Over the forum, there’s a fun topic called “You know you’re a postcrosser when…”, started by Jenny (aka Axolotl_) back in 2021. We love seeing what people post there, so we thought we’d share some of the ones which jumped out at us (though it’s very hard to choose!).
One of the earliest posts by Jewell (aka jewelldelis) does seem like a bit of a giveaway, and other members have mentioned similar:
You know you’re a postcrosser when… Your postal worker knows you by name.
I don’t think I’m quite at that stage myself, but I do wonder sometimes if the person emptying the pillarboxes sees all my postcards pushed in at once and thinks “ah, it’s that one again”! Though it’s rare for me to send as much as Ksenia (aka Xute). She says:
You know you’re a postcrosser when… you measure biweekly sent cards in centimeters rather than a number
She included a picture, too!
Sometimes it’s not just about us. It’s the way the whole family gets involved. For example, even Shannon (aka MystiqueDeep)'s kids are in on the Postcrossing fun:
You know you’re a postcrosser…
- When your children all have their own postcard collections, and they are already so large they need multiple binders just to keep them.
- When a neighbor doesn’t recognize the image on your postcard and your 4-year old tells them it’s a mailbox from Japan.
It’s not just at home with the neighbours and the local postal workers, either. Kanerva has even been spotted as a postcrosser in a touristy spot:
You know you’re a postcrosser… When you are buying postcards in a tourist hotspot and the clerk behind the counter asks if you are a postcrosser by any chance?
I’ve been asked about all the postcards I was buying before, but they didn’t know about Postcrossing yet. Don’t worry, I told them all about it!
Quite recently, Sai (aka Boson) shared the fun facts about addresses that he’s learned because of Postcrossing. He says you know you’re a postcrosser when:
You know you’re a postcrosser when… you eventually know
- UAE, QATAR, Jamaica, Bahamas, Belize, Fiji, Central African Republic, Rwanda, Guyana, Gambia, Tuvalu, … don’t have Postal codes.
- and Some have only one postcode for the entire country/territory:
- Gibraltar – GX11 1AA
- Christmas Island – 6798
- Vatican – 00120
- Macao – 999078
- Gabon has 2 numbers, and Iceland, Bahrain, Madagascar, Oman, … have 3 number postcodes
- Some places have two postcodes like Germany’s/Swiss exclave/enclave Büsingen 1 to forward mail easily
- There is one Remote encoding facility in Utah 2 that decodes all US unreadable addresses by USPS
Check out his post to see the other things he’s learned!
On another note, Maggie (aka fire_maggie)'s suggestion got me thinking:
You know you’re a postcrosser when… you check how to say “where is the post office” and “commemorative stamps” in the local language before traveling, along with the cost to send postcards from that country.
Clearly, I need to add this to my travel checklist… Do you know how to ask for stamps in many languages? I think I could manage French, and I always have my wife to ask in Dutch. After that I might be stuck. Better preparation next time!
For those who have a mailbox to open, Nadine (aka Amalaswintha)'s got a suggestion:
You know you’re a postcrosser when… you are trying to open every door with your mailbox key.
I’m kind of relieved I don’t have a mailbox, because I can definitely picture that happening to me. But Kasia (aka kasia_kiwi) has one I definitely relate to:
You know you’re a postcrosser when… you know the locations and collection times for all the postboxes in your village and you take postcards to send on your walks (which are always planned to pass by a postbox).
That was actually my only motivation to go for walks for a while. I used my Postcrossing cards to get me out of the house, because I wouldn’t want to disappoint anyone by not posting their postcards right away!
That was just a selection of all the fun ideas people have shared about what marks them out as postcrossers on the forum. It’s obvious how much time people take over Postcrossing and how much they love this hobby, and it gives us the warm fuzzies. (And as you can see from this post, I’m the same!)
What about you—do you think there’s something very specific that marks you out as a postcrosser?
73 comments so far
Hahaha, interesting.
Me with knowing when the last collections are made at the post office LOL
I'm new on Postcrossing but I love the anticipation of waiting for new mail.
You can tell website extensions (.nl .de and such) for a lot of countries and territories. It was fun to be able to tell my IT-collegues that SX was Sint Maarten. :-D
When you stay in at New Year so you can register two postcards either side of midnight. (I had the cat for company).
