Postcrossing Blog

Willa (aka PostcardPerfect) is an enthusiastic postcrosser from the Philippines. She does Postcrossing with her two sons, and enjoys shopping for postcards everywhere she goes! :)

Here is what she had to say to our interview questions:

How did you come across Postcrossing? What got you hooked?

I discovered Postcrossing through a blog called Postcards From Miss Igorota, owned by a fellow Filipino who lives in New Jersey, USA. At the time, she was offering to send a free postcard for those who wanted to received one and I was so curious and delighted when I received her postcard.

I followed the Postcrossing link there, signed up and sent my first 5 postcards. Later I found out that another blogger whose blog I frequently visited, was one of my recipients and I was so happy when I saw my postcard on her blog (you can see it here)! Since then, sending and receiving postcards became part of my daily life.

Show us your mailbox, your mailman/mailwoman, your postoffice or the place where you post or keep your postcards!

Since I’ve been in two countries already, I can share photos of both post offices where I’ve sent my postcards from. Here’s the one in Canada:

And my current post office in the Philippines:

Show and tell us about your favorite received postcard to date, and what makes it special.

This is a tough question and I’m sure a lot of postcrossers would agree. It is really hard to pick a favorite and even I we do, it takes a lot of thinking and convincing and sorting! :)

But ok, my most favorites are Gotochi from Japan, which I think are quite special. It says so much about the Japanese culture – and I know how hard to get these postcards is, because they can only be bought from their place of origin. I’m so thankful that I have a friend in Japan, Clarissa, who sends Gotochi cards to me from time to time whenever she’s on a family vacation.

Another favorite is the Royal Couple, Will & Kate. I wasn’t a fan of royalty at all, until I saw how beautiful they are! When I was in Canada, I followed everything about their engagement and wedding and everything else. Not to mention their wedding date falls on the same date as my birthday :D. I just thought that they are the most beautiful couple in the world, and maybe someday, I might be able to meet or just to see them in person! (wishful thinking! :D)

Then there’s Mickey Mouse, just to satisfy the kid in me. :)

Have you inspired anyone else to join Postcrossing or start collections of their own?

Quite a few actually! I’ve helped my two sons, aged 8 and 12, sign up on the website, because they decided they wanted to received postcards of their own. And then lots of my fellow bloggers got curious when I shared my sent and received Postcrossing cards on Facebook, so they ended up signing up as well.

What is it your favorite part of the Postcrossing process?

First thing that comes to mind is… shopping! I mean, who doesn’t love shopping? Really! :D Whenever I go, I always look for a bookstore, hoping to find some good postcards.

There’s also the friendship of course – who would’ve thought that good and kind people still outnumbered the not-so-nice ones!

And lastly, seeing different places, discovering cultures and history, learning about other people who live on the other part of the globe, and to find out that all of us have one thing in common… that we love postcards! :D

Have you been surprised by any place that you have received a postcard from or sent a postcard to?

Definitely!!! Like Norfolk Island for example, I did not know they were a country! :D And Dracula’s Castles from Romania never failed to amazed me! Oh… how about Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova or Croatia? There are so many of them I want to see. My bucket list of the places to visit just keep growing each day I received a postcard from a “new” country!

Have you met any other members in real life?

Yes! When I moved back here to the Philippines in October 2011, I help organized the first meet up and we’ve been doing them ever since. Our last meet up was on April 05, 2014, and just like on all the previous meetings, none of us wanted to go home early because there are so many postcard and stamp related stories to tell. And every after meet up, we all realize we need more time! :D