Trying out Postcrossing

Postcrossing is something that I had never heard of until I started compiling my Day Zero Project list. While hunting through other lists for inspiration I found it mentioned a number of times, and a visit to the website fuelled my interest. I’m very keen to teach Harry about geography, and I thought that receiving postcards from different countries would provide a good starting point, as well as perhaps introducing us to some countries that I didn’t know much about.

Postcrossing is basically an organised way to exchange postcards with other people across the globe. You set up an account, then as a new member you can initially send up to five postcards. When you choose to send a postcard you are given a random person to post to. I chose my first five straight away and was given the addresses for members in Russia, the US, Spain, Germany and Belarus.

I have quite a collection of postcards, some are free ones that I have picked up at the cinema but I also have plenty that I’ve bought in the past that just sit in a box and could be put to good use. When you choose to send a card you can view the recipient’s profile and see the sorts of postcards that they like to receive. I was able to find a card for each that I hoped would fit in with their interests.

At the Post Office I found out that it currently costs 87p to send a postcard anywhere in the world outside the UK. I didn’t think that was particularly cheap, but I thought I would give it a go and so off they went. Then we waited to see what we would receive in return.

Once your postcard has been received it is logged into the website. Once your first postcard has arrived you become eligible to receive a postcard of your own. You are notified that your postcard has been logged, and the recipient can send you a short message to say thank you.

We received our first postcard a couple of weeks later and over the next three weeks or so we received all five. I was really pleased with the postcards that we were sent. In my profile I asked for ones with a flavour of the country that they were being sent from, and they all obliged, along with some further information about their country, personal messages and even some cool stamps. We received postcards from Siberia, Belarus, Chicago, Taiwan and Finland.

When I sent the original postcards I purchased enough stamps to send five more, and having seen the lovely postcards that we received back I’ll definitely be sending some more out. I’m not sure how far I’ll take it after that, as it doesn’t work out as the cheapest of hobbies, but I’d definitely recommend giving it a go if you are looking to spark an interest in geography with your children!