Postcards from strangers

by Sean McLachlan on

One of the coolest things about having lots of friends who travel is getting postcards from around the world. Sadly, letter and postcard writing don’t seem to be as common as they used to be. Much of the stuff coming through the mailbox these days is either bills or junk mail. Going to the mailbox has gotten to be a drag.

An organization called Postcrossing is trying to change that. This free group allows members to trade cards with strangers. You log in and request to send a card, and someone’s address is sent to you, along with a unique country-coded number. You pick a card, write a nice message with the code included, and pop it in the mail. Once the recipient gets the card and registers it on the site by using the number, you’re put next in line to get a card from a different stranger. There’s also a forum where people can arrange “private swaps” for particular countries or images.

With more than 100,000 members in 196 countries, the idea is catching on. I’m a member, as is former Gadling blogger Abha Malpani. Earlier this year Postcrossing reached the milestone of two million postcards received and one active member has racked up a thousand just by himself.

Various Postcrossers have created interesting spinoff blogs about their obsession, such as Wild Postcards and A Postcard a Day. Warning: Wild Postcards is occasionally not work safe, as the blogger likes old pin-up cards. Nude women with mom hair. Yipe!

Postcrossing is a great way to get cards from around the world and set up trading exchanges with people you may never meet. Consider it a form of staycation. It’s fun for kids too. My three-year-old son is learning a lot about the world. He specifically wants postcards of cars and trains and about half the cards I get are meant for him!

PostSecret: Travelers Unload Their Baggage

by Kelly Amabile on

The anonymous aspect of travel lends itself well to secrets. This is what Frank Warren reminds us in this New York Times business article from a few days ago. Secrets set free on postcards — have you heard of the PostSecret project yet? We mentioned it here over two years ago. Now, several books and many more postcards later, the secrets continue to flow. Warren’s newest collection of postcard submissions, A Lifetime of Secrets, hit shelves this month. He is currently on tour promoting the book.

The postcards Warren has received and compiled into his books are not solely about travel. But in his short New York Times piece, he reflects on the ones that are inspired by airplanes, terminals, boarding passes and pilots.

What are your travel secrets?

I’ve got a few that involve long-distance relationships from years gone by, when frequent flights and expensive phone calls ruled the day. Warren’s piece inspires me to scribble something secret on a postcard and send it along (see submission address at bottom of page). Do you have some travel-related secrets – gripes, pains, jokes – that are yearning to break free? If so, find yourself a postcard and set your top-secret travel tales to the wind…

Postcrossing: Turn Your Mailbox Into a Surprise Box

by Willy Volk on

Simple ideas are always brilliant, and the idea behind Postcrossing may be the most brilliant yet. Members of Postcrossing follow a simple process:

  1. Request an address from the website.
  2. Mail a postcard to the address.
  3. Wait to receive a postcard in return.
  4. Register the received postcard in the system. This makes you the next person whose address will be given out.

By participating, members can receive postcards from all over the world and transform their mailbox — which usually only sees boring old refinance requests and bills — into a little surprise box. The really proactive members scan or photograph the postcards and upload the images to Flickr. With over half a million postcards already sent, there are currently 30,000+ postcards in transit.

I just signed up! If I’m lucky, maybe I’ll receive a postcard sent from an underwater mailbox!

[Via Vagabondish]