You know you're a postcrosser when ... You have an entire 4 drawer dresser filled to the brim with thousands of blank postcards to send. (Collected over half a lifetime!). :)
You know you're a postcrosser when you try to get WiFi when you visit a new location so you can send cards on travel mode. Tried in Varican City to no avail :(
When your postman tells you that your neighbor received more postcards than you. 😅 (and you introduced it to postcrossing)
Ten years ago I spent my summer vacancies in Ukraine and had a two day stop in Вінниця/Vinnytsia, a town in central Ukraine. The first evening I was at a restaurant and wrote a lot of postcards and letters to penfriends all over the world (whom I got to know by postcrossing). When writing the addresses I decided, that it would be useful to write the countries' names in Ukrainian to make it easier for the Ukrainian post workers. I asked a group of students at a nearby table for help. Their reaction: "You must be a postcrosser!"
And they were pleased to help me. All my mails arrived.
You know you're a postcrosser when folks ask you the current price of stamps and also when you perk up at the mention of "stickers"...
When you can’t wait to put another “x” on the atlas you purchased for the sole purpose of notating where you send and from where you receive postcards.
You watch your postal person read each card before placing it in your mailbox.
The clerk nearly dies when you walk up to her counter with 75 cards.
I've seen clerks at stores all but roll their eyes when they ask "Did you count them?" and of course you didn't because you are a Postcrosser, mesmerized by the beauty of the cards, preoccupied with getting as many as you need--a hundred or two; counting cards doesn't cross your mind.
You know you are a postcrosser when you leave postcards to the attention of your mailman in your mailbox!
When you are a regular customer of the post office online store in the Felatelia section.
You know you're postcrosser when all postcards of the entire street or even quarter are jammed into your mailbox because your postman thinks it must be for you without reading the address. (I regularly take a walk and bring some misled cards to their proper mailboxes next door or to the other street...)
❤️when I inspired 4 friends to join as well
❤️when the mailwoman delivers a postcard with my streetname but no housnumber, I was new at this address but she knew because of all the former postcards.
❤️when I get annoyed because of an empty mailbox for days.
❤️when something bad happens in the world, I wonder how my fellow Postcrossers from that area are doing.
❤️when visitors look astonished when discovering hundreds of postcards in a corner of the livingroom
#funtopic
you know you are a postcrosser because you hate holidays because there is no mail. several cards ready to be mailed tomorrow. as a former postal worker I hated Monday holidays because we had a ton of mail the next day and I coined the phrase “Tonday”
When you leave the stamp off the little picture on the postcard corner where the stamp should go. Then you add the stamp to another area on the back of the postcard.
When you smile because the sender left the little illustration visible, and put the stamp elsewhere on the back of the card they sent you.
You know you're a postcrosser when you pay $20 to have a card sent from Antarctica (it helps support the post office at Port Lockroy), and I love it!
When you have to look shortly before midnight on New Year’s Eve if one of your cards got registered just because it is the last chance to draw an address for „Postcards for a good cause“ 🙂
My postman delivers all the cards at my gate confidently without reading the name of reciever though our complex has 500 flats, that is acknowledgement from postman that I am postcrosser.
Also when my granddaughter aged 9 visits us , she first wants to read all the cards recd and admire variety of international stamps on the cards. Because she knows I am postcrosser.
My daughter lives in London. When we go there for 4 to 6 weeks my luggage has at leat 100 cards in my cabin bag. Occasionally when security staff check my bag and find so many cards, his surprised and questioning eyes tells me i am postcrosser. Ha.
I leave comments on my friends Facebook photo posts saying how much their image would make a great postcard.
... when you went into a card shop, find over 100 cards you need and ends up with a surprised seller to whom you already start to explain about postcrossing.
... when you hand over 75 postcard to the postofficer on the first day of your holidays and see his suprised eyes when you say: "See you tomorrow". - And even the eyes when you apear the next day with 60 cards.
@bstb that happens to me regulary too.
@reiselustig this is the only reason I stay awake till midnight.
One evening I came home and found a huge number of postcards in my box. Though I was tired, I started to register them. There was this one postcard I read, looked at the picture which I liked and already started to search for the ID number. It took me 5min maybe even 10 to figure out, this card was not for me. It was the first time a received a postcard for my neighbour "Christine" not "Claudia". I did not even recognise the different name.
In my case, when the undelivered letter / postcard returns to me even though my address is not on it. How in the world did the US post know?!
When you rate each museum, gallery etc. according to its attitude to postcards:
⭐ big variety of "permanent" postcards and issuing another postcards with every new exhibition
⬇️ varied postcards, but never changing
😕 one or two postcards, showing just the institution as a whole, no individual artefacts
(I wonder, whether there are postcrossers working in merch departments of those institutions, trying to persuade their colleagues: "Of course it's great idea to sell 20 different postcards – all postcrossers will love us!!")
When your relatives ask what you'd like as a birthday gift and you say, "please just buy me postage stamps!"
You know you're a Postcrosser when you don't even have to look at your phone to tap into your Informed Delivery to see what's going to be in your mailbox tomorrow
You know you're a Postcrosser when your husband asks at the first of every month if your stamp order is ready.
The first time I visited Germany over 10 years ago, I learned the word for stamps - all I could do was ask "Wo Briefmarke?" ("Where stamp?" 🤣)
I have also navigated a post office in Budapest where I only knew the numbers and the clerk didn't speak English. She checked twice to make sure I really meant 20 stamps for the US!
I can confirm it is all true...
You know you're a Postcrosser when all the postcards from your entire neighborhood are delivered to your mailbox (by mistake).
As Rosario_Sannino said: "I can confirm it is all true"
Kudos Rosario for the "affirmation" I hope you will not be angry that I quote you!
and another scenario " You know you're a Postcrosser when you know the stamp price!
Oh wow, I see myself in so much that has been written already and I might add: I know I'm a Postcrosser, when I get Christmas gifts from the nice ladies at the philately shop and the philately events I go to!
I regularly give them gifts, know their birthdays and last year and the year before I got gifts too! What a surprise!
At the last philately event (I always get special stamps there or special postmarks for my snailmail) I said to the two nice ladies there that I see them more regularly than any of my friends and the same goes for the lovely people at the philately shop!
You know you are a Postcrosser ... when all your friends, colleagues, family automatically think of you when they see postcards / ad cards / beautiful colorful packaging of chocolates or similar and collect them for you ;-) And of course my Postwoman knows my name when I meet her at the street ;-)
I've realised that I am postcrosser when understood that mail can be sent on both sides of planet.) You see, I have a big world map in my room, and one day I thought: "It will be easier to send a postcard from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (Kamchatka island) to LA if move to right, not to left."
Ich bin Zusteller bei der Post und meine beiden Kolleginnen, die mir die Post nach Hause bringen, wissen, dass ich Postcrosser bin. Sie sagen mir morgens, ob ich Karten bekomme, damit ich, wenn ich nach Hause komme, eine zweite Freude habe, wenn ich den Briefkasten öffne. :-)
When you find a postcard for your neighbour in your mailbox, because the postman automatically thinks it’s for you and didn’t check the address.
When you have a few minutes, postcrossing.com is your favourite place to go on your phone!
You know you're postcrosser when...
Auspost sends you not one but TWO different THANK YOU postcards that are in your letterbox with a stack of other postcrossing postcards XD
Yeah my posties have a sense of humour
You know you're postcrosser when... you are selecting 20 of the same postcard and the clerk says, "You know we have more than just one card, right?!?"
And you laugh... before moving on to other cards. $$$
You know you are a postcrosser when...
... you cannot fall asleep without having written a postcard when the new address is available;
... all the staff of the post office gathers to help you choose the most interesting stamps for your postcard;
... you mention your beloved hobby almost in every conversation and promote postcrossing as a way to learn foreign culture, find new friends, and improve one's language skills via writing postcards to real people;
... you are eager to make a person who gets your postcard smile and feel a little bit happier. What can be better than happiness travelling throughout the world?!
You know you’re a postcrosser when…
... you open your mailbox at least 5 times between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. - that's the time the mail is usually delivered - then you 'give up' and it's pure joy when you find a pile of postcards at 4 p.m. :-)
You know you're a postcrosser, when....
..... Your post deliverer puts all the postcards into your mailbox, even those addressed to other people. 🤣
Yes, I've had that. I always brought those back to the post office.
