby quite by accident. Whilst looking at hobo nickels on Ebay I noticed something called a geocoin. After a bit of research I found that its part of a world wide game called 'geocaching'. It involves using a handheld gps to find what's known as a cache. You can then either exchange an item from the cache with something else and/or fill in a log to say you found it. My wife and dog like the walking aspect and I like the challenge and the gadget. More can be found on the subject at www.geocaching.com

The caches often contain 'geocoins' or 'travel bugs' which are items that are not for keeps but are meant to travel from cache to cache. Someone finds it and then moves it on to another geocache somewhere else. Often these items might have a specific goal. With this in mind I bought a travel bug tag and knocked out a basic hobo nickel (it only took 20 minutes) on a worn coin. Hopefully we'll be placing it in it's first cache this weekend.

The hobo's name is "Bert" and his aim is to make it back to the USA and travel to all 50 States. You can follow his travels if you like by going to geocaching.com and then searching the trackable items. Bert's tracking number is TB3ENF5. I wonder how far he'll get and where he'll pass through on his travels?

2O minutes Marcus Bert looks great!
That pastime is quite popular here in Finland since there is so much forest area.
Was thinking of giving that a go as the kids would love it, maybe Bert might do a visit here sometime

That says two things to me Marcus.

The first is that you have too much time on your hands.

And the second is that it sounds like an awful lot of fun

Cheers
Andrew

What a cool idea - and I'm sure as it passes through each persons hands they will wonder about who made it and where it will eventually end up.

Yes sounds like a great idea. At least I would like to know who made this coin if I wasn't a familiar with engravings.

arnaud

Scratch your website on it and get some free advertising going!

Thats a thought Chris!

Marcus,
There are a couple of us Hobo nickel carvers that are also geo-cachers. Geo-caching is awesome fun! I am in the process of of doing a travel bug attached to a 2010 OHNS token. My nickel carving was used for the reverse of the 2010 token. I hoping the travel bug makes it to all 50 states also. It will be fun to see where it travels.
Amy

Marcus,
Before geocaching, there was Scouting and something called "The Campfire Ashes."
Mine originated at a campfire held during a Wood Badge ceremony at Gilwell Field in 1954.

Ashes are taken from a campfire and distributed to the participants who take them home, along with a list and a printed sheet to be read at the conclusion of future campfires. Each participant adds his bag of ashes to future campfires he attends, reads the ceremony sheet, adds the name and place of the campfire to the list, and distributes it to the particpants. This becomes a geometric progression as the ashes journey around the world. Mine have been to Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada, South America, and the USA. They have attended most national and international jamborees on their travels. My list has several hundred locations and campfires on it.

If you know the significance of the Wood Badge, I have 3 beads.

Marcus,
Very Nice....
It is LOTS of FUN, a GPS tracker and off you go on an adventure....
Please, keep us updated on your Hobo's journey.
Take Care,
Stephen