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Audacious Aunnie’s adventures:
Postcrossing: A postcard collector’s dream
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At the urging of a friend, I signed up for an account at postcrossing.com. Postcrossing.com allows users to send and receive postcards from random users all over the world.
At the Website, postcrossing.com, the project is described as: “The goal of this project is to allow people to receive postcards from all over the world, for free. Well, almost free! The main idea is that: if you send a postcard, you will receive at least one back from a random Postcrosser from somewhere in the world. Why? Because, like the author, there are lots of people who like to receive real mail. The element of surprise of receiving postcards from different places in the world (many of which you probably have never heard of) can turn your mailbox into a box of surprises – and who wouldn’t like that?”
Paulo Magalhaes is the creator of Postcrossing. He is also the author and administrator. On the site, he is described as “A geek with a passion for postcards.” There are only three other employees and the users of Postcrossing support the site; users are asked for contributions if they like the site.
The process works by (1) requesting an address, (2) mailing the postcard to the address assigned, (3) waiting to receive a postcard and (4) registering the postcard with the site once you have received one.
Users are only allowed five address assignments at a time, eliminating people who don’t actually follow through. As the five users that the postcards were sent to receive and register the postcards, slots open up, allowing more address assignments.
According to the stats at postcrossing.com, as of print time, there are 94,734 members in 192 countries. On average, 323 postcards are sent per hour, and more than 2.2 million
postcards received.
For those concerned with the ecological impact that a hobby like postcard collecting will make on the environment, the site administrators have addressed that too.
“To help reduce its impact on the environment, Postcrossing has decided to regularly donate to Climate Care, to help reduce its emissions. Climate Care offsets CO2 by funding sustainable energy projects around the world. These involve replacing non-renewable fuel, working towards increasing energy efficiency, and forest restoration.”
The reason I signed up, besides the geeky appeal, is because I am sick of going to the mailbox and finding it either empty, or full of bills or with ads from the local pizzeria or window washer. I want mail. I want the elation that comes with a piece of mail just for me. I love holidays because my grandmother is still alive and religiously sends me cards for every holiday. My aunts sometimes remember to send cards on my birthday, but my immediate family doesn’t because they just hand deliver them. Something about getting mail brightens my day and makes it almost euphoric.
I requested five addresses as soon as I signed up. My first assignments were to people in Chengdu, China; Cologne, Germany; Helsinki, Finland; Tallinn, Estonia; and the Netherlands. The postcards I sent are from a collection called “Catalog Women” and are depictions of women in different outfits from catalogs of the 1960s and 1970s. I wanted to be less traditional with my first round and stayed away from postcards featuring a view of Boise from the train depot. And although two people have received and registered the postcards online, they didn’t send me a little note with what they thought. Maybe the quirkiness was lost in translation. I am still waiting in anticipation for my first postcard to arrive.
BY ANDREA OYARZABAL
Arbiter Columnist
