Postcrossing Blog

Postcards that spark smiles can also spark reading… and in December that is especially true! We’re launching this year’s “Cards for Literacy” with Deutsche Post, turning every card sent from Germany into support for literacy programs across the country. Let’s keep this joyful tradition rolling, helping fund reading initiatives and puting more books into more hands!

If you’re in Germany, now’s the time to stock up on postcards and stamps! Every card you send in December (that is registered until the end of February 2026) can help turn pages for new readers.

And there’s a bonus: Deutsche Post is giving away three adorable postboxes. Everyone who sends postcards from Germany during the campaign is in the draw — the more you send, the more chances you’ll have. This year’s donation is capped at €10,000, but even after the cap is reached, every postcard you send still counts toward the prize draw. Winners will be randomly selected in March 2026.

Not in Germany? You will be helping too! By registering postcards from Germany promptly, you help senders mail their next cards sooner, which keeps the donations flowing until the cap is reached.

A big part of Stiftung Lesen's important mission is meeting readers where they are, from after-school centers, youth clubs, refugee accommodations or rural libraries. They bring books, trained volunteers, and ready-to-use materials to places that often have the fewest resources but the greatest need. We’re honored to support their mission again this year.

Alright, that’s the plan — now let’s write, stamp, and send! Whether you’re mailing or registering, every small action adds up. Here’s to a fantastic 13th year of Cards for Literacy!

P.S. Postcrossing respects your privacy and will not share your personal information. Full details of the campaign are available here (in German).

It’s been a while since our last rummage through the land of postcard boxes… and many sets have come up on the shelves since! We’ve gathered a fresh handful of boxes with 50 or 100 postcards (some quietly beautiful, some gloriously nerdy) that might have slipped past your radar and are just begging to be written and mailed.

But first, a small disclaimer: this post contains affiliate links. If you click the links below to buy these sets through Amazon, Postcrossing earns a tiny commission at no extra cost to you. Prefer shopping local? Please do — it’s always our favourite option! 💪

• Everyday Watercolor 100 Postcards: Seashores and Ocean Life
• Mushrooms: 50 Postcards
• A World of Patterns: 100 Vibrant Postcards
• Good Movies as Old Books: 100 Postcards

• Lore Olympus Postcards: 50 Unique Images / 100 Postcards
• The Klimt Box: 50 Postcards of Paintings by Gustav Klimt
• Marimekko: 50 Postcards
• Agatha Christie Classic Book Covers: 100 Postcards

• The Backyard Bird Chronicles: 50 Postcards
• Magic: The Gathering Postcard Set (100 Postcards)
• Miffy’s World: 50 Collectible Postcards
• Peanuts: Happiness Is a Postcard: 50 Unique Postcards from Charlie Brown and Snoopy’s World

We’re already eyeing a few for our own mail stack… hello, Snoopy! 😍

Which set would you reach for first? If you’re hunting for more, our forum has a handy wiki directory and a lively topic full of recommendations. Happy writing!

Growing up in a small town in Mindanao with no postcards for sale, Leila (aka LeilaKewl) first discovered the wider world through QSL cards from faraway radio stations. These days, Postcrossing, a friendly campus post office, and an ever-growing pile of mail from surprising places make her happy and connected to the world beyond social media. We talked to her about all of this in the latest spotlight interview!

How did you get started sending postcards? What is your earliest memory of them?

My earliest memory of holding a postcard in my hand was when my parents received one from a friend overseas. The random street scene of other cities or desert landscape of other countries looked so exotic to my eyes, which had only seen our tiny town in the hinterlands of Mindanao island!

In my high school days, and still living in that tiny town, I got into shortwave radio listening, and I would send SINPO reports to radio stations. In acknowledgement of my report, they would send me a QSL card – actually postcards from their location. So I got cards from Saigon, Moscow, Washington DC, Sydney, Guam, Tokyo, etc.

Later on, when I got the chance to go to other places, I would buy postcards to keep as my picture-souvenir of the scenes I had seen, because I knew that my small, rectangular 110 camera would not have enough flash power to capture the details of such bright, beautiful places.

Finally, I actually started sending postcards when I stayed overseas as an exchange student for a year, to send a quick “Hello! I’m still alive” note and to show family and friends where I had been or what I had seen.

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

One day, I saw my friend Mysnia88 reading through a bunch of postcards she received. As I have always been interested in mail and postage stamps, I got curious and took a peek over her shoulder as she read them (with permission, of course). I was amazed by the variety of countries the cards came from and the beautiful postage stamps attached.

She told me about the Postcrossing website. I checked it out, signed up and, as they say, the rest is postcard-HERstory!

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

Although there is a mailbox outside our home, I prefer to use my workplace’s address. Since I work in the University, it has its own post office inside the campus that makes it convenient for me to drop by regularly.

Since starting Postcrossing, I have developed good relations with the small postal staff of 2–3. They actually set aside my mail and prop it up on their table for the daily exchange — when I come around to send mail, they hand me over my incoming mail. One could say that I am my own mail-folk!

What is it your favorite part of the Postcrossing process?

It is difficult to pick the favorite part because I enjoy the whole process of Postcrossing. If really pressed to say the favorite part, maybe it would be seeing a slant at the end of the blue bar of travelling postcards… because it means that I can finally click the red “Send a postcard” button!

And then I can start the whole process of reading the recipient’s profile, adhering to their preferences of card theme and writing prompt, actually putting together a postcard, and mailing it.

But definitely, I look forward to reading and appreciating everyone’s notes written on my received cards, and the recipient’s thank-you note in the email.

Have you been surprised by any place that you have received a postcard from or sent a postcard to?

