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!

So Eurovision isn’t happening this year… but we thought we’d stick to the musical theme nonetheless and ask everyone to share some musical instruments from your country.

Which instruments from your country sound like “home” to you?

There are quite a few musical instruments that come to mind for us here in Portugal, but the guitarra Portuguesa (aka, Portuguese guitar) is probably the most iconic one, the one always makes us a little sentimental to hear. It’s a complicated type of round guitar, with 12 strings and tuners in the shape of a peacock tail that is commonly associated with fado and serenade songs.

The most famous artist of this instrument was called Carlos Paredes, and to this day I cannot hear him play his guitar without getting a little weepy…

What about your own country? Which instruments are part of the national heritage, and what makes them culturally significant to your people? Share them on the postcards you send out this month, and on the comments below as well, if you’re inclined to — we’d love some tips to discover new sounds! 😊

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 don’t know about you, but to me it feels like a whole year has passed in the last 30 days… So many things changed and have been turned upside down that I have trouble remembering what life was like back in February. 😳 These days, the motto is “Stay Home”, and we thought this would be an appropriate topic for April’s writing prompt too.

Even if your country is not in strict lockdown mode, all of us have some activities that we prefer to do inside… so let’s talk about them! What are your favorite things to do around the house? If you’ve been having more free time at home lately, what have you been spending it on? And what tactics have you used to keep your family sane in a time of social distancing?

Around here, we’ve started doing dinner dates with friends, catching up on video calls while we eat our respective meals. It feels really good to see our friends and talk to them for a while, as if they were sitting just across the table. They always make us laugh, and make the evenings a little lighter. Give it a try, if you can!

What has been keeping you and/or your little ones busy these days? Share your best tips on the postcards you send out this month, and on the comments below.

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!

Whether you live in a small town or a big city, festivals are usually one of the highlights of the year! Sometimes people gather to celebrate traditional crafts, special seasons, historical events or even religious festivities that are important to the community. What do the people in your region commemorate?

One festival that always makes our town buzz with excitement is the Mediterranean Diet Fair, in mid-September. Tavira is a representative community of this UNESCO recognized form of Intangible Cultural Heritage, and as such, every year a big party is thrown to showcase and celebrate it.

There are a lot of shows and workshops around the theme of the Mediterranean diet, which is not just about the food itself, but also encompasses all cultural aspects that go with. From music to performative arts, markets and seed banks, visits to cultural heritage sites, workshops, or activities for the little ones… there’s always something going on during the days over which the event takes place, so it’s definitely worth a visit!

What about your region? Which festivals are you looking forward to this year? Let’s write about these special events on the postcards we send out in March!

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!

Every country has some animals that are endemic (i.e. native to that place), or perhaps unique or important for some specific reason. Maybe they’re a symbol of the country or region, have an interesting story or myth associated with them… or maybe they’re just cute! Whatever the reason, let’s talk about the fauna from your country this month.

From flamingos to dolphins, Portugal has many interesting animal species, but one that is special to our region is the chameleon.

Because of their camouflage mechanisms, these animals can be very tricky to spot, but their special dance moves sometimes give them away. We spotted this one gently swaying back and forth on a dirt path, almost as if it was still deciding which way it should go.

In order to eat, they just lazily wait for insects to fly by, and then quickly zap them with their extra long tongue. Also, they have very distinctive eyes which can move independently of each other, and allow them to see a full 360-degree around their body. How cool is that?!

So… which animals are special to your country or region? Which ones are particularly important, and why? We invite you to pick one and write about it on the postcards you send this month!

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!

Happy New Year, everyone! It’s the start of a fresh year, and inevitably some of us will be thinking of kickstarting some of our postponed or idealistic goals with renewed vigor. Scientists say writing down your goals makes you more likely to accomplish them… so maybe sharing them with other postcrossers will also help? 😊

I’ll go first then and share one of my goals for 2020, which is to learn a couple of new Chinese characters every day. I’ve challenged myself to take a language exam in July, so I’ll be working on building up my vocabulary until then. By making the goal deliberately small, I hope I can build up some momentum, and keep it going until the exam date. Wish me luck!

Regardless of whether you call them new year resolutions or perhaps just goals, which objectives or challenges will you be working on this year? Share them with others on the postcards you write this month, and let’s cheer and help each other along the way!