For those of you taking on the sport of postcrossing (check out http://www.postcrossing.com for those of you who want to learn what it is), your own message board! =)

I actually looked on the site thinking they MUST have message boards there but I couldn't find any!

-- Ryan

After reading about postcrossing on one of the boards, I decided to give it a try.

Seems to work.

I sent out postcards to Germany, Switzerland, Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands.

In the past 2 days, they have been received in Germany and Switzerland.

People logged their postcards online, and email notification was received.

Very cool, and lots of fun--thanks for introducing this to us!

FamilyMan

At the website for postcrossing, postcrossing.com, you can also see the lists of members around the world.

Locally, you might recognize a few from letterboxing, too....

Hello,
Ever since Ryan mentioned postcrossing.com a few months ago, I've been participating.

I've sent out 18 postcards around the world now, and have received 14. Poland, India, New Zealand, the UK, Brazil and more.

Great postcards and beautiful postage stamps.

If you haven't tried it yet, it's easy, inexpensive and a lot of fun.

Anyone else out there postcrossing?

Thanks,
FamilyMan

Sounds interesting...how does it work?

First, you register for free at postcrossing.com.

Then, you can request up to 5 (fewer if you wish) addresses to mail postcards. All of the addresses will be international (one of mine was to the US Virgin Islands, only slightly international). Each destination is assigned a short tracking number--one from New Zealand today was NZ-322, for instance.

Drop by Walmart, or some other local shop that carries postcards of your area (events, scenic views, etc.). At our Walmart, they carry tons of them for the Shenandoah Valley, at 20 cents each.

Add postage (70 cents for all countries but Canada). Sit back and wait.

Once your postcard is received, you will receive an email (done through the postcrossing site) that your card was received. This allows your name to be passed to folks in other countries, who repeat the process.

You have no idea where they are coming from until they arrive.

Also, once the postcards you sent are received, the system allows you to get a fresh destination to send a new one to.

Like I mentioned, the postcards are fascinating, and I love the postage stamps on them. You learn a lot.

The one I sent to India, for example, had "above the store across from the bus stop" as part of the address. It made it.

Give it a try!

Thanks,
FamilyMan

I just looked at this site. Very interesting! I have signed up for some addresses and will send them out tonight. OMG, another obsession!

How very cool! I can see where this might get addicting!

CR

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I actually looked on the site thinking they MUST have message boards there but I couldn't find any!

Try the "Forum" link at the top?

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OMG, another obsession!

The nice thing about this obsession though, is that the speed of international mail keeps it from getting too far out of hand!

Hope you enjoy it,
FamilyMan

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How very cool! I can see where this might get addicting!

Another nice thing about this is how nice everyone is. A couple of people have even looked into letterboxing from the information in my profile.

Give it a try!

FamilyMan

Oh yes, I've been doing lots of postcrossing too. Let's see if I can get this together in an understandable fashion (the x's represent the number of cards sent to that place):

I'VE SENT TO:
Portugal - xxxxxxxxxxx
Germany - xxxxxxxx
Norway - x
Austria - xxx
Finland - xxxxxxxxxx
Indonesia - x
Spain - xxx
Netherlands - xx
Brazil - x
Canada - x
Taiwan - x
Lithuania - x
New Zealand - x
Russia - x
Italy - x
United Kingdom - x

I'VE RECEIVED FROM:
Germany - xxxxxxxxxx
Ireland - x
Portugal - xxxx
Finland - xxxxx
Australia - xxx
Sweden - x
Brazil - xx
Russia - xxx
Austria - x
United Kingdom - xx
Moldova - x
Spain - x
New Zealand - x
Canada - x
Greece - x

This is a very cool hobby. So interesting to see all the neat postage stamps and handwriting styles, pictures, etc. And several people have asked me about letterboxing too. I hope we can recuit some of em! :)

OOPS! I missed a few. I've also received postcrossing cards from Scotland and England! :)

Becky of TrailStompers

I was loving Postcrossing until something happened and none of my postcards seem to be getting where they're supposed to go. I have 5 out there. The most recently sent one has been traveling 26 days, and the one that's been out there the longest is at 55 days (almost ready to time out.)

I just think it's odd that all of a sudden, all five of them should start taking so much longer than any of the others had. The longest traveling time I'd had up till then was 12 days. The paranoid part of me wonders if I'm being punished for forgetting to write the code on one of my cards, or for not making a donation to the site yet!

Hopefully I'll get back on track soon, because I really like sending and receiving postcards. I've gotten some really cool ones!

DebBee

Amanda just got a postcard from Norway! Now I'm hooked. I hope Amanda will be getting a lot more postcards soon. =)

-- Ryan, slack-crossing at its best

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Ryan, slack-crossing at its best

LOL! Slack-crossing, that would be one AWESOME hobby if anyone could actually bother themselves enough to start it...



Seriously though, E and I are really really really wanting to start post-crossing, but we've agreed to wait until our postal ring gets under way. dangnabbit. Pardon my french. Which reminds me, we got the poem ready to go but I need to go work on my stamp...

I'm so excited to share that I got my first post card through Postcrossing! It is a postcard from Germany.

Lucy Locket

I have really enjoyed Postcrossing. One girl read my profile (where I say that I am a huge Nancy Drew fan) and she handmade me a Nancy Drew postcard! Wasn't that nice. And I have always been fascinated with Russia and have gotten several postcards from Moscow, St Petersburg and cities in the former USSR!

-Amanda

Yes, I can't wait to get some more. I was a little disappointed because the first two I sent were never registered by the receivers. However, that didn't stop me. I'm going to keep sending..and hopefully...continue to receive some from far away places.

Lucy Locket

Subject: Re: I got a Post Card!
I have really enjoyed Postcrossing. One girl read my profile (where I say that I am a huge Nancy Drew fan) and she handmade me a Nancy Drew postcard! Wasn't that nice. And I have always been fascinated with Russia and have gotten several postcards from Moscow, St Petersburg and cities in the former USSR!

-Amanda

One girl read that I liked knitting, and made me a knitting postcard. I wonder if it was the same girl!

I've had 4 more cards go missing, though, which is disappointing. I don't know where they go. I mail them promptly, just like all the other cards, but now I have 9 that are off in the ether, never to be seen again.

Debbie

I had one that never reached its mark, but postcrossing finally "retired" it and I got my 5th "credit" back to send another card.

-Amanda

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but postcrossing finally "retired" it

Yeah, I've had 5 retired, and now another 4 that look like that'll be their fate. I think maybe I'm cursed or something!

OTOH, I just heard from one that took 24 days to get from Florida to Mexico!

DebBee

Of the five postcards I've got traveling at the moment, FOUR of them are going to Finland! Aren't there any other countries playing the game? <g>

DebBee

I can only imagine that most of the world is sending their post cards to us in the US...lol...But, yes, I've had most of my cards go to Finland, too. I thought it was kind of strange. So far I've recieved one from India and one from Germany.

Lucy Locket
TX Music Boxers


Of the five postcards I've got traveling at the moment, FOUR of them are going to Finland! Aren't there any other countries playing the game? <g>

Yeah, kind of strange.

Most of the ones I've received lately are from Finland, so maybe it's just their turn!

Thanks,
FamilyMan

I got one from India. I was all excited . . . only it was a line drawing of a horse. I really would have preferred a picture of India! Oh well.

DebBee

I keep mailing to Germany! And I have recieved a bunch from former USSR countries which has been really cool. The last one I sent was to Brazil.

-amanda from seattle

I have had several from all over. My complaint is I have had two go missing that went To Germany. For some reason Germany seems to be my downfall. All the cards I have received have been beautiful and from articulate persons.

I sent one today (to Finland, of course) that went to two boys, aged 3 and 5. It was a fun one to write, because I could tell them I live close to Disney World, and tell them we get to see alligators (the postcard had a picture of an alligator on it) when we go hiking sometimes, and that sometimes they (the alligators) turn up in people's swimming pools. I thought kids might find that cool.

It's sometimes hard to know what to say that'll be interesting to people, but this time, I had no problem.

DebBee

I just requested two more addresses....one is to Brazil...and the other to Finland....

Lucy Locket
TX Music Boxers