A travel bug is an item which is trackable which looks similar to a dog tag. The tag is stamped with a tracking number and the Geocaching.com website address. A travel bug can be attached to another item by use of the chain on the travel bug if required, examples of such items include teddy bears, toy cars, or golf balls. These attached items are called "hitchhikers". During the registration of the bug on the website, the owner may create an assign a name and also create a purpose or mission for the bug. These missions can be as simply as "to travel as far as possible" or to travel to a specific cache, location or a certain type of location. On Geocaching.com, each travel bug has an individual page which tracks its movement and calculates the distance travelled.
Travel bugs move from cache to cache by Geocachers picking up the bug and physically moving them. There is no obligation to pick up a bug from a cache as Geocachers can simply "discover" the bug on the website. This is where the cacher finds the travel bug and logs it as remaining in the cache it is already in and does not move it on.
