Postcrossing Blog

Meet zasa from Bern, Switzerland. She is 26 years old and a lover of all things postal. Like many of us, she combines her other hobbies with Postcrossing.

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

I came across Postcrossing in the Autumn of 2006. I had moved back in with my parents for a short time and it was so boring in the evenings that I took to surfing the Internet. Don’t ask me how I found postcrossing.com, but I did. It is my little addiction (little? would my boyfriend consider it such?). Since I was a little girl, I always wake up when I hear the postman’s motorcycle – I love snailmail – I love stamps – I love to write and widen my horizons via Postcrossing.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

Besides Postcrossing? Is there any time left besides this hobby? Yes I do have one! Lomography. That’s a community who shoots from the hip! Feel free to visit us at lomography.com or my personal photoblog streulicht.com. The best thing of both hobbies is that sometimes I have the chance to combine them! So I make my own postcards from lomos I’ve taken. I’m also very active in travelling notebooks where I can use my lomos.

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

My postman/woman says every day: “Oh my gosh! My work wasn’t so interesting till you moved in my quarter!” My post office team wasn’t excited about becoming Internet stars so instead I took photos of my actual room where I have hung the most beautiful black & white cards I have received.

This photo shows you little zasa in Prague, sure for exploring the post world there!


And this is the mailbox where I drop most of the stuff for Postcrossing in it!

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

I have a received a lot of cards that I would call favorites. It all depends on the when the card was received and there is always a chance to top my favorite one. I am happy if I get cards every day – they brighten my horizon. So, all cards are, in their own way, favorites!

Daniel 46 y.o. from Montevideo, Uruguay, discovered Postcrossing in 2007 in a local newspaper. The postcards help him discover our wonderful world and he treasures his “postfriends”.

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

I, a true tiger and Sagittarius, passionate reader and traveler, read about the Postcrossing project in the June 2007 issue of El Observador, a local newspaper. I saw the immediate possibility of increasing the exchange of postcards with new and far away friends.

Although all postcards are good, advertising postcards caught my attention because they let me know all about this wonderful world. Postcrossing opened a huge window of opportunity to learn about distant and interesting places and more about people. Contacts made through Postcrossing or my blog, broadened my opportunity for exchanges and today I have many active “postfriends” that maintain my passion for travel without “traveling”.

A handwritten postcard with stamps is a time devoted especially to another person, perhaps at home, in front of the fireplace or in the square under the Spring sun. Postcrossing integrates the family because all the family celebrates when there are postcards to be found in the mailbox!

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

Read everything, drawing, photograph, enjoy the outdoors. A coffee or a good tannat wine in front of the fireplace is enough to celebrate life with family and friends.

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

The postcards are separated by country, always at hand for the friends, the family and me, at any time to cover the whole table and the world. Each new country is a new party.

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

All cards are attractive because they are sent with love. But three-dimensional postcards stand out, especially the postcard that arrived from Germany thanks to Smila – DE-282465.

My best postcard is a reminder of a trip to Milan, Italy in 2002, with four of them can build a postcard cube.

Tamara, a nurse from British Columbia, Canada, collects many things including postcards. She sees Postcrossing as an extension of her caring personality.

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

I had been active on other postcard sites prior to the genesis of Postcrossing. It was on the xpostcardx site that Megan Herring told me of Postcrossing. I found Postcrossing to be exactly what I needed to satisfy my postcard hobby.

I got hooked once I joined the forum, where there is a plethora of opportunity to exchange both ideas and postcards. Being in a caring profession (nurse) I am a “giver” by nature and Postcrossing has become my outlet for sharing. The ongoing round-robins and tags help nourish my Postcrossing relationships through the personalized touch of snail mail. I often flavor an envelope with a surprise from someone’s “favorites”. For me, participating in Postcrossing is just an extension of my job: it involves my reaching out to others and extending friendship. It gives me satisfaction. Postcrossing has become my favorite pastime.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

Aside from wilderness hiking and beachcombing, I am a union steward and mentor for nursing students. These activities have me travelling out of town where I scan the hotels and shops for postcards. I love gourmet cooking and collecting. I am a natural collector. My kitchen has hundreds of advertising tins and I also collect political pinback buttons, dolls, and ornamental eggs. Postcrossing is great for us collectors.

