The lost art of postcard writing

By Jonny Blair


I used to love getting postcards through the letterbox as a child. It was one of my first childhood memories and I got excited seeing postcards. A shiny, colourful postcard will always be more exciting to a child than a brown or white envelope coming through the post.

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.

Last time I was in my homeland with family I checked out the postcard collection that I had sent them. I was amazed that it has now reached well over 100 postcards from over 50 different countries.

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.

In a cold hut in Port Lockroy in Antarctica I was able to buy, write and post a postcard from the world's coldest continent all the way to Northern Ireland in the UK. What an amazing travel journey and memory I thought in a world bereft of mobile phones.

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. E-mail: E-mail v postcard. So I logged onto the internet and sent a quick e-mail.

2. Postcard: Postcard v. e-mail? A real life physical postcard is bought, written and posted. You don't even need internet access!

Which one would you rather receive?

Don't forget on your next trip you should send a postcard! A physical present. Sending postcards to friends and family really puts a smile on their faces and means a lot more to people than an e-mail.

I love postcards, don't stop buying them, don't stop writing them, don't stop posting them and Don't Stop Living!




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