Postcrossing Blog

Luxembourg native, Luxi, loves the joy of giving – be it sending postcards, adopting children, or volunteering for charity.

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

Some years ago I heard about Postcrossing in a German forum. I was curious and found it interesting and so I opened an account. Up to that day I loved postcards but I was not a real collector. I was mainly attracted by the possibility of receiving postcards from all over the world to get an idea about the beauty and culture of other countries and to share the same about my country, Luxemburg. As soon as I received my first card I got hooked. I found it so amazing that a complete stranger sent a greeting to me from far away and so it became a real passion!

Through all those years I shared precious moments with so many people, I got an amazing collection of wonderful cards, and connected to quite a few people on a further level throuth private swaps and tags in the forum! Some became the sort of friends that exchange surprise cards from our vacations or on holidays. The best part of it is putting a smile on someone’s face! There are so many ways to do this and the feedback I receive is very rewarding for me. It’s kind of “sharing a moment of our life” with the people we exchange a card with.

Soon it became a real addiction and so now I can not even pass by a shop that sells postcards without having a look at them and buying some. I return from all vacations with a stack of special postcards. I also blog almost daily about Postcrossing. My family thinks I am crazy and often make fun of me when they hear me scream out in my office when I receive that special ID or a new country and of course when I am the one to send to a special unusual ID from little Luxemburg. But I guess that is the price to pay right?

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

I love to read, lazy weekends on the couch, cooking, traveling, my dog and I love to shop (yes that can be a real hobby too!). But basically my life revolves around children. We are an adoptive family and our children have their roots in Peru, Vietnam, and Madagascar. I also work in the adoption field and so naturally I became invested in a charity organisation that got created out of my adoption work. Much of my time is spent on projects for children and women in need in South Africa. Of course this is much more than just a hobby – it is about giving and receiving. By writing these lines here, I also realize that this is probably why Postcrossing is so precious to me, it is also about giving and receiving ;-).

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

My mailbox in front of our house.


The way I collect my cards. Got many of these albums full so far!


My officedesk from where I write my cards.

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

It is hard to point out one single card and say that this is my favorite! Every single card is so special to me! Every scratch, every dent, every beautiful stamp. I love them all because they are all part of the project and make it so unique! It is like a puzzle, you cannot take out one piece because then it is incomplete. But one card that has recently touched my heart is a card from The Netherlands sent from the user Lubbers. (Thank you again Carolien) So I would love to share this one with you:

Soooo.. our first monthly contest is over, and we’ve received some enthusiastic videos! Who knew postcrossers had such nice video skills?

Here are the entries:

How does Postcrossing work (Misio)

by mrpotato

An Introduction to Postcrossing

by DerbyDragon

What is Postcrossing

by oixxo

Postcrossing world

by paneleroze

Postcrossing!

by the_beatles_4_ever

how Postcrossing works

by piotrek

Postcrossing and how it works

by positively postal

How to Postcross

by Vandom

Postcrossing manual

by R4

And here is the one we selected as the winner:

Isn’t it such a sweet video? Congratulations oixxo, good job! :)

Video isn’t your thing? Fear not, we’ll try something different next month!

And of course, thank you MOO for gracefully sponsoring our monthly contest. Need to get some postcards, business cards or stickers done? MOO's got you covered, with outstanding quality and original designs! :)

If you’ve been paying attention to postal news (or our Twitter feed), you’ve probably heard of the recently uncovered case of a Philadelphia’s postal hoarder. Over the years, this postman managed to collect over 20 000 pieces of mail in his garage, including “love letters, checks and gift cards, as well as hundreds of packages” that are now being delivered, some with a delay of over 10 years!

To this evil postal worker, we’d like to dedicate a very appropriate song by the Presidents of the United States of America, titled “Some Postman”:

:)

Zmrzlina, in Pennsylvania, kindly hosted the intrepid mail carriers on their adventures in Pittsburgh. And what exciting days they had, filled with zombies and Andy Warhol… read all about it below!

Little Ana and Paulo started their visit to Pittsburgh with a visit to Pamela’s Diner, in the Strip District. The pancakes here are quite good, as US President Obama will attest. Paulo would have liked a second helping, but we had lots to see, so he took one last bite and off we went.

