Postcrossing – Everything You NEED To Know!
Postcrossing has to be my favourite hobby out of all of them! I’ve been doing it since 2015 – so 7 years, wow where did the time go?! I think everyone should join Postcrossing, so read on to learn all about it.
Contents:
What is Postcrossing?
Postcrossing is an online platform that allows users to send postcards all around the world! It’s very simple, for every postcard you send, you will receive another back from a surprise country.
Why should I join Postcrossing?
You should join Postcrossing if you want to learn about different cultures all over the world! It’s a great way to “travel” from your own home. It’s also a relatively cheap hobby, as postcards are not too expensive to acquire or send.
Postcrossing is also a great way to be surprised as you never know when you’ll receive the postcard or where it’s from. It’s very personable, as someone somewhere in the world has taken time out of their day to write you a postcard and tell you about themselves or where they live.
How do you do it?
The best thing about Postcrossing is that it’s very easy to do! All you have to do is get some postcards of where you live, go on the website and click on ‘Send a postcard’. After this, you will then get the address and the bio of the person you’re sending it to along with the Postcrossing ID, which is very important as it allows the receiver to register that they’ve received your postcard. Then simply send your postcard and wait!
In the meantime, someone else in another place in the world will be doing the same for you, and you’ll have a nice surprise one day when you come home. Just remember to register their Postcrossing ID!
The history of Postcrossing
Postcrossing was started in 2005, by Paulo Magalhães when he was a student in Portugal as he loved (and still loves) receiving mail. The goal of Postcrossing was to connect people across the world through postcards, independently of their country, age, gender, race or beliefs.
On the 11th of April 2008, Postcrossing reached 1 million postcards being exchanged – which was a massive milestone! Recently, in 2021, they reached 60 million postcards – so that just goes to show how amazing the idea was.
Where have you received Postcards from?
I have been really lucky to send and receive postcards all over the world. Some of the most memorable places that I have received postcards from are: Sydney (Australia), Vladivostock (Russia), Grand Prarie (Canada) and Minsk (Belarus).
Why I love Postcrossing:
I love Postcrossing for so many different reasons. Firstly, I think it’s really cheap and great fun to do as it means that often you will have forgotten that you’re waiting for a postcard, so it’s a nice surprise when you do get one. I also love it because it’s something physical from somewhere in the world to keep and collect.
When I was younger, I used to love having pen pals, but now I don’t have much time – so this is a shorter way of doing a similar hobby. It’s also very nostalgic to me because of this reason. It’s so fun to not know where you’re next postcard will be from or what will be on it. Another reason why is that I think it’s so cool that I live in such a small place in the world that not many people have heard of, and something from there is going to end up far away!
What should I write?
The good thing is that you can write about (almost) anything. Many Postcrossers usually write about what they’d like you to write for them, such as a fact about where you live or even a recipe. Here are some easy topics to write about:
- Who you are, what your hobbies are, a place you’d like to visit.
- Wildlife where you live.
- 3 Facts about the place on the postcard.
- What a typical day looks like where you live.
- A tradition.
- How you found out about Postcrossing and why you like it.
- A random fact about you.
- A quote you like.
- Your favourite movie or book recommendation.
- A recipe.
Are you on Postcrossing? What is your favourite thing about it? What’s the best postcard you’ve ever received?
If you liked this post, also check out:
