I have one friend I've always sent postcards to - not every trip, mostly just from vacations. She lives in the US midwest and is unlikely to ever do much travelling (funding, or the lack thereof), and says she loves getting to see different places in the world and know that someone she knows has been there.

But I really like the idea of sending them to kids -- I don't have any (kids, that is), but I bet some of my friends' kids would enjoy, thanks for the tip!

I have always made an effort to send postcards to everyone in my family when I go on a trip, as well as one to myself. I keep the ones I send to me as a souvenir and then I also know if they should have arrived at the recipients yet. I had one grandparent that died recently that had always traveled a lot in her younger years that loved to receive them and then have a discussion about the trip next time I visited. It might be an hour or two out of each trip (I spend some time to write a meaningful note to each person) but well worth it.

Quite frequently when I go to visit them they still have the cards sitting out somewhere and it becomes a discussion point. I believe it shows a lot more attention when you've gone to the effort to select a card, find a stamp, write a note, and send it back to them.

I've even gotten stories about going through the process of sending a postcard -- in Argentina right after the currency crisis it took the main post office in Buenos Aires 15 minutes to figure out how much the stamps should be to send a card to the US because of the fluctuations in exchange rates. They gave me so many stamps it took up the whole upper right corner of the postcard to get all of them on there.

I usually send postcards from major trips (European holiday etc) & they go to a lot of people. Otherwise, just occasionally. I 'cheat' a bit in that I normally mail them from the US when I return because on those type of trips it's a lot of folk, and postage is cheaper from the US. I've never had anyone notice the postmark wasn't from overeas. I also 'cheat' a bit on some of them by basically writing the same thing; I figure most aren't going to be comparing postcards.

BTW - I've gotten the same response. People like receiving them.

Cheers.

I always try to send postcards when I travel. One of my friends told me she likes to use them as part of a geography lesson as she home schools her son.

And yes, one of the reasons I do send postcards is to brag about where I've been...

Sending cards is a great idea - especially if you are OK with the liklihood of their delivery well after you are back home.

Picture post cards are what I collect on trips. I don't carry a camera. In a good tourist trap you may get 5 or 10 for $1. They are always better pictures of the main attractions that I could possibly take myself.

Several years ago I did a 10 week RTW trip. My grandmother was living in a nursing home at the time and I visited her several times a week and I thought she might miss my visits, so I got a world map and marked all of the places I would be visiting. I then sent a postcard from each major stop on my trip, which meant my grandmother received a postcard every couple of days.

When I returned home, I visited my grandmother to find that the staff at the home had put the map up on the wall and had also mounted all of the postcards on the wall with a piece of bright coloured string linking each postcard to the correct place on the map.

The staff told me there was great excitement from my grandmother when she received each postcard.

I send many postcards, and make it part of my travel routine. I keep a list of addresses just for postcards, which I print on a single sheet of paper (small font). Then, I select 10-20 from the list (depends on the length of my trip which determines my free time) and they are the lucky recipients. Some are always on the list, like my grandmother, since she really enjoys receiving them and she's close family.

I integrate this into the "fun" of my trip. First I scout out various postcard sellers, and then have fun trying to bargain them down since I'm buying so many at once. Next, I scout around to find the post office and buy the proper stamps, which can also be an adventure in itself.

Next, I write the addresses and stamp all the postcards, but I don't write the content. Since postcards are small, I tuck a few into whatever book I'm carrying around that day (I travel very light if I'm just touring around), and find a nice cafe to sit in and watch people go by, while writing a few postcards at each place.

I must say that people really enjoy receiving my postcards, even if my handwriting isn't the best and I don't write such great prose. So few people receive anything other than bills and junk mail in the post these days, so to get something physical from a person is highly valued and remembered it seems.

Justin

If anyone is travelling in Brussels, there is a free art exhibit on at the Place St Géry that includes make-your-own postcards with dozens of rubber stamps of Brussels landmarks. I made about six myself and mailed them to friends and family...

... of course, I got home before they did... still waiting, actually.

The Italian post office is quite notorious for their inefficiency.

On one trip, I received 3 different quotes for postcard rates to the U.S.

All cards appear to have been delivered, even those where the postage applied was substandard.

When I was living overseas away from my parents, I always make it a point to send one to the family back in Singapore. Just so I keep them informed of my whereabouts (sometimes I travel without telling them), and also to let them know what I've seen around the city.

Now, I am back home and don't send postcards anymore to my parents, I now send postcards to my friends whom I cannot meet due to the distance (different countries, different continents) to keep in touch.

Writing and receiving post cards is fun. What annoys me all the time -and that is the reason why I abandoned it- is chasing after stamps. You get postcards everywhere at any time but post offices etc. are hidden, closed or crowded. I just need to find an office at downtown Chicago (a friend's father died suddenly) and could not get any stamp so far...

I send them to my nieces and nephew from my travels. It helps stoke their interest in travel and makes me seem like a really cool aunt

Most hotels will sell stamps at the front desk

I use

www.postcrossing.com

Its a fun way to get my grandfather some new stamps from around the world.

The one time I made an effort of writing few postcards, the postmans van was stolen that day and most of the cards I wrote were in it!!

That was the last time I wrote a postcard...