We did some window shopping in the Strip District, a former warehouse area that is now the home to ethnic grocery stores, funky arts and lots of street vendors. We found one vendor selling tiny little journals, perfect for keeping track of journeys.

Pittsburgh is known as The City of Bridges. There 446 bridges in the city and some of them are beautiful works of steel and magic. Three of those bridges, sitting side-by-side, are called the Three Sisters Bridges. They are each named for a famous Pittsburgh resident: Rachel Carson, the early 20th century environmentalist whose writings started the worldwide environmental movement; Roberto Clemente, Puerto Rican-born baseball legend whose charity work helped millions; and Andy Warhol, pop art master.

We took a walk over the Andy Warhol Bridge and visited the museum dedicated to his art. It is the largest museum in the US dedicated to one artist. The postcard selection is quite wonderful, though a bit pricey, and Ana was quite taken with the Campbell Soup pen, though we convinced her it was a bit too weighty to travel the world. After a photo session with Andy, we were off to see more of the city.

Pittsburgh has three major league sports teams: Pittsburgh Pirates (baseball); Pittsburgh Steelers (American football); and Pittsburgh Penguins (hockey). A huge statue of Roberto Clemente is just outside the baseball stadium, PNC Park. Paula and Ana look even tinier sitting on his hand! We were also able to get right up close to the park for a glimpse inside.

On our way to the football stadium we visited another Pittsburgh legend, Mister Rogers. Fred Rogers was the creator and host of a long running children’s television series called Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. He was a very gentle man with a huge heart filled with love for everyone.

After all that walking we decided it was time to visit another area of town and drove over to Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden. Paulo and Ana were quite fascinated by the extensive bonsai collection and charming miniature railway displays. While posing for a photo, a train engine bumped Ana and she went for a tumble, but have no fear, we were right there and caught her.

For a final view of the city, we went up to Grandview Avenue, one of the best places to see Pittsburgh. Paula and Ana enjoyed the overlook, as well as the ride on one of the two remaining incline trams in Pittsburgh, the Duquesne Incline.

Our last stop was a bit outside the city. We went to the Monroeville Mall, famous for being the setting for George Romero's zombie movie, Dawn of the Dead. Paulo and Ana enjoyed the Zombie Museum at the mall very much. Quite kitschy, but fun.

Such a busy day, and lots of new adventures ahead. Paulo and Ana spent the evening helping Zmrzlina with her Orphaned Postcard Project, and the next morning they posed for a picture inside Zmrzlina’s cute mailbox.

Pittsburgh was so much fun! Where will the little mail carriers go next? :)

PS – Missed their previous adventures? You can follow their journey around the world here.

Meet zasa from Bern, Switzerland. She is 26 years old and a lover of all things postal. Like many of us, she combines her other hobbies with Postcrossing.

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

I came across Postcrossing in the Autumn of 2006. I had moved back in with my parents for a short time and it was so boring in the evenings that I took to surfing the Internet. Don’t ask me how I found postcrossing.com, but I did. It is my little addiction (little? would my boyfriend consider it such?). Since I was a little girl, I always wake up when I hear the postman’s motorcycle – I love snailmail – I love stamps – I love to write and widen my horizons via Postcrossing.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

Besides Postcrossing? Is there any time left besides this hobby? Yes I do have one! Lomography. That’s a community who shoots from the hip! Feel free to visit us at lomography.com or my personal photoblog streulicht.com. The best thing of both hobbies is that sometimes I have the chance to combine them! So I make my own postcards from lomos I’ve taken. I’m also very active in travelling notebooks where I can use my lomos.

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

My postman/woman says every day: “Oh my gosh! My work wasn’t so interesting till you moved in my quarter!” My post office team wasn’t excited about becoming Internet stars so instead I took photos of my actual room where I have hung the most beautiful black & white cards I have received.

This photo shows you little zasa in Prague, sure for exploring the post world there!


And this is the mailbox where I drop most of the stuff for Postcrossing in it!

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

I have a received a lot of cards that I would call favorites. It all depends on the when the card was received and there is always a chance to top my favorite one. I am happy if I get cards every day – they brighten my horizon. So, all cards are, in their own way, favorites!