A few years ago I was quite ill, too ill to go to work or visit friends or chat on the phone or have visitors.  Too ill to quilt or knit or sew or even read.  Once I was out of hospital and recuperating at home I realised I was also suffering from something almost unknown to me, boredom.  I needed to find something to do that didn't require huge amounts of time or concentration.  I wanted to be in communication with other people but didn't feel up to the commitment of writing regularly to a penfriend.  

One day I came across this site  Postcrossing.com and their tag line of "send a postcard and receive a postcard back from a random person in the world" intrigued me.  I read more, thought it sounded interesting and that as I had nothing to lose registered on the site.  I downloaded my first five address, my husband bought a selection of postcards for me, I wrote a short message on them and sent them off.

Soon I started to get notifications that my postcards had been received which was lovely and then I started to get postcards dropping through my letter box which was exciting.  it is still a thrill when a postcard arrives, admiring the picture and then turning it over and seeing who it is from.  I have received cards from all sorts of people all over the world, most people write about what they are doing and where they are from, it is fascinating to have these glimpses into other people's lives.

I have sent cards to student in China and grandmothers in Australia, home-schooled children in America and civil-servants in Poland and about 200 other people.  Very few of my cards have gone unregistered and there is still a thrill when I get that email confirming that a card of mine has been received. 

The amount of pleasure I get is enormous from what is really very little effort and I'm by no means alone in this, over 400,000 other people are members of this community and in excess of 17000000 postcards have been sent and received.  My reasons for continuing to indulge this hobby these days are down to the pure enjoyment I get from every aspect of it, from searching out unusual cards and hoping I come across someone who will really appreciate it to  receiving a card that shows someone has read my profile and taken the time to pick a card especially to suit me and everything else in-between.

I've included a slideshow of some of the cards I have received below.  There are more to see under the tab called Postcrossing and please have a look at the Postcrossing website where there are gallery's full of lovely cards to view.

  
 


Comments

06/24/2013 12:08pm

I love those postcards!

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06/24/2013 4:00pm

Thanks for joining us at Sunday Social at Call Me PMc ~Paula

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06/27/2013 7:54am

I've heard about this from my best Mandy of http://www.nestledinnostalgia.com/ I was thinking about checking it out too! It sounds fun.
xo
Taylor
http://www.nothingbutapigeon.com/

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Teresa
06/27/2013 10:33am

Go for it, lots of fun, no commitment and not very expensive. What more could be asked for in a new hobby. :-)

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06/27/2013 8:15pm

Stopping by from Friend Connect Blog Hop.
Cohost <a href="http://jlennidornerblog.what-are-they.com/">@JLenniDorner</a>

It sounds interesting. Do you know beforehand where you are sending to? I mean, a us postcard stamp is not the same price as an international one, you know? So the right postage matters.

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Teresa
06/27/2013 8:47pm

When you sign up with Postcrossing you provide your name and address and fill in a profile that contains as much information as you want it to, leave it blank or fill in your life history it's up to you. When someone requests to send a card and should your name be top of the list to receive a card that person will get your name and address so they will know if it's local or international. They will also see your profile which might be of help in choosing a card for you. When you request to send a card you get all those details about some other person who has also registered on Postcrossing. There is an element of trust involved as complete strangers have your address but millions of cards have gone back and forth and I haven't heard of a single problem where someone's personal details have been misused

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