The long journey of our Aquarius Travelbug

Almost 20 years ago, we released a little traveler into the world: A travelbug we placed on the Kamloops Rivers Trail in British Columbia, Canada.

A what?

A travelbug is a trackable item used in Geocaching, which is essentially a worldwide treasure hunt. Players get coordinates and clues online, then use a GPS to track down the hidden “cache.” At the final location, you might find a plastic container or metal box with a notebook inside. You sign the logbook, record your find online, and sometimes trade small trinkets like stickers, toy cars, or rubber balls. The rule is simple: if you take something, you leave something.

Among these little treasures you might discover a trackable. The basic version is a “dog tag” with a unique code. Cachers often attach a keychain, toy, or souvenir to it and give it a mission — for example, to visit every U.S. state or to reach a particular landmark.

Back in 2006, when we were more active cachers, I loved this concept. I would even plan cache hunts specifically to find a travelbug I had spotted online, often because it had a fun attachment like a teddy bear. Of course, things didn’t always go as planned — sometimes the bug wasn’t there anymore, or someone had forgotten to log it.

We released many of our own travelbugs, including a whole series of twelve inspired by the zodiac signs. Our Aquarius travelbug came with this mission:

Please only take it if you are a member of this specific sign or if you know another Geocacher of this sign who can grab it from you. In your log please let us know to what degree the statements about your sign are true! Then place the TB in the next cache.

Aquarius, as we described it: Friendly and humanitarian, honest and loyal, original and inventive, independent and intellectual. Intractable and contrary, perverse and unpredictable, unemotional and detached.

From Kamloops to the World

After its release, Aquarius bounced around caches in British Columbia for a few years. In 2010 it began a real adventure: first to Alberta, then Las Vegas, and later all the way to England and Scotland. By 2013, however, it was marked as missing; a common fate for travelbugs.

Then, against all odds, it resurfaced in Vancouver in 2019! From there it traveled widely again, including a long tour of New England with a cacher named Rawhyd, who even took a photo before releasing it back into the wild.

Most recently, Aquarius reached a Mega-Event in August 2024.

Wait, what’s a Mega-Event?

Geocaching events are organized gatherings of players; anything from coffee meetups to group hikes. Some special categories include:

• CITO (Cache In, Trash Out): Events dedicated to cleaning up nature or restoring trails.

• Mega-Event: A gathering with 500+ attendees. These often feature vendors, activities, and side events.

• Giga-Event: A rare giant meet-up with 5,000+ attendees.

Events are prime opportunities to exchange travelbugs, which is how Aquarius kept moving. After the Mega-Event, it traveled through Iowa, Wyoming, Montana, Oregon, Illinois, and is now back in Iowa.

A Survivor among Dozens

Most travelbugs vanish over time; they’re forgotten, misplaced, or even kept as souvenirs. Out of the twelve zodiac travelbugs we released nearly two decades ago, the fact that Aquarius is still active feels like a small miracle.

That’s why I wanted to share its story with you. Who knows? Maybe it sparks your curiosity to try geocaching yourself. After all, you never know what little adventure you might find out there.