Postcrossing

I'm a digital gal through and through. After teaching at a distance education school for many years, where large piles of mail and packages would literally arrive on my desk daily, I quickly got over the novelty of receiving things in the post; most post = more work! Nowadays, the majority of post I receive comprises bills, official letters from the bank (sometimes good, but not always), and paper-based spam from real estate agents. A few months ago, I received a postcard in the mail from a friend visiting Rome. I couldn't believe the buzz this digital got at receiving something in the mail from a friend who was "just thinking about me", and it wasn't going to cost me money either!

I remember a chain letter that circulated at our primary school in the 1980s. Apparently it was started "years ago by some kids in Germany" and involved sending a postcard to someone at the top of a list of four names and then adding your name. No harm or doomsday prophecies were promised if the chain was broken, so most of our parents let us join in (but promptly - and correctly - binned any other chain letter that did the rounds). I received a handful of postcards in response to the two I sent, mostly from around New Zealand but one came from overseas (I can't remember where exactly). After a while, we realised that if you only knew people locally, then that's where your postcards were most likely to come from. Never mind, it was still fun for an eleven-year-old!

As I was planning my 101 in 1001 project, I came across the Postcrossing website. I decided to send a postcard somewhere in the world via the site and promptly prioritised goal #90 - Send a postcard via postcrossing.com as something I'd like to do, but quite low on my list. Today, I decided to do something about it. I bought a small postcard showing some scenery from Wellington and registered online.

My postcard is now on its way to Rio de Janerio in Brazil. How exciting! It's one of the many, many places I want to visit someday. I'll cross my fingers and check the site to see when (if) it arrives. I'll also keep an eye on my own mailbox to see whether I receive a postcard from another exotic location.