Do travellers still send postcards?
One of my first travel memories was seeing a postcard come through our letterbox when I was a child in Bangor, Northern Ireland. As a kid, you ignore those boring brown or white envelopes and you are intrigued by colour so the postcard that arrived in the post caught my eye.
It was either a postcard from the Netherlands or from London, but I told my Mum I wanted to keep it. For me a postcard is the ultimate travel souvenir. A postcard itself is a journey. It means little or nothing to get an e-mail with a photo on it when you compare it with the journey of a postcard. I fear it's becoming a forgotten art, hence why I still send my family a postcard from EVERY single new place I go.
The last time I visited my family I sought out my travelling postcard collection that I had sent them - mostly to my youngest brother. The collection has now amassed postcards from over 50 countries - hundreds of postcards.
All bought in various shops across all seven continents (yes, I bought and posted a postcard when I was in Antarctica!), then written with details about what I did there at the time, then a stamp is put on them, then I find a post office or postbox and post them. Then the completion of the journey when my family receive the postcard. What an amazing journey.
One of the most pleasing things for me was buying, writing and posting a postcard at Port Lockroy in Antarctica in a cold hut, where there was thankfully NO mobile phones, NO internet and certainly NO other way to send home my special travel memory!
Perhaps the younger travellers amongst us even wonder why anyone would bother sending a postcard, when you can just e-mail. Well it's the story of the postcard that does it for me!!
Spot the difference:
1. An e-mail: E-mail v Postcard? I logged on and typed an email and sent it from a computer. I think we all know the answer to that one, at least I do!
2. A postcard: Postcard v e-mail? I bought, wrote and posted this one in Port Lockroy in Antarctica. Thankfully there was no internet around.
Which one would you rather receive?
Just a bit of a thought for you next time you travel. Send a postcard!! My girlfriend has sent me a postcard from over 15 countries, that means more to me than any e-mail...I hope my postcards to her and to my family mean as much to them.
I love postcards, don't stop buying them, don't stop writing them, don't stop posting them and Don't Stop Living!
It was either a postcard from the Netherlands or from London, but I told my Mum I wanted to keep it. For me a postcard is the ultimate travel souvenir. A postcard itself is a journey. It means little or nothing to get an e-mail with a photo on it when you compare it with the journey of a postcard. I fear it's becoming a forgotten art, hence why I still send my family a postcard from EVERY single new place I go.
The last time I visited my family I sought out my travelling postcard collection that I had sent them - mostly to my youngest brother. The collection has now amassed postcards from over 50 countries - hundreds of postcards.
All bought in various shops across all seven continents (yes, I bought and posted a postcard when I was in Antarctica!), then written with details about what I did there at the time, then a stamp is put on them, then I find a post office or postbox and post them. Then the completion of the journey when my family receive the postcard. What an amazing journey.
One of the most pleasing things for me was buying, writing and posting a postcard at Port Lockroy in Antarctica in a cold hut, where there was thankfully NO mobile phones, NO internet and certainly NO other way to send home my special travel memory!
Perhaps the younger travellers amongst us even wonder why anyone would bother sending a postcard, when you can just e-mail. Well it's the story of the postcard that does it for me!!
Spot the difference:
1. An e-mail: E-mail v Postcard? I logged on and typed an email and sent it from a computer. I think we all know the answer to that one, at least I do!
2. A postcard: Postcard v e-mail? I bought, wrote and posted this one in Port Lockroy in Antarctica. Thankfully there was no internet around.
Which one would you rather receive?
Just a bit of a thought for you next time you travel. Send a postcard!! My girlfriend has sent me a postcard from over 15 countries, that means more to me than any e-mail...I hope my postcards to her and to my family mean as much to them.
I love postcards, don't stop buying them, don't stop writing them, don't stop posting them and Don't Stop Living!
About the Author:
To find further articles like Lost art of postcards visit Jonny Blair's immensely popular site Lifestyle of travel for further travel tales and advice.. Also published at Do travellers still send postcards?.