Thank you for the info. I was wondering, too, if there would be a place or a way on AQ to list a cruise box so others would know about it.
Thanks

I just found this on AQ help:

Are there any other letterboxes planted on cruise ships and how would we find out about them?

If you want to find letterboxes planted on or near cruise ships, you should search the database using the keyword "cruiseship" to filter the listings. Keywords are not required, but the search will produce a number of results.

So then I was curious and did a search using keyword cruiseship. I got this: cruise ship boxes. You can see how other people have listed them.

Thanks for all the help, folks--especially green tortuga for straightening us out and paper trail for updating our box numbers! We've grouped them all under Box #296100 (the original 3rd in the series, but with the easiest box number) and wiped out the original listings of the others since no one had found them yet!

That is pretty much the opposite of stealthy. I always know someone (well, not always) is in town because I start seeing logs on my boxes. You could always check the ship boxes for finds. Not foolproof if they don't log right away, but protective of others' plants at least.
The best way is to arrange this before you go, on AQ (set up an event, maybe?) or ask on the boards if anyone else is going and wants to meet up, so that you are not outing other people's boxes. If they are yours, you can whatever you want, of course, but this supposed be a stealthy endeavor.
If it's already an event, check the sign-ups.
One last thing, LB patches, inky fingers, people waking around looking at clues near locations where you know there are boxes are dead giveaways. If they have any integrity at all and you ask them what they are doing, they should lie! If you ask them point-blank if they are boxing, they will know you know and there's no point fibbing. We've met people on the trail and this little dance is so much fun.

I recently took a cruise/land trip to Alaska. I planted a box everywhere we went. You can find them with a city search.

If they have any integrity at all and you ask them what they are doing, they should lie! If you ask them point-blank if they are boxing, they will know you know and there's no point fibbing.

this reminds me of a funny little story.
i live in a very hectic house so often take a walk in the woods with a book.....find a good rock to sit on..... and read til i feel i can face the chaos again. being lucky enough to live within a very short distance of a very nice trail this is easy for me to do.
one day i am walking out of the woods with my book in hand and these two ladies are walking towards me. as they get closer they ask if i am letterboxing. i immediately answer no. see, i was not letterboxing i was reading! i continue walking another 6 feet and it dawns on me........ duh! they must be letterboxers and after the series i planted! so i turned around and said..... oh wait... i am a letterboxer! turns out they had noticed that i was wearing a letterboxing southeast tshirt. the ladies happened to be greenmountainhiker and grrly girl and they had indeed just finished with my series.
smile

being lucky enough to live within a very short distance of a very nice trail this is easy for me to do.

So, how many hundred letterboxes have you planted in these woods near your house? ;-)

Hey !
I resemble that story.

well altogether would say i only have 8 or 9 planted either in those woods or other trails connected to it. another local boxer has about 30 or so in the same woods but much further down and uses a different entrance. if i planted 100's think i could get finders up this way?
smile

HI--Brand spanking new to letterboxing. As in yesterday was our VERY first day out. What a blast! Had several questions I was going to ask on a new thread on this newbie board but since Ryan has partially answered one above by saying that each boxer gets credit for a plant they did together, I wanted to ask the other half of the question. If three of us are LBing together (started this with my daughter and her bestie) do each of us get to record each find we discover together along with our own comments? Including hitchhikers etc? And when you letterbox together is the courteous etiquette to put all of your signature stamps squeezed onto the one page? We assumed that's the best way to do it and since the HH log books are tiny we were choosing one stamp and just signing 3 trail names. Is that the best protocol? Thanks, Karen

If three of us are LBing together (started this with my daughter and her bestie) do each of us get to record each find we discover together along with our own comments? Including hitchhikers etc? And when you letterbox together is the courteous etiquette to put all of your signature stamps squeezed onto the one page?

Yes, each finder gets to record each find along with individual comments (or not.) Some people letterbox so much that they have a group signature stamp and individual signature stamps (large and tiny), and use them as circumstances dictate. Our group will have one person claim the hitchhiker for one box, take it to the next box on the route and sign it in, then pass it to the next person in the group who will do the same thing until everyone's done the hitchhiker. You certainly don't have to do it like we do, but we enjoy playing that way. Sometimes we'll squeeze everyone on one page but if it's a rarely found box with a big logbook, we'll each do our own.

Glad you've joined the fun.

The community stamp is a great idea, although our little starter group will break up when this week's vacation is over and my daughter's friend flies back to Michigan to bring this whole new adventure of letterboxing to her friends and family there. We had two finds yesterday, both with hitchhikers (which I thought must be highly unlikely!) so we are bringing one HH to our hometown and she is bringing the other HH to Michigan. The girls will have yet another connection to solidify their friendship over the miles! Thanks for the quick response!

