One of the things I really enjoy about travel especially during the times when I still don't have much means to see the world, is collecting. I love collecting everything about countries and cultures. I remember when I was in high school, my friends would help me with my coin collection by looking for some coins from other countries, especially my classmates who were children of seafarer fathers.
More to this, banknotes, mugs, stamps, figurines, and yes, the old-school postcards. I was already on the beginning of my working years when I found out about the gem of a website called postcrossing.com where it helped me send and receive postcard to and from total strangers. Total strangers who some of them became my life long friends who even until now I haven't met but still get in touch with. I haven't been active to postcrossing for many years now but I just had the urge last weekend to try and revisit my old postcard boxes. Glad that I did because I get to reminisce on a lot of memories, times that I would love to bring back soon when this pandemic gets over.
There's just so much stories as I browsed through my collection. A lot made me nostalgic, some made me teary eyed just like my sister's postcard above from Coron Island in Palawan, Philippines, while a few made me laugh like the one below were I sent myself a postcard from the US while I was in Imperial Beach in California (Is that normal? To send one's self a postcard?)
Just like blogging that led me to know a lot of friends, postcrossing and postcards have been a good way of leading me to amazing people who lives across the world who are destined to be my life-long friends. An example is the postbox shaped postcard I featured on the very first part of this blog, which was sent by Sean from China. He was just a high schooler when I receive his postcard (he sent the 3rd postcard I ever received from postcrossing). and almost a decade now, he is now working in Shanghai and I am very proud of it just like a big brother.
I still have contact with a number of the friends I met through postcrossing and I am very grateful for the friendship that we have through the years. I haven't got the chance to meet any of them though. Last December would have been a first when I was about to meet up in Amsterdam with a very close German friend who I knew from postcrossing 8 years ago (He was about to drive 4-5 hours through his motorcycle from Hamburg). His hotel has been booked for our meeting but unfortunately, days before our meeting, an emergency happened to her mother. We were both sad about it but I am still hopeful I'll get to meet him in God's time.
And speaking of Germany, one of our dearest friends Iris Flavia from Braunschweig did send me a postcard which makes me super happy, I don't know if she knows this but her postcard is the first one I received for 2020! (Not counting a couple of Christmas cards from my dear friends from Russia and Finland that I only get to see when I got back home from Europe which were sent from 2019).
I thank each and every person stranger and friends who sent me these beautiful postcards through the years. I believe I have almost 500 in the span of me being active in postcrossing 5 years ago. Hopefully I can get back to postcrossing because I really love receiving postcards from different places, and of course sending them as well :)
This runs every Thursday at 12 am (Manila/Perth Time) until Sunday at 11:59 pm (Manila/Perth Time)
...an interesting post. I was just going through some old things and found postcards that my grandmother had collected. Thanks for hosting and take care!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Tom for joining and those cards from your grandma are treasures!
DeleteDearest Stevenson,
ReplyDeleteThat is quite a collection of memorable photos and cards.
You next to the Chinese mailbox and those cards sent all over the world was interesting.
Like your card from the first man in space!
That meeting of your virtual German friend, who would have to travel by motorcycle was an unexpected ending... Guess he would need far more than the 4-5 hours for driving that stretch of 655 km!
My Mom collected postcards and I've sent her numerous ones, so did Pieter on his solo business trips. She was so grateful for them.
It makes one kind of travel the world, in a virtual way.
Hugs,
Mariette
Oh that is so precious! I know how your mom would have loved your postcards dearest Mariette! Glad to have kept these :)
Delete💞
DeleteIt seems to be part of the human condition that everyone collects something!
ReplyDeleteThat makes me relieved my friend David. At times I get to think if I'm turning into a hoarder or something haha
DeleteBeautiful photos.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Regine :)
DeleteI now feel like I made a huge mistake when I threw out a shoebox full of post cards I received from friends and family back when I was a child :/
ReplyDeleteOhhh that is so sad. But I'm sure the memories are still in your heart :)
DeleteI collected postcards when younger as it was so difficult to get photos of places visited (film was so expensive to have processed), and anyone who traveled always sent us postcards of their destinations. Unfortunately, don't have many of them anymore.
ReplyDeleteAs a side note, for some reason I was unable to access your last post as it just would not open for me. Happy to read this one though, and great you have so many happy memories :)
I am lucky to live in the video age as I travel but still at times I hope I lived in the postcard sending travel world :) Thanks dearest Margaret!
