Postcrossing Blog

Norbert, 53, Düsseldorf, Germany. Better known as “Baer” in the Forum. He is more than a polar bear friend…

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

My fiancè (which is also active on postcrossing) has been penpalling for more than 25 years. One of her penpals, the Turkish postcrosser nihan, sent her the link to this postcard paradise. I tried it first and was infected by the postcrossing virus in the same second… :-)))

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

Rubberstamping, playing table tennis. In former times fantasy roleplaying, boardgames, painting tin miniatures, watercolour painting, motorbiking.

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

My mailman doesn’t like me, I won’t photograph him and show him here. Unfortunately, the friendly people at my postoffice didn’t give me their permission to show their photos here, so I just show the space, mailbox where I sent my postcards from and my mailbox!

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

My most special card – the very first card I received by Postcrossing…

Here is another photo of one of my favorite cards, sent by the user EvansCrew:

Paul (pbesoo) is 32, lives in the Netherlands and he likes to explore the world through Postcrossing. Learn a bit more about someone who confesses himself as addicted to Postcrossing.

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

I read an article about a Dutch Postcrosser in the local newspaper. I saved the article, after a few months I activated my profile and since I’m addicted. I like the idea of exploring the world through Postcrossing and “meeting” people from other nationalities.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

Cycling, mountain biking and swimming.

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

My mailman run away, so I like to show you a picture of the mailbox where I post my mail. All the mailboxes in Holland look like this.

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

All the cards I receive are special in their own way. The senders do a lot of effort to send a nice view often with a personal touch. I just picked out this recently received colorful card to show you:

What have rubber ducks to do with postcards? Kirsi (Huppu68) thinks they go very well together. She lives in Helsinki (Finland), and in this week Postcrossing Spotlight she’s going to tell us who is 'Mauno’.

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

I read an article from the weekly magazine of Helsingin Sanomat newspaper and I registered to Postcrossing right away. I’ve always loved sending postcards and I was a bit sad, because people has sent their birthday and Christmas wishes by e-mail or text messages. When I got my first cards via Postcrossing I was hooked; this is a perfect site for me. I have also got a lot of good friends from all over the world and here in Finland too. We have lots of Postcrossing meetings here and I’m totally hooked on them too.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

I love photographing and I always have my camera with me everywhere I go. I also collect rubber ducks and I have about 120 different ones. Lately I have put these two hobbies together and started to take photos of my Postcrossing Duck called Mauno “Manu” Anselmi. He is quite famous already here in Finland; I took a photo of Manu with The Prime Minister of Finland :) Manu has his fan club in Facebook and I just started to write his own blog (only in Finnish though, sorry).

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

A photo of my nearest mailbox, where I mostly post my cards and a photo of my nearest post office.

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

Oh, this one is really difficult… I love almost all my received postcards and they all are like small gifts to me. I keep some of my favourite cards on our walls on boards and I’ll show a few photos of them. I have many collections of different themes and I have received thousands of cards for them via the official site and official forum of Postcrossing. I’m happy and thankful for every card I’ve received – they are all special for me.

From joyful Brazil, meet Karina, a journalist from São Paulo who started collecting postcards after joining Postcrossing. Sounds familiar?

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

In 2005 I read in “O Estado de S. Paulo” newspaper about Postcrossing and I decided to try this new experience. I always liked to swap letters with my friends before the 'e-mails age’ and I missed to receive mail with lots of things… So the Postcrossing project was great for me! I didn’t collect postcards before Postcrossing but I already liked to buy them in my trips.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

My main hobby now is Postcrossing, but I’m also addicted to books. And I love french movies.

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

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

This is one of my favourite and special postcards. I’ll explain: I got married last year and I put this information in my official profile and in the forum too. So, many people sent me postcards with nice wishes and greetings. It’s great and I was very very very happy :) People in Postcrossing have big hearts!

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Our second Postcrossing spotlight interviewed member is 64-year old Adrienne (adriennegarry) from New Zealand. She has been in Postcrossing for more than three years already and she loves the good things in life. Here’s what Adrienne had to say:

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

My internet provider used to have a weekly bulletin with interesting web sites and I think it was November 2005 when they were talking about the Postcrossing site and thought I would try it out. Just the fact of real mail arriving in the box at the front gate is the best thing – not knowing what is coming from where was the best bit! Now it is all the friends I have made all over the world. The downside is I just had to buy a filing cabinet to store all my received cards and they don’t all fit!!!

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

Reading, cross-stitch embroidery, gardening, cooking, crosswords, but mainly travelling anywhere in the world. We just got back from Greece, Turkey, and Singapore and are off to Sydney, Australia in September. I am off to the South Island in three weeks to visit family. Planning on going to Tasmania with friends next year and back to Europe the following year. In the mean time I have to keep working at my real job in a local law office.

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

Adrienne’s mailbox, place where she post her postcards and her postoffice:

The mailbox

Where all my mail gets posted

Postoffice where I buy the stamps

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

I have so many spectacularly beautiful cards and this one is not “beautiful” but it makes me smile every time I see it and that is the most important thing any of us can do in our lives – share smiles.