The joy of sending postcards

And why you should start sending more

Northern Pakistan, winter, a few years back.

I was in a very remote village in high elevation, where judging from the reactions of the locals, few tourists have made it. At that place, we found a small shop, that had some worn-out, sunburnt postcards. We bought a few and the next day we went on a search for the local post office. It was a tiny building, actually a tiny room, with two people sitting in front of their small desks, just like we used to have in school. We asked for international stamps, and they had to search their drawers to find a wooden, dusty box, sign that it had been a long time since someone wanted to send something outside the country. A few weeks¹ later, postboxes in Denmark, Greece, Argentina and many other places, would open up to welcome those sunburnt postcards.

That was the beginning of a new, very fulfilling hobby: sending postcards from my travels to my friends, but also to myself. Not just buying them and giving them to people when I get to see them again; no, no, no. Send them directly from the place I 'm visiting. And I have to say, the more I do it, the more addictive it becomes.

I guess the most popular souvenir is magnets. It is easy to carry and whoever receives it, can easily show it off in their house, without having to give up on space. Even if they don’t like it, most people have quite a few magnets, so they can hide it among the rest. We 've all seen the image of a fridge, with its whole door covered from top to bottom in magnets².

Whether you like magnets or postcards as a home decoration, that is entirely up to you. But postcards are so much more than just a nice drawing on a piece of paper and that is because they can be personalized. When you 're sending a postcard, you can write a small story for the recipient: why did you think of them, what did you do that day, who are you with and why are you in the place you are. You can even ask questions about their life updates, just like you would do in a letter or email.

My own wall of fame.

The effort needed to write down these small details, instead of just giving a magnet (or an empty postcard), is what makes the difference. Leave the back of the card empty and it is a nice souvenir. Write down a personalized message and it suddenly transforms into a well-thought gift. You might not realize this when you are sending a postcard, but put yourself in the receiving end of this:

Kalymnos³, March 23, 2024

Hellooo,
How are you guys doing? We have been in Kalymnos for the last few days and it has been amazing! We didn't do anything special, but the vibe is so nice and chill, and the food is still as delicious as it was last time we visited. We are thinking of maybe going for some diving the next few days, but we 're struggling to make up our minds because it means that we will have to give up on alcohol the nights before⁴ 😋.
Hope you guys are doing great and that we 'll see you soon.

Kisses from Kalymnos

Your friends are on vacation and they thought of you. More importantly, they took the time to find a nice postcard and some stamps, sit down and write a short message to you.

Waiting times

If you ‘re sending a card domestically, then it should arrive within a day or two. But the farther you send it, the longer the time and the uncertainty. I 've sent cards that took months to arrive, so don’t be sitting at the edge of your seat, waiting for your friends to tell you they received your card.

There will be losses

Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for postcards to get lost somewhere along the way. I don’t have any trick for that, but be prepared that from all the postcards you will send, some will be sacrificed to the post office gods, so the rest can make it. Think of it as the survival of the fittest.

What I usually do as a precaution is, before putting the cards in the post box, I take a photo of each one of them. If too long passes without the card arriving, I will text the recipient(s) the photo, just to show that some time back I was in Kalymnos and I thought of them. Because at the end of the day, that is what matters.

Spreading the postcard virus

The most amazing side-effect of sending postcards to friends, is that some of them really liked this hobby and started doing the same. So now, I am often the recipient of cool postcards, from exotic places, with a message personalized just for me. There is also a sense of pride, knowing that people contracted the postcard virus because of you.

This Little Prince postcard is a result of the virus and the latest addition to the collection. It still hasn’t made its way to the wall of fame. Any day now.

If you are still skeptical about how cool of a hobby this is, don’t take my word for it; just give a try next time you visit a place. Buy a couple of postcards and send them to your close friends, parents, your partner or whoever comes to mind. And maybe, just maybe you will be pleasantly surprised with their reaction.

Sincerely,

- The Naive Ignorant

1. In some cases even months.

2. Unfortunately the fridge in my current apartment has a layer of wood on top of the door and I cannot use it for magnets. Who on earth puts wood on a fridge door??

3. If you have read this post, you know that Kalymnos was not chosen randomly.

4. This is not a made up story.