Grubbs, Kim wrote:
>Our problem, therefore, is this. If we do indeed place our hitchhiking
>friend in the international box (assuming it's still there), we're afraid
>that he will languish there for all eternity, as anyone who looks for
>clues on the new site will not find anything listed.
>
>Should we place our friend somewhere else, or let him free in his southern
>home? Will the international clues be eventually placed on the new
>site? Is there a place on the new site that holds these clues and, if so,
>do people regularly check this location for clues?

I would suggest that you ask the owner of the hitchhiker -- they may or may
not like the idea of their plant ending up in a rarely-visited box in
another country. The problem is that once the hitchhiker is outside the
U.S., it would likely never end up back here again.

You might take along the hitchhiker for the ride and stamp it into the
international box (and vice versa), then bring it back to the U.S. But the
overriding rule about hitchhikers is that they're supposed to keep moving,
so holding onto one just to have one to place in some special future
letterbox is kinda defeating the purpose.

Why don't you create a hitchhiker of your own and start its journey in the
international box, assuming that it's still there and you can find it?



|-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-|
Silent Doug, P37 F249 E08 X40
silentdoug@letterboxing.info
http://www.letterboxing.info

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Thanks, Doug.

I like the idea about taking it along to stamp in, but actually
leaving it in a box stateside that's more likely to be visited. We
did want to make sure the HH kept moving so that the creator could
get regular updates as to its progress.

I'll drop a line to the HH's parent and see what they think.

Thanks again for your input.

For the record, my hitchhikers LIKE to travel internationally.
Especially to third-world countries. Getting them through customs
can be a hassle, though! ;o)

-- Ryan

Although not International, our experience on a Hawaii trip might be
relevant. We had printed out the clues to some of the "Big Island" boxes a
few months in advance of our trip, were successful in finding several, and
left a HH in one of them. When we returned home we noticed the clues to one
of the boxes were no longer on the letterboxing.org site since no one had
claimed the box. As an "abandoned" box the clues had been moved to the
"basement" portion of the site. Since we knew the box was still in
existence, we decided to adopt the box to get the clues back on the main
site. We added a note to the clues that we would be happy if a local
letterboxer would adopt it since we wouldn't be able to check on it. Even
though we won't be able to maintain it (at least not very often!), we
decided it was more fun to make the box clues available to other vacationers
rather than let it disappear.

You may want to consider adopting the box if you find it, so others can
still access the clues.

-----Original Message-----
From: Grubbs, Kim [mailto:kgrubbs@anteon.com]
Sent: Friday, January 02, 2004 9:06 AM
To: letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [LbNA] International hitchhikers?


I need some feedback from the community, and the moderators, if possible.

My wife and I recently picked up a hitchhiker in Virginia, and plan to place
it in a new location soon. We're planning a vacation to another country this
month, and I had remember in the past seeing that there is a letterbox
located at our destination. We'd like to take our little friend with us and
leave him in the letterbox, but when I checked the clue sheets of the "new"
letterboxing site, I couldn't find the clues that I had remembered. As I
poked around, I found that most of the clues for the areas of interest
(think South America/Mexican/Caribbean locations) aren't available on the
new site. I'm assuming that this is because people who plant international
boxes while traveling can't really maintain them, and the boxes might
therefore be considered abandoned.

The specific clues that I had remembered are still available on the old
letterboxing site, however.

Our problem, therefore, is this. If we do indeed place our hitchhiking
friend in the international box (assuming it's still there), we're afraid
that he will languish there for all eternity, as anyone who looks for clues
on the new site will not find anything listed.

Should we place our friend somewhere else, or let him free in his southern
home? Will the international clues be eventually placed on the new site?
Is there a place on the new site that holds these clues and, if so, do
people regularly check this location for clues?

Any feedback is appreciated, as we're leaving in a couple of weeks, and
would hate to drop him off if the chances are slim that he'll ever again be
found (BTW, the area we're heading to is a fairly well visited tourist
location, not the middle of a jungle somewhere, so he'll probably be found
again if the clues are available).

Thanks in advance for any advice.

K&K



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