Saturday, July 23, 2011

MWH Travel Tips: 9 - Write a Postcard

(source)
In my youth, vacations were inextricably connected to postcards. We sent them and we got them. It was considered a common courtesy to send postcards to immediate family and close friends, and it was a joy to receive pictures from all over the world showing you where your family and friends had been that summer.

Nowadays, it seems that the postcard is slowly becoming extinct. There could be several reasons for this: It's expensive, it takes time, it wastes paper. All of these are good reasons not to send a postcard.
But do you know what's a great reason to make the effort anyways? They're AWESOME!

I've bought postcards of places only to remember them and show them to other people. I've even used them as classroom gifts! They're very popular and they last much longer than printed photo's because of how sturdy they are.
Sending a postcard doesn't necessarily have to take a lot of time or cost a lot of money. Before you leave on a trip, get a piece of paper and write down the names and addresses of people you would like to send a card to (or bring your address book). When you find cards somewhere, just buy a bunch together (usually cheaper).
At a quiet moment, write down a name and address on every card. When you've done that, you  can write messages on them whenever you have time. See a postal office? Buy some stamps, put them on the cards, and drop them off.

It's easy and your friends/family will love it.

Alternatively, if you don't want to spend any money, you're too late to send a card or the country you're in doesn't have postcards (hello China!), you could find a picture of the place you're traveling in, and send an email. Generic messages work, but try to change them a little and send individual emails. Blogs are better than group emails.
So what are your feelings toward greeting cards? Do you love them? Hate them? Do you ever send/receive any? I really wonder if this is a fading phenomenon. What do you think?

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