Postcrossing Blog

Come meet Dorthe, who lives in Aalborg, Denmark. She likes perusing random shops for postcards wherever she goes… don’t we all? :)

Here is what she had to say:

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

I saw an article or interview where someone mentioned bookcrossing. But after reading a little more the word Postcrossing caught my eye. After checking the Postcrossing website I forgot all about bookcrossing.

I sent my first five cards and when the first cards started to arrive I was hooked. Luckily the first cards was from Europe and did’t have long to travel, so I didn’t have to wait a long time. The first cards were from well known countries like: France, Finland and the Netherlands. But my 6th card came from Moldova, and that surprised me a bit. Here was a chance to get to know some countries that I knew very little about.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

Not sure if it is a hobby, but I can’t visit a new city without trying to locate where I can buy some postcards. Usually I find cards in bookstores or at the postoffice here in Denmark, but sometimes I find a random store and is lucky. Most cards up here are the usual touristcards, the artmuseum have some artcards, but other than that there isn’t much to choose from.

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

Our last postoffice here in Aalborg, a very beautiful old building. I buy most of my stamps online though (the selection is better there).

My – not so interesting – mailbox is right in the middle.

I keep my cards in albums. When I started Postcrossing I had several countries in one album, but now I have several albums with just one country, and Germany and USA has 2 albums each.

Cards to be sent out are in boxes like this, they fit perfectly to the “normal” size postcards.

What is it your favorite part of the Postcrossing process?

Of course I like receiving cards, but the sending process is just as important. I get a little bit disappointed when I get an address and the profile is blank. I like to read the profiles and look through my cards to see if I can find the perfect match. Sometimes I can’t and I have to take a chance, but if there are some info it is easier to choose.

I only use real stamps (the stickers kind is all we have now). They can be small artworks or show a part of the history, and I know most postcrossers like this.

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

I have a lot of favorite cards, it depends on so many things. Cards I thought was a bit strange at one time, can be a favorite now, and some I started collecting can be a bit forgotten until I look in the albums again. A favorite can also be if there is a good story to why the card is chosen or if I can relate to it somehow.

I am not really into cards with animals, but this card (FI-114108) was the second i got, and I am pretty sure I had the same look on my face as the boy, when the mailman didn’t have any cards for me at the beginning.

The German Chronikcard (DE-903878) is a newer favorite of mine. Most of them are from Germany, but I have one from the Netherlands and one from Russia too.

FI-1218777 is an example of my autumn favorites, I love the beautiful colors. Together with NL-86067 it also shows close-ups/strange angles. I like seeing things a bit different.

Multiples has almost been epidemic this last year. The cards came out of nowhere (well almost) and I have seen them on several wishlists. RU-969229 with trees are one of the best I have so far. The last card: EE-117167 from St. Petersburg, with the beautiful bridge in sunset. I am still waiting for that beautiful sky when I am taking pictures.

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

I am not sure if anyone has started postcrossing, but I have told several people about it. Especially when I am in a new shop and buys 30–40 cards at one time. The salesperson often looks at me like I am crazy (I probably am a bit!), but when I start telling about postcrossing, they often says it is a great idea.

I think my father is a bit interested too. When he and my mother plans their holidays, he always check with me if there are any interesting sites he should buy cards from to me. They have helped me a lot with my Unesco-site collection.

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

Yes. I have learned the location of many countries since I started postcrossing. I knew most countries in Europe, but the exact location was not always my strong side. And countries like Kazakhstan, Northern Mariana Islands, Åland Islands and Azerbaijan was probably not countries I ever thought of sending or getting mail from.

I have also been surprised over traveltimes. The only card I ever received from my own country (the sender doesn’t live in Denmark anymore) should travel 55 km. It took 4 days! I have also received a card from USA, it was sent on a Friday, stamped in the afternoon. It was in my mailbox Monday morning. It wasn’t even from one of the major cities like New York or Los Angeles.

Have you met any other members in real life?

I have met with Gogge1 and Christa several times. We try to have a minimeeting once or twice a year in different cities (so we can stock up on cards).

And at the meeting in Copenhagen, September 24th 2011, I had a chance to meet several International postcrossers and Danes too. It was some fun days together with Lotty, Levisia, Christa, dollart, Gogge1, Gforp, IreneK, Mikis, Giorgis, Miss Maple. I think we were a few more, but I cannot recall the names.

This week on the Spotlight interview, we feature Rita (Gogge1), from Denmark. Besides being an avid postcrosser, Rita is also into penpalling and baking!

Here is what she had to say:

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

One of my old penpals told me about Postcrossing, and I decided to give it a try. Soon I was totally hooked on this project! And I have to admit that I just love it. To me it is not just sending and receiving postcards from all ower the world. Well of course thats a huge part of it, but at the same time, I see a lot of views from arround the world, and I also “meet” a lot of great people. And then I do learn a lot about both my own country (I love to write and tell about what’s on the cards I send out) as well as many other countries. That’s a huge part of it for me.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

Oh yes, I love history, which goes a bit hand in hand with Postcrossing, doesn’t it? I also enjoy penpalling (but sadly I haven’t much time for that these days because I’m studying). And I always bake our own bread, which I’ve done for ages. I also bake some cakes etc. now and then.

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

Here are my own mailbox where I pick my mail 5 – 6 days a week and the postbox where do send most of my postcards from. It’s standing just outside the local liborary in the tiny town I’m living in.

Sadly there aren’t many post offices left in Denmark. They close down, and we have to drive around 13 kilometres to the nearest post office.

I keep my postcards in albums and boxes.

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

This is difficult, because I’ve received so many beautiful cards… It’s simply sooo hard to pick one, two or even 10 cards and make them to favourites. But these are some of those I really do love (among many many cards I love):

What is it your favorite part of the Postcrossing process?

Surely it’s exciting to see which card I receive myself – I like that very much. But my favourite part is to find nice cards, and to pick them for each person I’m going to send a card. I always try to find the perfect card for each postcrosser, if its possible for me at all. And I always read the postcrossers wishes for cards and try to fullfill them.

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

Yes! Places like Tuvalu, Turkmenistan, etc. I’d never heard of these places before I started Postcrossing.

Have you met any other members in real life?

I’ve meet Dorthe from Denmark and Christa from Germany several times to meetups arround Denmark. And at the Postcrossing meetup in Copenhagen in September 2011, I’ve meet GForp from Denmark, Lotty from Belgium, Ritva, Dollart from Finland and several more from Finland, Poland, etc.