Yes. As I am a fan of tennis player Andre Agassi, I have known for a long time that he has a connection to Georgia (not the one in the USA). So, when I received my one and only card from that country, I was tickled pink by it… although of course that thread of connection between the postcard and Mr. Agassi is barely there. :-)

However, I have been most surprised to receive a card (RE-4563) from a territory I did not know existed – Réunion!

As with most, I looked at the image first and thought it might be an atoll in the Pacific. Then I saw the postage stamp, which was the familiar Marianne of France and was a bit puzzled at the idea of an atoll in France. Afterwards I read the message, written in an “European-looking writing”, found the Postcrossing ID “RE” and thought it must be a mistake. But there are only 4 digits, so maybe it is legit…? RE – where is that?!

The card made me research about Réunion, its location, history, etc. Now, I want to visit Réunion!

What’s one way that postcards have changed your life for the better?

Postcard exchange, or Postcrossing, has made me realize how connected we all are. Even if I don’t travel to see much of the world, and my social media feed is limited to my corner of the world, the postcards show me that there is so much more out there and yet, we all have the same aspirations, and we are so alike more than we are different. It has also made me more prayerful, surprisingly.

The Little Mail Carriers are still island-hopping in the South Pacific! After their adventures in New Caledonia with postcrossers Maret (aka Cerres) and Andry (aka andry1961), our tiny postal duo boarded another plane to visit a place most of us only know from stamps and atlases: Wallis and Futuna. Come along as they report back from this remote corner of the world, where life (and the post!) move at an unhurried island pace.

From New Caledonia, we flew to Wallis and Futuna with the airline Aircalin, which operates two flights per week from Nouméa. Wallis Airport was a charming sight to behold in itself. Beyond its delightful architecture, the airport served as a vibrant gathering place for the locals. When we departed four days later at the early hour of five in the morning, the area around the airport was surprisingly bustling with people.

Wallis and Futuna is an exceptionally unique France overseas territory that has never been colonized but chose to become a part of the French Republic (1961) while preserving its three kingdoms.

The first inhabitants of Wallis came from New Caledonia. Europeans only discovered Wallis in 1767 when Samuel Wallis laid eyes on an uncharted island. After an initially confrontational reception from the locals, he returned to the sea, leaving the island with his namesake. The local population predominantly comprises Polynesians, whose gracious hospitality and traditions whisk you away from daily life.

Many of them adorned themselves with beautifully scented flower necklaces (often more than one) or tucked flowers into their hair. This was not limited to women; men embraced the tradition too. The daily presence of these traditions was evident in the local attire and tattoos. Both floral and oceanic motifs were popular in these expressions.

The Wallis Post Office is located in the capital city, across from the royal palace and near Mata-Utu Cathedral. Here, the post office isn’t just for sending postcards: you can also arrange telephone and internet connections, transfer money, pay bills, and more.

Adjacent to the post office, there’s an impressive philatelic department where we spent at least two hours every day when the post office was open. We received a warm welcome and were even offered a workspace for leisurely stamping.

The islands’ first stamps were overprinted stamps from New Caledonia, issued in May 1920. The stamps depict the history and nature of Wallis and Futuna, all of which are displayed along with explanations behind numerous glass-encased panels. On our last day in the Philatelic Center, they gifted us a flower necklace, though it was a bit too large for us — Maret was wearing it instead of us.

During our time in Wallis, we also visited Talietumu, the best-preserved Tongan Fortresses in Pacific Region and Lake Lalolalo, one of the largest inland crater lakes in this area.

In total, we made several rounds around the island during those days — the circumference is only about 50 kilometers. Although the distances were not vast, pedestrians were quite rare, also in Mata-Utu, but friendly stray dogs were abundant.

However, it’s worth noting that our journey was not without its challenges. A daily storm, which prevented flights to the nearby Futuna Island, added an element of unpredictability to our adventure. 😞 We’ll have to leave that visit for another time… but that’s part of the adventure.

With postcards written, stamps carefully chosen, and new friends made at the post office, it was soon time for Maret, Andry and us to say “mālō” and continue our journey across the Pacific. Stay tuned — we’ll soon have some more exciting travel reports to share!

The writing prompts invite postcrossers to write about a different topic on their postcards’ messages every month. These are just suggestions though — if you already know what you want to write about, or the recipient gives you some pointers, that’s great too!

The monthly writing prompts we suggest are often just really fun, like sharing awesome local stuff and imagining what kind of superpowers we’d like… but this month I thought we’d go in a different direction, and share some sage advice!

Advice can be so tricky and situational: I think one of the most life-changing bits of advice I got was from a teacher when it came to picking which university to go to. He told me to visit the campuses, and decide if I felt comfortable there. I refused to even apply to Cambridge on that basis (and admit it, I don’t think I’d have got in anyway), and ended up staking all my hopes on Cardiff University, even deferring entry for a year so I could attend Cardiff specifically. I was very happy and loved my university… and I do tend to use that experience more generally as proof that going with my gut can be a very powerful way to make a tough decision!

For more general advice, my grandma always had some pithy sayings, some of which were more intelligible than others. My favourite to share is this: “You can’t educate pork.” She was never that willing to explain (we’re still not certain about “If you don’t want to fight, wear a really big hat”, though there are theories) but the family have always taken this to be a caution about taking part in arguments that you’ll never win because the other person isn’t listening. I use it to remind myself not to reply to random people on social media…

And finally, I’ll leave you with the advice my dad gave me in a letter, back when I was deciding on which modules to take in my second year of university. He declined to comment on what might be useful to study, and instead told me that if I was ever trapped in a basement or something with only a jar of pickled gherkin, a battery and jump leads, I could put a current through a gherkin to achieve an eerie green light… and hot food.

Make of that what you will, and we’d be excited to learn what great pieces of advice you’ve received, both serious and silly! You can write about it on your postcards this month, and share in the comments as well if you like.