When is a Hotel a Prison?

There is currently some debate within my local geocaching community concerning the concept of Travel Bug Hotels. 

A Travel Bug Hotel is "a geocache that serves as a high-traffic location for travel bugs, geocoins, and other hitchhikers. TB hotels are usually regular or large size containers located near major transportation centers (e.g., airports), and are usually easy to access and find." (source: http://www.cacheopedia.com/wiki/Glossary#T).  This is different from what is referred to as a Travel Bug Prison.  A Travel Bug Prison is similar in design and concept to a Travel Bug Hotel, but "...somehow "imprisons" travel bugs, typically with rules against freely retrieving travel bugs (e.g., requiring cachers to drop one TB for every TB retrieved, or to maintain a minimum number of TBs in the cache)." (source: http://www.cacheopedia.com/wiki/Glossary#T).

I have to admit that until the debate started, I had no idea what a Travel Bug Prison was.

A cacher who I've had the pleasure to meet a few times and attended events where he and his wife were hosts posted on a local geocaching forum that he went to a Travel Bug Hotel (but on closer definition, more of a prison) while on a trip and removed a number of travel bugs to help move them along.  The following note, in bold, was posted on the cache description page:

FOR EXCHANGE of TRAVEL BUGS and GEOCOINS.

You can take ONE TB OR ONE GEOCOIN without exchange if you are sure to move it in the right direction… Thanks.

Subsequent email exchanges between the cache owner and the cacher were not pleasant (downright nasty even) when the cache owner found out the cacher had taken more than one travel bug.

The cache owner stated two reasons for requesting the exchange policy in his cache:

1. That he wants travel bugs to be in the cache so that subsequent cachers can discover and enjoy them (a noble effort to improve the enjoyment of the game for others). 
2. He likes to discover them (perhaps a not-so-noble effort).

However, it appears that Groundspeak, Inc. frowns upon this:

"TB Hotels: A 1:1 rule is a cache rule on some caches, not a TB rule. Don't let TB's linger too long just because someone wants their cache stocked with other people's TB's. The TB's do not belong to the cache owner. (Send them a link to this thread if they complain)" (source: http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=94185)

If you type in "travel bug prison" in the search function on the geocaching.com forums, a lot of links pop up.  None of them good.

Here is where it gets interesting:  There is nothing in the guidelines published on geocaching.com which says you can or can't restrict movements of travel bugs (e.g. a "take one only" rule) into or out of a geocache.

This is from the Groundspeak Help Center (source: http://support.groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=148):

3.1 Trackable Etiquette.  A Trackable is released so that it can travel by means of geocacher activity. Please check the mission of the Trackable so that you can help to complete the mission. If you think you can help, please take it to advance its goal.  Log the Trackable promptly. If you don't know how to log it, please refer to the "Logging a Geocoin or a Travel Bug" article linked below.

Be considerate and don't take a Trackable if you are not planning to go geocaching in the next 2-3 weeks. The owners want them to travel and not to stay too long in one cacher's hands. Sometimes, unexpected delays occur. Simply send a note to the owner of that item and let them know the situation.

You can revisit a cache you've already found to pick up or drop a Trackable. It's okay to drop and pick up Trackables from caches you own. Log your visit as a note.

Keeping or selling a Trackable which doesn't belong to you is frowned upon, unless you have received express permission from its owner.

Nope, no mention of not being allowed to restrict a travel bug's movement here.

You can check the full list of guidelines on trackables here: http://support.groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.book&id=10.  No where is the concept of a Travel Bug Prison mentioned.

How about under the guidelines for listing a cache?  http://support.groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.book&id=11.  Nope, not here either.

Travel bugs are meant to move.  That is why people buy the geocoins or attach travel tags to items and send them on their merry way towards some destination or goal.  No one wants to see their travel bug languish in a cache for months on end.  But it does happen.  And it doesn't just happen with caches; cachers will sometimes hold onto travel bugs far longer than they should.

It appears that any efforts, even as innocent as wanting other cachers to have the thrill of seeing a travel bug or geocoin, which might hinder the progress of a trackable in any way is considered a big no-no by the caching community.

But does this type of rule actual hinder or restrict the movement of trackables into and out of a cache?  I am not sure it does.  Each trackable in a Travel Bug Hotel has an equal chance of being selected to be moved by a visiting cacher.  

My question is this: If a Travel Bug Prison is frowned upon by the geocaching community, and looked down upon by Groundspeak Inc., why does Groundspeak, Inc. allow them?  Why does Groundspeak, Inc. not create a guideline preventing their creation?  If the cache owner is potentially interfering with the movement of trackables in and out of their cache for whatever reason, then Groundspeak, Inc. should be dealing with it.

It should be noted that any rule on a cache is unenforceable.  The only thing we, as geocachers, are required to do when we find a cache is log our find in the log book.  If a cache owner creates a Travel Bug Hotel and posts a "take one only" or "one-for-one" rule, it is certainly within our rights as geocachers to ignore it and carry on with our caching life.

When I come across a Travel Bug Hotel, do I empty it of every trackable present?  No.  And faced with a rule of  "take one"or "trade one-for-one" with trackables, I may not abide by it.  But I almost certainly wouldn't empty a cache out.  I do my best to respect the wishes of cache owners (even if they are somewhat misguided, odd, or possibly wrong) as I would expect the same courtesy in return.  After all, it is their cache, and as per the guidelines, they are responsible for it-from listing to placement to maintenance.  We are all part of the same big caching community, and we should show each other the same respect that we expect in return.  Others may feel differently than I do, but as it has been told to me in the past, geocaching has no "rules", only "guidelines".  People play the game how they want to play it.  But we are definitely playing this game on a slippery slope. We all want to play the game according to the established guidelines, as our own morals and ethics on gamemanship dictate, and not step on anyone’s toes in the process. It is not always possible.