Few projects connect people from so many random contexts as the Postcrossing project. It's amazing how diverse our users are and we are always eager to learn more from them. Thus, we decided to start the Postcrossing spotlight - interviews done with members of this project that we will publish every two weeks here on the Postcrossing Blog. We want to share with all of you how diverse our community is and we hope you all enjoy it.

We know that many of you would like to know a bit more about the project founder. So, to start the Postcrossing spotlight interviews, here's what Paulo himself has to say as our first interviewee. See you in two weeks!

How did you come across Postcrossing? What got you hooked?

I always enjoyed sending and receiving mail, specially postcards. Friends and family frequently received postcards from me, but I wanted to exchange even more, specially with more far away places.

So, I have put that together with my IT background, the initial concept started to develop and a few months later, Postcrossing was ready.

I'm both proud and happy that this project has touched and connected so many different people around the world, ignoring age, gender, location, religion and even belief. And it's not just about postcards any more, it's also about the connections created. I hope it continues to do so for a very long time.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

Recently I have been doing Geocaching - for the ones who don't know it, Geocaching are mini treasure hunts done with the help of a GPS device. It's a lot of fun plus I get to visit interesting places I would never get to if it wasn't for it.

Besides that, I enjoy travelling across the world and live in different places to experience other cultures and different people. I'm originally from Portugal and in the past I have lived in the Netherlands, U.S.A. and for the last 2 years in China. I've just returned to Europe and soon I'll be heading somewhere else. I guess I can be called a nomad!

Show us your mailbox, your mailman/mailwoman, your postoffice or the place where you post or keep your postcards!

Personally I don't enjoy keeping the postcards in albums because I like to have them handy in a way I can pick them all up and flip through them whenever I want to.

We always wanted to have one of those postcard racks that you see in small stores to display the postcards. However, we couldn't find one so Ana came up with a great alternative: using Ikea pot lids holders instead, the effect is the same plus our postcards are always displayed and ready to be picked up. It even has different slot sizes so that any postcard size has it's own place - it's perfect!

Show & tell us about your favorite received postcard to date, and what makes it special.

I honestly lost count to the number of postcards I have received to date and it's almost impossible to pick just one favourite. I like pretty much any type of postcard since they are always special in their own way. However, there's one that is particularly special to me: PT-1 was the first Postcrossing postcard and it's only fair I pick it as my favourite. And yes, I like lighthouses! :)