One of the people leaving a comment mentioned Postcrossing–the postcard swap site. It’s a work of genius–simple but lots of fun. You register, and are allowed to send five postcards. PostCrossing gives you the names and addresses and a registration number for each card. You send the cards.
This postcard from India has doodling on it--but doodling varies by culture! Who knew? And I love the quote, too.
When the cards arrive, the recipient registers it, and it counts for the sender–and the sender’s name is put into the “receive a postcard” list.
You can have five postcards traveling at any one time.
So you don’t swap postcards, you simply send them to someone and receive postcards from others. I’ve belonged a bit over a month and have sent 17 postcards, 12 of which were received. It took the one to Russia 43 days to arrive. I was afraid it wouldn’t for a while. I’ve also received seven postcards, the closest from Lake George, NY and the furthest away from Xi’an, China.
This delightful card from Finland came from a woman who sent it because she thought I might never have seen autumn leaves. I loved the sentiment, there is no way she knew about my life in Connecticut and D.C.
You can make your PostCrossing interesting by requesting direct exchanges or sending handmade cards. Your profile indicates if you’d like to do either one.
This cheery Czech sun wishes a warm and sunny soul.
I’m having a lot of fun with this–There is no pressure to send, but you should register the card as soon as you get it.
It’s a great way to connect around the world.
–Quinn McDonald is having fun seeing the world through other people’s eyes.
QuinnCreative 
oh, thanks for reminding me of this! my hubby and i belonged years ago, but haven’t done it in quite a while… i think i may have to ‘wander’ over there, and check it out again =D
It’s very cool, so enjoy!
Also, there are forums you can check out and some of them are for people who like to make their own cards, and there are swaps and all kinds of things.
Postcrossing is rich in resources, absolutely.
Cool, thanks so much for the info. I htink this will be fun. Thank you so much for sharing!!!
Itt sounds like fun. I just registered. Do you make postcards to send? If so, what are the requirements for the postcards? Thanks for letting us know about this.
I read the profile of the people who want to receive cards. I have a stash of postcards I purchased–ones about the desert (I live in Phoenix) and ones from museums. Very few people I’ve been connected with want handmade cards, but I’ve just been contacted by two of them –go figure! I generally send 4 x 6 cards, just in case people collect cards, but the USPS will take larger cards, and I’ve sent a few to people who say they welcome any cards.
I’ve just registered! It sounds like fun and I love, love, love snail mail.
You will love this, Wendy!
Postcrossing is a whole bunch of fun!! I have been a member for a few months now and I have received some great cards, I think I’m up to 20. Its a great way to travel the world if extensive travel or budget doesn’t allow. I also have a few mailart penpals from goodmailday.com. I love writing letters and receiving them and its a good excuse to breakout my fountains pens plus its a fun way to keep the Post Office in business 🙂
Peace,
Vicki
What a great idea–and the post office is letting boxholders receive Fed-Ex and UPS packages–it emails you when you have mail!
I’ve been doing postcrossing for a few years and love it. I have only received a few handmade cards and haven’t received any ad cards. It’s so much fun seeing/reading about where people live and looking at the beautiful stamps they use. I also love looking at the handwriting and how different it is in different parts of the world. It’s all beautiful, though, some take a bit more work to read than others! When I register the cards I receive, I often ask if the person would like a card from Phoenix or perhaps one that I made. I’ve also had a couple of people ask to swap several cards in an envelope. If I travel, I always pick up a few postcards whenever we stop.
After you have sent and received certain numbers of cards, you are able to send more at a time. I think I’m up to 11 now. One of my favorite things about it is that I never know when a new card will be arriving and it makes going to the mailbox an adventure!
Yes, the more postcards you send that are received and registered, the more cards you can send. I am at 6 cards now, and as soon as three more arrive to their destinations, I’ll be able to have 7 cards traveling. I’m amazed at how many people in foreign countries write excellent English.
Thank you for sharing! I just registered!
Ohhh, you’ll have fun, Lucie!
I have heard of postcrossing, but had never really known how it all worked. Thanks for spelling it all out like that. I have done other swaps on-line for postcards and they were a lot of fun to do. It’s interesting to see what you get from different parts of the world.
I like the informality and the fun of postcards and stamps from all over!
Thanks for introducing such a great ongoing project!
It’s interesting to see what people send and how long it takes, too. And of course, Postcrossing keeps track of the distance all the postcards have traveled.
It’s very cool that people take the time to build systems for postcard exchanges like this one, it’s awesome and very cool that you can ask for handmade postcards. I would be so disappointed to get a souvenir one with ugly buildings and sunshine wishes on… 😉
PostCrossing is a lot of fun. Some people do send ad postcards–I got my first one yesterday, but I also got two hand-made ones. Once the pace gets going, I’m going to initiate some one-on-one swaps with people who want handmade cards. It’s so much fun!