If you ever had a penpal as a child, you probably remember the excitement that comes with getting a letter in the mail from halfway across the world. The stamps look unique and the postmark is totally different to what you’re used to.
Postcrossing lets you recapture those fun childhood memories, or even experience them for the first time ever. This innovative website lets users exchange postcards with other users from around the world. The name of the game is simple — for every postcard you send, you’ll receive one in return. The idea behind the concept is to share some of your culture and information about your hometown both on the face of the postcard and through the note you write. In return you’ll get to learn more about another culture when you receive a postcard of your own.
Once you start receiving postcards, you can go to your Postcrossing profile online and record the location where it was sent from, as well as upload an image of the card into your own gallery. Postcrossing will log how far each postcard traveled in kilometers on your profile for other users to see as well.
Obviously, Postcrossing requires a mild leap of faith. You’re giving your address away to people from other countries who you don’t know personally. It is acceptable to use a PO Box number though, if that makes you more comfortable.
If you’re a diehard postcard collector, you’re definitely going to want to give Postcrossing a try!