The dolls are one of my hobbies (collecting).

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

CABLECAR is the name of the neighborhood I live in. This is the kiosk where I pickup my snail mail.

The building with the emblem is Kitimat’s Canada Post outlet, where I purchase stamps and get my parcels sent from.

The van is the vehicle that delivers the mail.

The album on the fireplace mantel shows my European map cards collection.

The wire wreath hangs in the window of my dining room. This is how I display my seasonal postcards (ie Halloween).

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

This is the postcard that made my soul sing! I received it early on when I first joned the forum. It depicts gingerbread figures. My first glance stirred long forgotten memories. Since I love to cook, it was the perfect card for me. I had it professionally framed and matted so I could afford it a permanent and central spot in my kitchen. Thanks to the dear Finnish postcrosser who chose this one for me.

The gingerbread postcard is my extra special one, and has a place of honor in my kitchen.

Sally, 45 y.o., New Zealand. She discovered Postcrossing through Bookcrossing. She enjoys gardening but was easily hooked on cards.

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

I was looking up bookcrossing and stumbled across Postcrossing. Postcrossing seemed to be able to a result quicker than the Bookcrossing. I sent, I received! I was hooked with the first card in my letter box.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

I really enjoy my gardening. Rubber stamping is another love, I sell the card I make to my fellow workers. I like to make a patchwork quilt in the summer and then hand sew them in the winter.

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

Heres my letter box where all my mail arrives. It is hand painted by a local craft firm.

Where I keep my postcards – just a couple of boxes right beside my computer, Im often browsing back thru them for a look.

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

Favourite because of size and colour makes me feel like I’m right there.

Anya is a 22 year old snail mail enthusiast from St. Petersburg (Russia) who loves everything paranormal. She can thank her German pen pal for introducing her to Postcrossing.

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

Snail mailing has always been my passion – I’ve been pen-palling since the age of 13 and by that age I had already made a few great friends. Being in a Summer camp or having a vacation at a sea resort, I would send little notes, letters or postcards to friends (whether they loved it or not) and also to myself :). And, of course, I was ignoring sayings like “why send letters? it’s all left in the last century, emails are way faster!” Pfff, there’s no way to explain to others why a real card or a real letter is way better than a couple of typed lines on your computer screen.

For years, only my great friends would, once in a while, send me postcards from their vacations and I would look through them with delight. I don’t travel much and seeing other countries this way was beautiful. When a German pen pal mentioned Postcrossing in her letter, I immediately thought “Yes, that’s exactly what I need” and registered right away. Besides seeing the world through postcards, Postcrossing is an awesome way of interacting with many different people (I’m very social and enjoy meeting new people), different cultures, languages, thoughts, ideas, different types of handwriting. Most of all I adore the surprise – you never know who’ll send you a card, what it will be like, and from what place it’ll be coming from. Every postcard is unique. And, of course, there’s nothing finer than opening your mailbox after a tiring workday and finding a postcard which has traveled half the world to YOU with some friendly lines. I get something in the mail at least daily and it has become a great part of my life.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

Besides snail mail, I love learning foreign languages (I can speak 3 so far), reading (I’m such a bookworm!), anything related to Latin America, and psychology. But perhaps my biggest hobby is the paranormal – I’m interested in symbols, runes, astrology, tarot cards, spirits, etc. and am always willing to learn more. I wish I could call traveling my hobby too, but sadly I don’t have a chance to travel as much as I would like to.

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

Ugly mailboxes in my apartment building, where I get my mail :D

Me sending mail

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

Of course every postcard is unique for me, but here are a few I can easily call favorites.

A castle from Ireland – at which I was staring for a few minutes in delight; beautiful Copacabana beach (I LOVE Brasil and so far it’s the #1 country on my list to visit); a gorgeous B&W Lisboa view reminding me of something from the past; and, a cute sparkling romantic postcard received from Finland last year on St. Valentines day. The user wrote so many pleasant words that I was smiling from ear to ear. That card made my day and improved my bad mood quite a bit.