Culture

When’s the last time you sent a postcard?

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I remember postcards. I remember receiving them. Although, I don’t think I have a single one saved. Nor do I remember who may have sent them to me in the past.
I remember writing letters. I used to be a letter writer. I was a great letter writer. I was funny, quirky and had lots to say. I would even draw. They were weird drawings of nothing and no one. I don’t wroite letters anymore. My mom died and my letter writing died with her.
I remember holiday cards. I still do write holiday cards. Well, I get them printed with three family photos that encapsulate each year. And I write a brief note that provides either a synopsis of my life or words of encouragement and gratitude. I still like mailing out holiday cards. I’m one of a rapidly decreasing few. Years ago, my Christmas tree had so many holiday cards, now it is a smattering. I think many believe a Facebook post counts as a holiday wish. Really? That just takes a few seconds and can often be completely devoid of personal touches.
I remember handwriting. I still do. My son is starting to learn it and thinks it’s a waste of time as we have computers and keyboards. I can’t tell him that many schools have gotten rid of cursive.  Sad! I suppose its been a long time since hieroglyphics. Everything evolves and has a life cycle.
Back to postcards. I used to buy postcards. But almost always I bought them for me. When I first traveled on my own, just like many others, I was dirt poor. Sadly I didn’t have a great camera and didn’t have money for much film. Postcards were cheaper and already annotated. They were a lifesaver. Thus, I bought postcards for me and rarely for others.  Yet, I have no idea where those postcards are at now.   Maybe during my next house move, I will find them.   Probably not.

 

Here is what I may do going forward. I say “may”, because many ideas sound nice at the time and then you move on from them….Sad.   I hope to start buying postcards again. Once I buy them, if I can figure out the postage (which I can ask the hotel to handle) I’m going to send myself postcards from my trips. I’m going to take a few minutes to note something amazing from where I am at and send it to myself. Hopefully, I will save those postcards and have a travel diary of a whole new sort, which is old school.  I think it would be fun and nostalgic to receive a postcard from oneself.   While I’m at it, I might send a postcard to someone else. However, I am not too sure that I know anyone’s address anymore.  Sad.

Categories: Culture, Humor, identity, Psychology, social media, Travel

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24 replies »

  1. I really like the idea of sending post cards to yourself to create a type of travel journal. We actually sent postcards to a few friends and family when we were moving back home from China. We thought it might be a nice personal gift from our time spent living there. Some seemed to really appreciate it, but some never really acknowledged receiving them. So that was a bit disappointing.

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  2. I used to love sending a good old postcard. In fact I used to send hundreds! The pace and communication style of life have changed so much. I resisted this for a long while but conclude that if you can’t beat them….

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  3. I used to send out postcards sometimes. I still have some that were sent to me. Same with letter writing. It’s so nice to get that personal touch, you just don’t get with emails. Wish more people did this, again. 🙂

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  4. That’s the funny thing, I wanted to start sending Christmas cards and birthday cards again, but I realized that the only address I had for friends, were that of an e-mail. Seems sad to me. Let’s start a movement! 🙂 Harlon

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  7. Pingback: When’s the last time you sent a postcard? – SEO

  8. I don’t send them anymore but I have collected them since the 1990s wherever I travelled. I put silly notes about places on the back but now I travel blog there is no need 🙂

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  9. Thanks for this great idea to send postcards to myself. I’m leaving on a trip tomorrow – just across a few states to Colorado but easy to send so I will. Or maybe not, but thanks for the idea. It’s a great idea.

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