Keep in Touch and Remember Your Trips with Postcards
I picked up my postcard-sending habit from a friend who taught me the importance of staying in touch with lots of people in your life, those from the past as well as those from your current existence. Letters are too long, emails are electronically aloof, postcards are the perfect reminder that someone, somewhere is thinking of you. The return on investment is astronomical—for just a little bit of effort and money, friendships can persevere forever. Those thoughts do count.
As a little girl, I would thumb through scrapbooks of postcards sent by my grandmother from places around the world. It was probably then that I became interested in seeing the planet. For a long time when I actually did begin going places, I did not bother seeking out and writing and sending those little notes to other people.
Finding and writing and sending post cards while you are traveling can help preserve your memories and also turn into adventure. Seeking and finding interesting post offices and then procuring the right stamp are interesting diversions as well as brief introductions to real-world life in any given country. Some people even send postcards to themselves, both to aid their memories and as a check to make sure postcards sent to friends are actually arriving.
Buying antique post cards before you go on a trip can help a traveler set goals—on places to visit and sites to see. Buying them afterward can be an amusing way to remember your journey. Was the place as depicted in the postcard? Was it better or worse? Does your memory mesh with the depiction on the card?
—Lori Tripoli