Postcrossing

If you’re the sort of person who likes to get something in the mail, if you think there should be more handwritten letters, if you’re yearning for a little more personal connection…then Postcrossing might just be your thing!

It’s a really simple concept. In their words:

The goal of this project is to allow anyone to send and receive postcards from all over the world!

The idea is simple: for each postcard you send, you'll receive one back from a random postcrosser somewhere in the world.

There is no fee to participate (though you can donate if you wish to!). You sign up for an account, request an address to send a postcard to, write a short and friendly note to this stranger, add the unique code to it, and then pop it in the mail. When mailing from the US, international postcards just need three forever postcard stamps, so you can just stock up on those and use accordingly.

Privacy measures are in place and there are community guidelines to follow. Generally speaking, those who participate are wonderful folks and it has always been a pleasure to find a new postcard in my mailbox.

The best part is that you can participate as much or as little as you like at any given time. Somebody will only send you a postcard after you have sent one. Slow down sending and you’ll slow down receiving. You’ll never end up feeling like you’ve created an imbalance (just make sure to get the cards in the mail that you’ve promised).