Postcrossing Blog

David (aka DrHyde) from London has a knack for finding just the right postcard or stamp for every recipient. He’s also a cricket umpire and has started a very funny postcard tradition that might just go on forever… Let’s meet him in this week’s spotlight!

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

Back in the good old days everyone sent postcards when they went on holiday, and my family was no different. These days I still send postcards when on holiday, although in some places it’s getting harder to find tourist cards.

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

I play Go, an Oriental strategy game, and in early August 2017 I travelled to a tournament on the Isle of Man. The tradition of sending postcards to family members is so deeply-rooted that it’s almost a compulsion now, but I was surprised that I just couldn’t find any cards that showed the very pretty village I was staying in. The only cards I could find were for the TT motorcycle races, which don’t even go through that village!

I mentioned this to another player at the tournament and the conversation meandered around a bit but he mentioned Postcrossing, I thought it sounded interesting, and I sent my first card shortly after returning home. I thought I’d give it a go for a bit and see what happened, and just fell in love with all the strange places that cards went to and from.

What is your favourite part of the Postcrossing process?

Early on I most looked forward to receiving cards from new places. It’s been a few years now so I don’t get many new places, although they do still appear occasionally. My most recent strange places were card AE-38540 from the UAE, and AR-28414 from Ushuaia, the closest place you can get to Antarctica without getting your feet wet.

These days I enjoy more sending cards, trying to match a card to a random stranger’s profile. I sent GB-1918737 to a gentleman whose profile said he is into ships and tools, so that card shows some of the tools that were custom-made for the construction of a replica of a 7th century ship, and I sent GB-1918735 to a lady who volunteers for her church and likes religious cards.

I also try to match stamps to peoples’ profiles. Here in the UK we are blessed with a vast number of special stamps on all kinds of themes. Some stamp collectors complain that they are “extruded philatelic product” whose purpose is to make money instead of being paragons of the art of stamps. I agree, they are a blatant commercial wheeze. But I’m not a collector, I want to use the stamps, and so that vast variety is just what I want.

I always keep some Harry Potter stamps in stock because so many people are fans. I also always have lots of stamps showing wildlife and plants. And a couple of weeks ago, sending a card to someone called James, I just felt compelled to use this stamp!

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

Given how well-connected the whole world is now I kinda expect to exchange cards with people all over the place. The biggest surprise has been how few I’ve exchanged with people in Africa. I’ve received just one official card from South Africa and one from Tunisia, out of almost 1500 cards total.

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

One of the things I ask for on my profile is recycled product packaging. My absolute favourite “postcard” of all time is US-8313703, made from a takeaway pizza box.

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

A few years ago I took a selfie of me about to post some cards, to illustrate a post on Mastodon where I was talking about Postcrossing. Then I realised that Postcrossing people often like postal-themed cards, so I turned that photograph into a postcard.

Of course, I had to take a photograph of me posting that card too, and that photograph in turn got turned into a postcard.

And I’m going to continue this silly game FOR EVER! The next one in the series is:

Do you have any other interesting hobbies or collections?

I am a cricket umpire! I officiate in the local league and for schools. I stopped playing the game after leaving school, but got back into it about a decade ago. Turns out that taking a break of 25 years really doesn’t help one to play very well, so I decided to take up umpiring instead – and I enjoy it far more than I ever enjoyed playing!

If you enjoy watching a sport then I really recommend giving umpiring/refereeing a go. Actually learning the rules (most fans really don’t know the details) will make the game more enjoyable when watching from the stands, but being out there on the pitch in charge of the match is the absolute best place from which to watch the match.

Today we’re chatting with Teresa (aka Triplightly) from Utah, USA! Her postcard journey started with letters to friends when she was a child, and has grown into a whole postcard room, meetups, friends around the world, and even postcard-writing lessons for elementary school students. She also hosts fairy tea parties, which might be one of the most magical hobbies we’ve ever heard of!

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

Growing up, I moved almost every year due to my father’s employment. Back “in the old days”, it was expensive to make a phone call to keep in touch, so I started writing letters to friends when I was 9 years old.

When I saw that postcards also included interesting and pretty pictures, I started writing those as well. It was exciting to send and receive mail and that feeling has continued to today.

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

While searching for new postcards on Amazon, I kept seeing the comment “these are great for Postcrossing”. It got me curious, so I researched it and joined that day!

What is your favorite part of the Postcrossing process?

I do get a thrill when I open my mailbox and see a card waiting for me, but my favorite part is connecting with people around the world — getting to learn about what matters to them and having a human connection. I now have many awesome pen friends around the world because of Postcrossing.

