Sunday, August 17, 2014

Are Postcards A Lost Art?

By Jonny Blair


I used to love getting postcards through the letterbox as a child. It was one of my first childhood memories and I got excited seeing postcards. A shiny, colourful postcard will always be more exciting to a child than a brown or white envelope coming through the post.

The first postcard I got came from London, or Holland and I kept it as a souvenir. The journey of a postcard is the classic travellers souvenir. Postcards have been on a journey, however an e-mail has not. Let's hope the art of postcard writing and sending continues as we have now entered a very digital age.

When I visited family last I found my travelling postcard collection - the collection now contains over 100 postcards from over 50 countries. Amazing journeys for these bits of card.

These postcards have been bought, written and posted from all seven continents - yes I even found a postbox at Port Lockroy in Antarctica! All the postcards detail where I was, what I did and showed a picture and a stamp. Arrival of my postcards to my family's home is the completion of a crazy journey.

From a very cold chilly hut in the British Antarctic Base of Port Lockroy I bought, wrote and posted postcards. From the world's coldest continent all the way to Northern Ireland in the northern hemisphere, this is a great journey for a bit of card, miles from the world of internet and mobile phones.

Young and new travellers might not remember the era before the internet and mobile phones and they may even wonder why people still bother to send postcards when an e-mail is a lot faster. However it's the real life journey of the postcard and the physical element to it.

Find the difference

1. An e-mail: E-mail v Postcard? I logged on and typed an email and sent it from a computer. I think we all know the answer to that one, at least I do!

2. A postcard: Postcard v e-mail? I bought, wrote and posted this one in Port Lockroy in Antarctica. Thankfully there was no internet around.

so postcards or e-mails - what would you rather have?

Just a bit of a thought for you next time you travel. Send a postcard!! My girlfriend has sent me a postcard from over 15 countries, that means more to me than any e-mail...I hope my postcards to her and to my family mean as much to them.

Don't let postcards become a lost art - keep writing them and posting them from all over the world!




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