Postcrossing Blog

The writing prompts invite postcrossers to write about a different topic on their postcards’ messages every month. These are just  suggestions though — if you already know what you want to write about, or the recipient gives you some pointers, that’s great too!

March’s writing prompt is about bridges… big or small, sturdy or wobbly, they keep us connected over rivers, valleys or other obstacles. Do you have bridges that are special to you, or which you’d like to visit?

Personally, a couple of bridges come to mind. I don’t really have a favourite bridge for architectural reasons, or because they’re particularly beautiful or in beautiful places. For me, as soon as you say “bridge” I think about the bridge over the Taff in Cardiff, which you cross immediately after passing Cardiff Castle and the Animal Wall (pictured! Image is by Keith Edkins) on the left. It’s really close to where my nan lived, so it’s familiar from years and years of visiting my grandparents. Cross that bridge in the other direction, and I’m walking to a second-hand bookshop, Waterstones, the library… It’s home, even though I haven’t lived in Cardiff for a while now.

I can’t really think of any bridges up here in South Yorkshire, but there are quite a few bridges in Cardiff, where my family are from, that I have nostalgic feelings about. Most of them are small bridges in a park, over streams which my grandad would have to (try to) stop me jumping into…

How about you? In your postcards this month, you can write about your favourite bridges, bridges you want to see, famous bridges in your country… and you can let us know here in the comments, too!

The writing prompts invite postcrossers to write about a different topic on their postcards’ messages every month. These are just suggestions though — if you already know what you want to write about, or the recipient gives you some pointers, that’s great too!

Here in Britain, in February we’re starting to see hints of spring: there are snowdrops poking up all over the place in my garden, even though there was snow on the ground only a week ago, and I can see the daffodils poking through the earth already. Which makes this topic feel very timely!

One of my favourite flowers is actually the national flower of Wales: the humble daffodil, or narcissus. In the UK, the Wales Country Definitive stamp for International Standard mail actually has a daffodil on it, and it’s the stamp I often use for postcards.

The stamp doesn’t really do them justice: traditional yellow daffodils are such a cheerful colour, and they mostly take care of themselves — even without a green thumb, I’ve managed to grow daffodils in my garden. Which is a good thing, because it doesn’t feel like spring until I’ve seen narcissi in flower… and I actually love daffodils so much that I had a bouquet of them for my wedding. They were out of season, since we had a summer wedding, so my wife-to-be made my whole bouquet out of paper for me!

In February, I’ll make sure to write a little about daffodils when I’m sending my postcards — will you join me and write about the flowers and plants that are special to where you live? We’d love to hear more here in the comments, as well as on your postcards.

The writing prompts invite postcrossers to write about a different topic on their postcards’ messages every month. These are just suggestions though — if you already know what you want to write about, or the recipient gives you some pointers, that’s great too!

January is often a time for resolutions and figuring out what we want to focus on in the year ahead, so this month we decided to prompt you all to write about a skill you plan to learn!

I’m one of those people who really enjoy learning, so I’m fired up about this prompt! I’m studying pretty intensively at the moment, so my main commitment is learning to apply and interpret statistical tests… I know, I know, I’m yawning too about this idea! But it’s really important for complex biological systems, so I’m going to give it 100%.

I do enjoy doing crafts in my spare time, so I might try my hand at designing really small cross-stitch patterns! I’ve already done a few small ones, like the one pictured… but that one is 1.5 inches (less than 4 cm) in diameter, and I have a couple of even smaller frames that are just 1 inch (3 cm) wide. I’d love to design something tiny but recognisable, and make it into a necklace!

So now it’s your turns! What skills are you hoping to learn or improve on in the year ahead? We’d love to hear from you in the comments to this post, but you can also turn to this prompt if you’re stuck for what to write on a postcard!

The writing prompts invite postcrossers to write about a different topic on their postcards’ messages every month. These are just suggestions though — if you already know what you want to write about, or the recipient gives you some pointers, that’s great too!

A lot of kids have really firm ideas about what they want to be when they grow up, whether it’s based on shows on TV or their day-to-day heroes… and we thought it would be fun this month to prompt people to share exactly that: what did you want to be when you grew up? Or if you’re still a child, what are your big plans for your future?

As usual, I’ll go first! I think I had a lot of imaginings as a child about what I might do or be when I grew up: I’m sure I had my share of bizarre ones as a younger child. Hippo-keeper at the zoo, probably? Or giraffe-keeper in my parents’ back garden, since I wasn’t shy about wanting a giraffe for a pet—and I had an answer for every quibble, including volunteering our next-door neighbours to have a giraffe too so mine wouldn’t be lonely! Once I got a bit more realistic, I went through phases and thought about teaching, becoming a geneticist, maybe becoming a lawyer or a doctor… but I never really settled on one thing.

At the age of 31, you’d think I’d have it all figured it out by now, but I can’t say I have! I still have all kinds of dreams…

But now it’s your turn! What dreams do you or did you have as a kid? And did you achieve them—or something even better? Do you have a weird journey to share? From hippo-keepers to astronauts and everything in between, we’d love to see you share here in the comments… and if you’re stuck on what to write on your postcards, we hope this prompt inspires you to share!

The writing prompts invite postcrossers to write about a different topic on their postcards’ messages every month. These are just suggestions though — if you already know what you want to write about, or the recipient gives you some pointers, that’s great too!

I’ve tried quite a few different cuisines in restaurants, but that’s usually a full meal. Snacks from other countries are a bit harder to come by, and I never know what to try! So… what would you recommend?

Personally, the best snack I found in my time living in Belgium was speculoos biscuits! Especially when I could persuade my wife to go to the bakery nice and early on a weekend and get freshly made biscuits for me! Luckily, we have them in the UK too, under the name of Biscoff… but I miss the fresh ones.

When I’m feeling homesick, though, I turn to Welsh cakes. They have a variety of names in Welsh: picau ar y maen, pice bach, cacennau cri or teisennau gradell, according to Wikipedia, and they may also be known as griddle cakes or bakestones within Wales, because they’re traditionally made on a bakestone, a type of griddle. They’re made with butter, flour, eggs and milk, usually contain currants, and are spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg.

My nanny (my dad’s mother) used to get them for me from the market, liberally dusted with sugar, and always deliciously light. Even better, though, is to eat them warm from the pan… You can try out a recipe here!

What about you? Do you have any favourite snacks? Can you get them in stores, or do you make them yourself? You can share your favourites in the postcards you send this month… but we’d love to hear about them in the comments as well! 😋