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

Once I started Postcrossing, my postcard numbers went from around two boxes of 100 to more than I can count. I store them in a big cupboard and file them either by category in containers or just store them all jumbled together.

When my son got a place of his own, we turned his room into “the postcard room”. 😂 It is always a bit of a mess because when I write I like to have everything in reach. Writing is no longer just pen and postcard. It is now stacks of postcards, stickers, pens of all shades, washi tape, etc., etc., etc.

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

Like most people, this is a tricky question to answer because I have “favorites” for different reasons. The day I received a Gotochi card was incredible! They are expensive to send and rare to receive, even more rare now that they are no longer produced, so I was elated to receive it. Postcrossers are very generous.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies or collections?

I like hosting and attending tea parties. Every summer for years, I would host a tea party in my garden for friends and family. Then I started caring for my disabled mother and no longer had the time to put such a grand event together. Thankfully, my friend Merida started hosting fairy tea parties at the summer solstice and she lets me help.

There is always a theme and wings are required — it is fantastic! My avatar photo is when I dressed as Cruella de Vil for the Disney Villain themed party last year.

My favorite though was when we had the party up in the forest in a mountain near my home. We hung lights from the trees and sat until dusk chatting, listening to the fairytale Merida writes for each party and feeling the magic around us. It was delightful when hikers would pass our little alcove and enter the lighted path and gaze in awe at a hidden fairy world. Everyone needs some magic in their lives and it doesn’t take much to create it.

Have you inspired anyone else to join Postcrossing or start collections of their own?

My 11 year old niece has enjoyed receiving postcards so much that she has decided that she wants to be a “postcard designer” when she grows up. 😀 That tickles me!

Also, as an elementary librarian, each National Postcard Day, I give every student a postcard, teach them how to write an address and write a short note. I give the older students a stamp so they can mail it to a family member or to themselves. I encourage them to say positive things about themselves and then send the card to themselves.

I always send a postcard to myself when I am on vacation and give myself a pep talk or pat on the back. It feels fabulous and I want the students to feel that too. It is a delight to watch them get anxious about when the card will arrive and then get excited when they receive it. The students now look forward to the activity.

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

When I received a card from Cuba, I was over the moon because I know that is rare. It made me feel special, or as I like to say, la-de-dah.

Have you met any other members in real life?

I’ve been lucky to meet several people in our amazing postcard community. Each year we have a meetup in Utah, so it is great to meet local members.

One of my favorite meetups was when a Postcrossing friend of mine from Germany came to visit me and she met with us and we shared stories and experiences. She and I then spent a week together touring the incredible national parks here in Utah. It was an amazing adventure.

Last year I was able to go to the Netherlands and meet another Postcrossing friend, Neeltje. We feel close through correspondence, but it is even better to meet in real life — it solidifies the friendship. We toured Rotterdam, had tea in a windmill in Delft, laughed and talked — so wonderful.

I like the postcards, but I adore the people who write them.

Is there anything else that you are passionate about?

I truly care about the mental and physical health of children. Hobbies, activities and even home life have changed, and many children are not as active as in years past and overall health is declining.

Each January I teach a “Take a SELFIE” lesson that was developed by a licensed psychologist and I have tweaked it a little for children. I make a special bookmark for each student and encourage them to share the information with their families. They are things that we can all benefit from:

• Sleep (we could all get more sleep)
• Engaging activity (non-digital creativity like drawing, building with Legos, baking, writing postcards)
• Light (physically and mentally we need sunlight)
• Fitness (get up and move)
• Interact (talking face-to-face rather than through a screen)
• Eat healthy (whole foods, and plenty of water)

Every time I teach this lesson, I am reminded that I could do better to take care of myself. I am especially excited when a child tells me that they rode their bike that day or that they made sure they drank extra water during the week. Even small changes help us be healthier and happier.

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

It has helped me broaden my view of the world, to care about people in every place, near and far. Like The Postcardist (the host of my favorite podcast) says, “Postcards connect people”, and that is not only true, but more important than ever.

We need to see our similarities, learn from and value our differences, and be united. We all live on the same planet and need to take care of each other.

Rebecca (zincirli) from Toronto (Canada) has been a member of Postcrossing for a while, and when we heard about her hobby of collecting pictorial cancellation marks, we thought that sounded cool and like a great topic for our blog! So without any further ado, here’s our latest spotlight, so that she can tell us about it in her own words!

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

I’ve always enjoyed getting mail, but I didn’t really get into sending a postcards frequently until I started traveling in my early 20s.