DeletePostcards are great! I used to collect them in the 90s, sure I still have a lot somewhere in the cupboard :-D
ReplyDeleteThis probably sound silly, well not really coming from me I guess, but every country I have visited I have bought nail polish from. Local brands and store brands and such. Something I enjoy a lot :-D
And I am a lot better, thanks for your kind wishes :-D After getting the correct diagnosis and meds, I started to feel better! Back to normal now ;-)
Nooo that is not silly at all dear Ananka! It's actually fun and cute to paint your nails with polishes from a different place! That sounds exciting :)
DeleteAnd thanks be to God that you are well now. stay safe and stay hydrated!
When I travelled I used to write postcards to friends and then collect them all back on my return as a sort of travel diary entry...now I've sort of stopped that. Which is a shame...I also don't go anywhere for a month anymore so I guess there's hardly any point. I loved Yuri Gararin. Quite an interesting life, indeed!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much dear Lydia and I am happy and would love to try what you did! I did that while I was in the US, Malaysia, and Singapore, to send it to myself :)
DeleteAnd if you get to Singapore, they have a gorgeous stamp museum
ReplyDeleteWaaaa I should have visited that Lydia! Now there's a reason for me to go back to Singapore again :)
DeleteI am a collector when I travel. Postcards, little items, fun things I can find. It is so much to shop for them, and then bring them home. I love making travel journals when I get home with these things. Its like continuing the trip. Enough said about me. I enjoyed reading your story about your postcards. How fun. Hope its a good week. Erika
ReplyDeleteWe are soooo much the same Erika! And you just reminded me that I haven't started on my Europe travel journal :) Journaling makes travel more memorable and cheaper since I only buy an item and just keep the cards, tickets, and receipts as souvenir to be stuck on my journal :)
DeleteDear Stevenson, for quite a while I enjoyed postcrossing, too, but it was so impersonal, kinda. No address to say thank you (on the ones I received).
ReplyDeleteI will never ever understand those people who really took off Earth, it´d be too scared for that!
:-) Henry blushes again! Did you know there are copies throughout Germany and even one in London? Henry really was "mächtig".
Love your quote, so true!
Maybe I resume to postcrossing, too? Hugs from Henry and I.
I very very very much understand what you mean about being impersonal dearest Iris!!! Just so lucy though that I gained some friends there and at the same time I did receive some cards with long letters on it which makes me so happy! But yes, I guess we should both resume it :) I'll try to start again very soon :)
DeleteWhat a great hobby - I have a bloggy friend in Australia who used to take part in postcrossing and i was intrigued with the cards she shared too.
ReplyDeleteStay safe
Blessings
Maxine
Thanks dearest Maxine! I also have a postcrossing friend before from New Zealand and we did exchange postcards quite a few times :)
DeleteOMG I have many of the same collections as well as a small box collection.
ReplyDeleteI am so excited to see you have a postcard blog, going to check it out now.
Thank you so much Jackie and I would love to see you on my postcard blog :)
DeleteBoa tarde Meu Querido e Grande Amigo. Parabéns pela excelente matéria. Tens um fã e admirador carioca.
ReplyDeleteMuito Obrigado meu amigo!
DeleteHoly Smokes Brother Man, Good On You - Would Love To Share Coin Collections Some Day - Life Is Much Better When Making Friends Across Boarders - Be Well This Week And Enjoy The Weekend
ReplyDeleteCheers
Thank you so so much brother Padre, that is so nice of you :) making friends away from home gives you fresher views and perspectives! Have a great new week ahead :)
DeletePostcards in some ways seem very retro, because everyone can be updated by email or Instagram or many other social media apps long before you get home from a trip and the post cards catch up with you. And now there’s no travel possible, meaning even less potential for postcards. So I’m very happy to see that you are finding ways to have post cards back into your life.
ReplyDeletebe well... mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Thank you so much dear Mae and you said it perfectly! A great way to travel through memories it is :)
DeleteI collect mostly old vintage cards and some of certain places. I will have to visit your card collection. What a wonderful way to make friends and see a part of their world!
ReplyDeleteOh vintage cards are so special dear Jeanie! I have a very few of those, one of which was sent by an old blog friend who was so dear to me, she passed away early this week which brought me to tears. She's from Ohio but I will forever remember her.
DeleteVery interesting account of your obsession! I now wish I had saved all the cards my father sent me wen I was a small child. He was a traveling salesman for ladies' belts and would send cards from the different hotels where he stayed, often with an arrow pointing to the window of the room he was occupying with a stick figure waving "hello!" Only one such card is in my possession, when I was 5 years old, a "penny postcard" (with a 1 cent US postage stamp). A fond memory indeed.
