Mail Love Chronicles I: The Joy of Postcrossing

Today’s blog post comes from Keeks, a LetterMo member in the USA, who writes about her experiences with the world of mail. This blog is Part I of II.

Hello LetterMoians, 

Hi! My name is Keeks, and I wanted to share a little about how my love of postcards and mail began. The fascination started when I was in 5th grade, and to age myself a bit, this was before Postcrossing existed. It started with domestic swaps just within the USA that were arranged on a website I no longer recall the name of. The important part is, I still have these postcards and the passion to share and receive postcards and letters.

After this experience, I moved onto writing letters. They were liberally decorated and multiple pages long, but it was hard to find a consistent pen pal. If you didn’t pen pal in the early 2000’s, you may not realize how “uncool” the hobby was and challenging it was to find a kindred 15-year-old spirit to write to. 

Skip ahead to when I was in university and feeling a bit nostalgic to those early postcard swapping days. I did a Google search for “postcard swapping website” and found Postcrossing. I loved what Postcrossing was about, especially their mission statement: 

“The goal of this project is to allow anyone to send and receive postcards from all over the world!

The idea is simple: for each postcard you send, you will receive one back from a random postcrosser from somewhere in the world.”

About Postcrossing

I liked the idea that it was a one time transaction. Since I was in the middle of an intense course and degree, I needed these little distractions. I did find a pen pal on the forums, whom I still write with 13 years later, but more about letters later (Blog Post ).

The first postcard that finally made its way to my mailbox was from The Netherlands and it arrived smudged! Oh for the love of MAIL! This made me adore the hobby even more, the imperfections making it all the more appealing. Of the first few that arrived, the postcard I recall the most would be the sixth card that arrived from Poland. It was bright, different, and not a touristy postcard from my experience so far. It showed me there is a range of postcards to send! 

For me, the joy of the hobby lies in sending a bit of paper that has a dash of writing to someone that brightens their day. I may not change the world, but I can bring some joy to a Postcrosser’s mailbox with a small bit of paper and a bit of time spent making it unique for them. 

This can be a hobby you choose how much time to spend on. Typically, I spend about 15 minutes from start to finish on a single postcard. That includes requesting an address, picking out a postcard based on the person’s preferences, writing and stamping, and uploading a photo of the sent postcards. It’s so easy to send a special piece of paper to someone to hopefully make their day a little brighter.

There have been 1,010 plus opportunities for me to send someone a postcard that made their day a little happier.

Fun Fact: I recently visited the Postal Museum in London, and they were telling me about Postcrossing! When presenting my tickets upon entry, the kind representative was telling me about the postcard exhibit they did have, and asked if I had heard of Postcrossing! 

I’m curious, when did your love of this hobby begin?

Follow Keeks on Instagram @keekspostalservice or subscribe to her YouTube @KeeksPostalService for more ideas.

2 thoughts on “Mail Love Chronicles I: The Joy of Postcrossing”

  1. I’m glad you shared your penpaling story. I am 83 now and I wrote to my first penpals when I was in 6th grade and into junior high. I really enjoyed it and I have always been sorry that we lost touch. I hope it wasn’t my fault. Quite recently I started searching for a way to find a penpal. That’s when I found Postcrossing and liked the idea. Soon after, I read about LetterMo and joined both. One of my favorite things is to find a letter or postcard in my mailbox. ????

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