A blog for anyone who understands the joy of writing and receiving handwritten letters.


Monday, November 8, 2010

Lost mail found

If I needed any proof that life has been a bit too hectic lately, I found it today.

I was scrabbling around in the back of my car for a pen - I'd dashed out to interview someone and in my haste forgotten a pen; luckily I always have a few lying around - and in the seat pocket back there I found a postcrossing postcard from Portugal, postmarked Oct 19.

The thing is, I don't even remember getting it out of my post office box... but obviously I must have because that's where it was posted to, and I am the only one with a key... and it was in my car. So, if I were any kind of detective I'd have to surmise that indeed it was I who received it and tucked it away in my car... then promptly forgot about it completely.

I did think that I was due a few more postcrossing postcards, as my 'received' number is quite a bit lower than my 'sent' number... and there I'd been blaming the slackness of others for not having received more postcrossing cards when all along this lovely one was sitting patiently waiting for me to realise I had received it and register it on the website.



I have registered it now and written an apologetic message to the sender. He is just a new postcrosser, too, so I hope I haven't put him off! It's such a great postcard, and he described the town so well... it's called Elvas and is near a larger town called Badajuz (I think!). I'd love to be strolling down that street right now, rounding the corner to look at the next beautiful view.

I think I'm just going to double check my handbags, car and other places I sometimes put mail and make sure I haven't left anything else behind in my current manic phase.

Love from Kaz

4 comments:

  1. LOL! I do swaps on swap-bot and I know I recieved a swap but I can't find it anywhere. Now, sitting here thinking, I have a postcrossing postcard to send out...somewhere.

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  2. Kaz-I would love so much to get into writing of letters but don't know where to start any advice would appreciate anything you can tell me. Thanks Kars!!!!!

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  3. What a great question. Well, there are a number of ways to start and it is up to you, ultimately, and what fits your lifestyle and personality. I started by just writing to my family and friends. As I have moved around A LOT, I have family and friends spread out around the country... writing to them seemed a nice and natural thing to do.

    As I started blogging about it, I started getting letters from all over... it's funny but I had never expected that... it's a lovely consequence.

    You could also check out some penpalling websites, like sendsomething.net and the letter writers alliance. I have also found postcrossing a good way to meet penpals. It is ostensibly a site for swapping postcards, but sometimes you click with someone and end up becoming penpals... I like that it just happens organically.

    I would recommend that you write letters that aren't too long to begin with... perhaps one or two pages. Then see who writes back and gradually build up correspondence over time. There is lots of good advice around about what to put in a 'first' letter. I would say give the person a few facts about you without overwhelming them, and share some things that are a little quirky or random as well. That makes for a pretty interesting letter!

    I'm sure others would have things to add as well. I have quite a few letter-writing blogs on my blog roll so check them out if you haven't already.

    Oh, and don't forget to write me a letter. :-)

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