Postcrossing

Ask any of my friends and they'll tell you;
I love to write cards and letters.
Birthday's, special occasions or just for no reason at all.
All of them handwritten on nice paper, a specially selected card and decorated with stickers and stuff.
And, because of a smart little list next to my computer I never miss a birthday.
(and with a little luck they almost always arrive on time)

In 2008 I read an article in "Flow" magazine about a website called Postcrossing.
It is a project where you send a postcard to a randomly selected adres and then recieve a postcard from a different random stanger.

For me, as an avid card-sender, it's a really cool project.
And not even that expensive. It only costs you a stamp and a postcard.
Over the past few years I have sent cards to Polland, Russia, the USA and China.
I wite about 9 cards a moth.
**Or until I run out of stamps...

I buy my postcards whenever I see cute ones.
That can be in tourist-shops, HEMA, bookstores or supermarkets..
I have some really touristy cards on hand, with windmils, cows and tullips.
But also have a collection of cards with animals, art, cute drawings, flowers and stuff like that.
Some "Postcrossers" have a whishlist of specific types of cards they would like to recieve.
I always try to find the right postcard for a specific person.

Next step is to write something on the card. This is the part that I find really difficult.
Most of the time I write some random fact about my country or city, a bit about my day.
If I have something in common with the Postcrosser I'm sending my card to I'll write something about that..
I might include a little weather drawing..
The options are endless. And that's what makes it kind of difficult.

Essential is the postcard-ID.
It's a special code you get when you request an adress.
When your postcard arrives at the Postcrosser, they log the code onto the postcrossing website.
They can leave you a little message and it registers how long it took for the card to arrive.


This month I have postcards traveling to China, the USA, the Republic of Belarus, Taiwan and the Ukraine.
I wonder how long it takes them to get there.....