... when you hang up a card leash on every wall in your flat to decorate your walls with all the cards you receive.
fun!
Oh I love that the topic I started was mentioned here! I always feel so good to know that others have the same level of crazy about postcards as me! :D
You know you're a postcrosser, when....
... you have a stock with 10,000 postcards to send out, but everywhere you go, you look for "fresh" postcards.
.....you go everyday to your mailbox even twice day because you're afraid to become empty handed!
You know you are a postcrosser ...
... when you are thinking about designing your own postcard.
You know you're a postcrosser, when....
... you saved how to say Hello & Greetings from... in different languages on your Google Translator.
When you know the postal rules better than the officials.
You know you are a postcrosser when you buy Cat/Kitten postcards for other postcrosser requests, and you are a dog lover!
Relatable at many levels!
I k now i am a postcrosser when I am sorting terminating non machinable mail and see a postcard for another postcrosser.Makes me smile to know that it is still going strong after all these years
When all of the postcards that arrive at your post office end up in your post office box even if they aren’t addressed to you.
You know you're a postcrosser when…
That moment is coming, eagerly awaited, when I can sit down surrounded by boxes of postcards, stamps, paperclips, pens... and write a beautiful postcard while thinking especially about the friend postcrosser here is directed.
I loved reading the responses to the question. So many die hard fans .... wonderful to know this.
You Know You're A Postcrosser When...You're looking for nice cards on every kind of festivals (music, art, book, cinema).
if I could, I would "heart"-react to all the comments here. So many, if not all, are true for me, too! I know I am in the right community right here. Thank you, Postcrossing.com for this wonderful hobby.
Hello all together, you know that you are a Postcrossing Fan when your sideboard is decorated with boxes in which postcards are sorted by topic, whether the empty ones you still want to send or the lovingly written ones you received.
It makes me happy to look at!
Thanks for giving Postcrossers the opportunity for looking inside and reflect they are Postcrossers or not (yet). This is a nice challange, because that comes up from individual experiences. I can not respond seriously to this issue, though my amount of postcards I have received and send. In a way, I live Postcrossing at the top. I mean I send several postcards sometimes daily. Postcrossing is a means of learning and many times I have to study and search.
So recognisable!
What a great entertainment.
I laughed a lot today^^
Now I - or we all - just need to know where the postcards with the sayings can be bought.
You know you are a Postcrosser when you go to a Postcrossing meetup far from home, where you don't know anyone, and you are welcomed like a long lost friend. <3
You know you're a Postcrosser when you go on holidays, and the neighbour who has volunteered to collect your mail, expresses amazement at the number of friends you must have, from so many different parts of the world !!
You know you are a postcrosser, when your postman put ALL the mail including that for your neighbours into your postbox. Obviously he thinks only you get mail in your street...
You know you are a Postcrosser when you enter the post office for your usual replenishment of stamps and one of the first things you ask is whether the rates have gone up (I learned this past week that U.S. rates will be going up yet again on Monday, 01/22/24). And, you know you are a Postcrosser when those at the post office become excited when they see you arrive because they know you'll purchase more stamps even when the rates have gone up. (Plus: When my son accompanies me, these folks at the post office know he likes to have his hand stamped as "SPOILED". . .we have them trained.)
You Know your are a postcrosser when you on vacation (Mexico) and can't find postcards in all the Souvenir Shops anymore you are disaponted. Sometimes they Had postcards in the Last Corner, but dusty and the color changed from the sun. And if they Had new postcards, this are Made from photos glued to a bigger very thin Paper - I never bought this, i Know they would gona stuck in the Post Machines and then i have a Lot of expired cards. I was allways Happy when I found real postcards. And then looking for mailboxes - there are Not a Lot anymore in Mexico. In every City i checked where the Post Office (el correo) is and brought my postcards directly there.
When the postman puts postcards sent to non-Postcrossers in your mailbox! I have received about 5 or 6 postcards people had sent to their friends who live where I do, and the Post Office just has them delivered to me.
I've also received 2 postcards that were addressed to USA Postcrossers who lived in other states.
The postwoman says: "Oh, you're the one who gets so much mail.
I received my "accolade" today.
The first foreign postcard in my letterbox.
Of course I put it in my neighbor's mailbox^^
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