Welcome to the group! We have only been doing this for a little over a year. This is a good question (as we box with friends often). We (family friend group & our family) each have a family stamp & a personal stamp. When we go with at least 1 other family member we use family stamp. Otherwise, I stamp with my personal stamp. We also use a group stamp when going with our scout group. I do like the idea of a miniature personal / family stamp. Congrats on the HH. Our 2nd box had a HH & we were so new that I had to look up what it was & what to do with it!😂 Have fun & Box on!
-All 4 Bama

Sounds like a second stamp, even for the two of us, is a great idea. So enjoying the chance to immerse ourselves in an activity that covers so many bases and gets us out in nature! It will be fun coming up with a trail name for the two of us.

So glad to have a resource like this where you can ask questions and feel so welcomed.

Each person can log a find and comments IF each person has their own AQ trail name.

Hi Folks,

I found a letterbos in a great container the other day...it was round, brown Lock'n'Lock but it had a transparent plastic spot in the lid, so the planter was able to tape an 'Official Letterbox' label on the inside.

Is this something someone made, or containers available for purchase? I've never seen these before. Here is a link to the photo.

https://www.atlasquest.com/images/gallery/14/46/144699lg.jpg

It would be great if someone could let me know where you can find these!

Thanks!

Jaime
3fillesquicherchent

I'd guess this is a regular translucent LnL that someone spray-painted brown and affixed a piece of paper or something to the outside of the lid before they started spray-painting.

This is what I’ve always done to my boxes - masking tape on a “window” on the lid, spray paint matt brown or dark green, remove tape and put ‘letterbox’ label under lid to show through window.

I'm fairly new to the hobby & am wanting to plant my own boxes. The boxes I will be planting will be urban boxes. I am wondering what do you do to scout good locations for planting a letterbox.

I am wondering what do you do to scout good locations for planting a letterbox.

Take people to quirky places--or beautiful places--or historic places --places out-of-the-ordinary.

The shape of the clear spot matches one of the Lock n Lock label shapes. (There are more than one shape of the LnL label, and this is one of them.) So I think the owner spray painted the box with the label still attached and then peeled the label off after the paint dried. Then added their own "Letterbox" label (which I really like!) to the inside under the clear spot. I myself have always just left the "window" so folks can see inside the box.

First, you relocate to Central Indiana ... :)

Leave the lock n lock label on when you spraypaint it, then peel it off and affix whatever message from the inside showing through the window. I do this with mine now, but write "geocache" with a red NO! crosshatch; since the general consensus is that they --can't-- don't read, I thought that would make it easy. I have learned to write "geocache" backward, so it appears correctly through the window. Mostly.

This is exactly how we do ours. I think we got them at Target. Or maybe online.

Hmmm....I don't think that plan is in the cards for me, but thanks. ;)

That's what I;m trying to do, but it's harder than I initially anticipated because interesting places throughout the metroplex might not neccesarily have a good hiding spot that will allow the box to remain hidden & undisturbed. I'm excited to plant my first boxes, but I want to plant in places where they will last.

the metroplex might not neccesarily have a good hiding spot that will allow the box to remain hidden & undisturbed. I'm excited to plant my first boxes, but I want to plant in places where they will last.

Sometimes you can write the clues in a way to take the person to an interesting/unique spot, and from there, on to a nearby spot that is more suitable to hide a letterbox (relevant to the original spot). Look for green spaces that are not overly-groomed, benches, metal posts or sign brackets (if using a magnetic box), etc., preferably within a short walking distance from the attraction you led them to.

I planted my first letterbox in a park near me that I walk by every day. That was a good idea because I got instant gratification by frequently checking in--lots of people sign in the logbook but not electronically. Several times it was rehidden in such a way as to invite inspection by the curious---some letterboxers feel they need to help others by making the letterbox more obvious. I prolonged the life of that box with frequent visits. Sadly, after 9 years, it's gone gone but that's pretty good--especially since many homeless have taken up living in the area.

So, I recommend planting your first one in a very convenient spot for you--or in some exotic, far away locale you'll only get to once in your life.

So, I recommend planting your first one in a very convenient spot for you

My first one was on a river trail. My second was in some ROCKS (like 1/2 cubic yard each rocks) in a park farther upstream on that same river. Both are still there.

River trails are good for planting, but you don't want too busy.

The advice I’d give you when planting in ANY location, find the most obvious and outstanding landmark there is, go to that location and FROM THERE find a compass bearing to a nearby bland feature to plant the actual box.

That outstanding landmark could be a real huge blowdown, a large and remarkable boulder, a neon sign, a tree in a city park, you name it. Go to where you are attracted, then direct folks far AWAY from that feature to get the box.

I’ve had boxes out there for close to 10 years using this principle.

Good luck!

Warrior Woman
master of misdirection