ReplyDeleteOh Kenneth I am so touched to hear about your father sending you postcards, that is very thoughtful and sweet of him! Wow that Penny postcard is so precious Kenneth, its a good treasure that you still have it
DeleteI used to send and collect postcards when I was younger, but now I just send them.
ReplyDeleteStay safe and well.
All the best Jan
Thank you so much Jan :) I also love collecting them and sending them but aside from posting them on my blog, I have to find a way to best keep them organized :)
DeleteThe idea of collecting something is already pleasant to me. I had never heard of that community of people, very interesting. He could understand the pleasure of looking at an image from some far away place with affection.
ReplyDeleteIf you want I could try eh! Do you have any from Argentina already? Big hug.
You are definitely right brother JLO especially the feeling that the card you received traveled miles away from the country it has been sent from, it's just magical!
DeleteOh, I would love one from Argentine JLO, I still don't have one in my collection :)
Hello, Stevenson.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of collecting postcards or other travel souvenirs is fantastic. I myself have collected fridge magnets, postcards and other souvenirs that make those trips fondly remember. The images that you have included in the entry are great. Thanks and greetings from Spain.
Oh thank you so much Miguel! I really am happy to see them and it makes me remember about the trip :) hugs from the Philippines!
DeleteI would have loved this when younger, and probably still would if I felt like sending them.
ReplyDeleteThat is true dearest Rose :) I hope you get to send some again :)
DeleteI really enjoyed this post, Stevenson, and now regret getting rid of postcards sent to me from pen pals when I was in high school and exchanging correspondences. I looked at your postcard blog and found it so interesting and plan to revisit and read more of the posts. Also I checked out the post crossing site and the problem is finding postcards to be able to exchange. Many gift stores no longer sell them. We have taken some day trips recently, but there were no gift stores on the routes. Thanks for sharing the stories behind ones you have received and hopefully you will meet these friends one day.
ReplyDeleteOh dear Beatrice that is so true! A challenge for me that is why I stopped is to look for postcards because the bookstore here just stopped selling them which was so sad. But it's nice to see the new websites of online shops now sells them here so hopefully I can get back :)
DeleteThank you so much for visiting my postcard blog Beatrice :) It means so much to me!
This was so much fun to read Steve (may I call you that?). I love the “pen pals” from all over aspect of blogging and it was very interesting to read about post crossing. I used the phrase “pen pal” because back in the dark ages when I was a schoolgirl, we received lists of girls our own age from other countries to write to ...they were our pen pals. My letters were not very good and neither were theirs. They ran something along the lines of “hello, how are you? I am fine.” And so on....not exactly timeless prose, but we were nine or ten years old )j. It would be a little better now! But I think I will stick to blogging only because even if I would have more to write about now, I am old and tired! ... you should get back to it because you are just the right age )))!
ReplyDeleteSallie! thank you so much for sharing your penpal days, that is super cute! Sadly when i was in Elementary the mailing system is starting to die out and we did not have such cool activities but gladly I was able to discover it when I grew up :) Thank you so much dearest Sallie, I'll go back soon :)
DeleteA very interesting post my friend Stevenson.
ReplyDeleteI think you were lucky to find an ancient post box in China and take a photo with it. I have seen a similar old post box shape in my city, but now it is no longer there.
It's nice to be able to have correspondence friends between countries so that we know and can collect stamps and postcards.
that is very true my friend Himawan! I really loved the postbox and if only I have my own house, I would love a postbox outside or a simple mailbox :)
DeleteThanks so much Himawan! Hugs to Indonesia!
How much is enjoyed and how many memories does all that bring us? I have a shelf at home that I fill with memories, both from our trips and those of my children and friends who know about this hobby and bring it to me when they go out there. very curious and enriching.
ReplyDeleteHappy week.
Greetings friend
I feel so happy my friend José Antonio that you are also like me who has shelves of memories at home :) I can't help it, it makes me very happy and nostalgic seeing such items from those trips and from my friends' trips :) Sending you hugs to Spain!
DeleteWow! 500 postcards, that's impressive Stevenson! When I was a lot younger I did have penpals around the world but over the years, marriage, children etc 😉 there just didn't seem to be any time which is a shame. I hope your postcard collection and new friends grow more with each passing year ✨
ReplyDeleteThank you so so much dearest Grace! I have one from a former student who now lives in WA. he sent me one from a beautiful beach on a place called Mandurah :)
DeleteI used to be so good about sending postcards years ago when I was in the travel business. But I can't remember the last time I sent one now. They are special and fun - and make for great memories.
ReplyDeleteThat is very true dearest Susie! It's a very priceless collection since imagine how many places they are all from :)
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