I send postcards. I send a lot of postcards. Why because my friends and family live vicariously through my travels and adventures. And everyone likes real mail. It started on that Soviet Union trip in ’88 and continues. Over the years my grandmother has gotten one from every trip. Like a grandma, she has a box with every single one of them. Awwww.
Anyway. In 2002, a dive buddy and I took a spur of the moment trip to Dubrovnik, and of course, Gram and Gramp got a postcard. During my next trip to see them, they said they had gotten a postcard but they couldn’t tell where it was from. I was traveling a lot in 2002-2004 and had no idea which postcard it could have been. Gramp dug out the box and the postcard. It was a bit water damaged, but clearly said Dubrovnik, Croatia. Gramp asked where that was. They had a set of Encyclopedia Brittanica, but it was Soviet era (early ’70’s I think) when Croatia was Yugoslavia! I gently explained the world had changed since 1992. I sent them a new world atlas so they could track my travels.
Gram still gets a postcard from every place I go.
Which prompts another funny postcard story. Until my niece and nephew were about 5 and 4 I sent one to the both of them. Then my sister in law informed me that whoever saw the card first would hide it from the other one! For years my niece and nephew got individual postcards from every place I went to. (Now they get emails, individually of course!) The rest of the family and friends are on a rotating non-specific schedule.
Now that I’m wandering, I’m sending less and less and embracing digital. Basically, this whole site is a virtual postcard!
TIP: Write the postcards while on vacation.
BONUS TIP: Buy an extra postcard for yourself and frame it when you get home. (Especially if the weather was bad and you didn’t get any great photos.)
TRICK: Send them once you get home. International postage is about $1.50 per card and on some trips, I’d send 50-60 cards. Unless someone is a serious philatelist they will just be happy to get a hand-written postcard.
CJ