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

One of my former bosses actually heard about Postcrossing on a podcast, thought of me and shared the website, and I signed up immediately! I’ve been obsessed ever since. I think what really got me hooked was I’d say the artform of Postcrossing. Finding the right postcard, choosing stamps, decorating it to match (if possible) what people’s interests are, it’s such a great creative outlet.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies or collections? Tell us about pictorial cancellations!

I love to collect stickers and washi tape, and I have quite a few house plants too! But what I’m really into collecting right now is pictorial cancels. I saw them on the Canada Post website in early 2024 and had been curious. I then noticed this post on the forum, and went to visit Toronto’s First Post Office to get their pictorial cancel in person! The staff were so wonderful it inspired me to mail my first cancel requests, and I’ve been hooked ever since. If there’s a pictorial cancel that I think someone in my life would like I’ll also get a postcard sent to them with the cancel, it’s a lot of fun. I’ve collected over 100 so far!

I’m also a collaborator for Canada’s Pictorial Cancels, where we’re collecting them to record measurements and get the run dates for the pictorial cancels. Some of my favourite pictorial cancels I’ve collected so far are: Bamfield (British Columbia), Christmas Island (Nova Scotia) and Bath (New Brunswick). I even have a spreadsheet to keep track of everything 🤓

I’ve also received a few pictorial cancels from other countries, check out these two from Portugal and Taiwan for WPD!!

Have you inspired anyone else to join Postcrossing or start collections of their own?

A few people in my life have signed up for Postcrossing after seeing the postcards (and joy from them) I’ve received! My house now has two postcrossers as my boyfriend signed up as well, we write cards together and enjoy going shopping for postcards.

Is there anything else that you are passionate about?

I love history, especially ancient history, and local history! Small town museums are my favourite. I think it’s important to learn as much as we can about the areas around us and the history behind it all.

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

I received a card from Tunisia in 2023 (TN-8389)! My first card from Africa at the time. I sent a card to Réunion last year too (CA-1530232), I was impressed with how quickly it arrived!

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

So difficult to really narrow it down but there are three that stick out to me. The first (US-9381560), is from BabyLand (USA), home of the Cabbage Patch Kids. It’s such a wild card but I love it!! Then from Bretagne in France (FR-1686819), has a super neat cut out in the postcard which I think makes it super unique!! And lastly is from Germany (DE-14066134), because I absolutely love the art style and expressions on the buildings.

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

This is my local street mailbox! I always try to drop off my cards on my lunch so they can be picked up the same day.

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.

We found Màiri (aka mairigold) through a charming owl-themed postcard exhibition she prepared for a museum in Scotland — and couldn’t wait to learn more! A lifelong postcard enthusiast, she finds joy in sharing postcards, decorating them… and even building tiny snowpeople on her red postbox! 😍

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

This postcard was one of my most precious treasures as a child. I still like it now! Those 3D fairytale postcards seemed magical to me and I think that must have been what got me interested in postcards.

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

I heard about Postcrossing quite by chance in 2011 when it was mentioned in passing in an online interview. I signed up immediately! Until then I had never met anyone else that liked postcards as much as I did… suddenly a whole world of fellow postcard afficionados opened up to me!

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

Impossible to choose!

However, 18 August 2012 was a good Postcrossing day for me! These two beautiful postcards arrived together from China – one was drawn by Scarelt as a thank you for GB-339961 and the other (CN-627070) was sent by DogDadRory.

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

I am lucky to have this red postbox just outside my door. This is where I post my postcards. When it snows I build a wee snowperson on the top!

I keep some of my postcards in these mango boxes!

What is it your favorite part of the Postcrossing process?

What I love is choosing the postcards to send. It is great when I have one that appears in someone’s favourites wishlist! I like choosing the stamps to use and writing and decorating the postcard too. I have a LOT of stickers and washi tapes as well as postcards.

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

I received a postcard from Fiji which has only 17 postcrossers – quite an unusual postcard entitled “evoking spirits with a shaman’s drum”. And I sent a postcard – a map of Scotland – to a “country” I had never heard of: Saint Pierre & Miquelon, which is a French archipelago located near Canada.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies or collections?

I have a small collection of knitted or crocheted toys, which includes a wee crochet tea set and a vase of flowers, a wee knitted doll, two owls and a stripy cat.

I also have growing collection of fancy matchboxes too.

Have you inspired anyone else to join Postcrossing or start collections of their own?

I work in an art gallery and recently had a wee exhibition of (some of) my owl postcard collection in its sister museum: The Auld Kirk Museum in Kirkintilloch, Scotland.

Several of my colleagues share an enthusiasm for postcards and have now become Postcrossers too!