Here are the postcards!
I’ve been collecting postcards since 2008. Since then, I’ve sent and received over 1800 postcards from all over the US and dozens of countries. I respond to every postcard I receive, so I’m always open for private swaps.
My origin story: Back when I was a young boy, I got the idea to write a letter to several world leaders, but I only ever ended up writing the US president and the Queen of England. I was so tickled to receive responses from President Bush and then Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II! Well, they weren’t directly from the world leaders, but rather from their staff members. President Bush sent me an autographed photograph (which I lost later in a show-and-tell accident).
One of the Queen’s ladies-in-waiting sent me a very detailed letter, typed on Buckingham Palace stationery, answering all of my questions about the Queen’s horses and her corgis and her favorite foods. I marveled at the strangely-sized paper, the texture of the embossed coat of arms centered at the top of the page, and the stamps on the envelope. A real person had spent time reading my letter, responding to it, folding it and placing it in an envelope, and then more real human beings had taken the time and effort to transport it from London to some mail distribution center, to an airport in England, to an airport in the US, and back through the various USPS chains until it arrived in a plastic mailbox at the foot of my driveway in southeast Michigan.
I’m still fascinated by this process today, and all for less than the price of some chocolate! So I maintain correspondence with about a dozen penpals across the world, and send and receive postcards. At last count, I have a little under 2,000 postcards that I’ve received. Keep scrolling to see the most recent postcards that have arrived in my mailbox.
1st Gotland Adventure (Sweden)
This beautiful postcard was sent by Jussi, who must have attended the 1st Gotland Adventure in Visby, Sweden between 12 - 14 August of this year. I know this because tucked away in among the beautiful signatures on the card I can see his recognizable signature.
Bamberg (Germany)
Dominique est allé en Allemagne pour visiter Bamberg. La-bàs, il a acheté une nouvelle montre pour sa collection. Je ne sais presque rien sur les montres sauf que les amateurs les adorent beaucoup et sont disposés à voyager assez loin pour la bonne exemplaire.
Orthez (2) (France)
Dominique est allé sur un voyage au sud de la France, visitant plusiers lieux, cette ville comprise. Malheureusement, il n’a pas pu visiter ce musée (Maison Jeanne d’Albret) car il a eté fermé. Moi aussi j’aimerais bien le visiter dans le futur!
Greetings from Otherworld (Ohio)
This postcard comes from Leah and Jesse, who made a trip through Ohio and visited this place. The description they give is bonkers, but included “crawl[ing] inside a giant mouth and punch[ing] its uvula” and it goes on from there. Based also on the image, this sounds a bit like Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, which I visited in 2016.
“hello from beautiful” (Washington)
As I wrote earlier, sometimes a postcard strikes my fancy. I either send it to myself or to my husband. This one is a case of the latter; I imagined that the dog and person depicted here were Pinot and me, and we were on our way to the cabin in the background to see Andy.
poisson cru (Tahiti)
Here’s is a card sent from Moorea, near Tahiti in French Polynesia from our dear friend Kaylé. Poisson cru is French for “raw fish” and is a Tahitian version of ceviche. It sound delightful!
Orthez (France)
J’ai reçu cette carte de mon ami Dominique qui explique un peu sur l’Orthez et Gaston Phoebus. Il y a tellement d’histoire dans le monde, mais l’histoire française et romaine est tellement bien documentée. On aurait besoin de toute une vie pour en apprende un tout petit morceau!
beautiful Hawai’i
Matty ended his US travels in Honolulu - not a bad way to leave the country! I feel so fortunate to have received so many great postcards from his trip in the US; that he took the time to find them, write them, stamp them, and mail them on the whirlwind tour he had is quite generous and thoughtful!
Laa mie! (Isle of Man)
Lauren, my friend and former colleague, was in the Isle of Man for the International Linguistics Olympiad, accompanying Team USA. It was a great chance to practice her Manx, and of course spend some time with the incredibly smart and talented future linguists of the world! I volunteered for the ILO a long time ago checking problems and it was a LOT of fun.
Disneyland (California)
I always confuse which one is in Florida (Disneyworld) and which one is in California (Disneyland) so I usually just abbreviate it “Disney” no matter what. Well, Matty was visiting Disneyland and sent this postcard from a childhood dream!
Chambéry (France)
Mon amie Jennifer est allée en France pour des vacances d’été, et elle a même pensé à moi pour mon anniversaire, en écrivant: “Que tu trouves de l’espace de quatre ou cinq ans où tu jouis d’un siecle de vie.” J’adore ça!
Chambéry: la Maison des Charmettes. R’sidence de Jean-Jacques Rousseau en compagnie de Madame de Warens de 1736 à 1742. “Une maison isolée au penchant d’un vallon fut notre asile, et c’est là que dans l’espace de quatre ou cinq ans j’ai joui d’un siècle de vie.” Les Rêveries du promenteur solitaire 10ème promenade.
Badlands National Park (South Dakota)
My dear friends Kay and Pei sent this postcard from a recent trip to Badlands National Park, one of my favorite parks, too! I love this art style of the postcard so it was a great birthday card to receive.
grey whale (Washington)
Why not send yourself postcards? When I find a postcard I especially like, I will send it to myself to make sure that it goes into my collection. Here’s a great one that the scan doesn’t reflect all the way since it’s cut out to the shape of a grey whale. The next time you’re traveling and see a great postcard, go ahead and send it to yourself! You already know the address!
There’s nothing like [Budweiser] (Canada)
My penpal Ray sent this beautiful vintage Budweiser beer ad to me! On the back are great stamps and lots of fun stickers and decorations. I’m always impressed by the decorations and creativity of my penpals, and I feel bad for not reciprocating. I wouldn’t know where to start!
Lego gifts (Indiana)
My good friend and fellow linguist Nozomi sent me this terrific birthday wish! I love these Lego cards so much and I’m delighted to receive another of them.
I am… (Nevada)
Moi aussi je suis excessively diverted (I will not try to translate Austen, when I haven’t even read her!)! Thanks for Tristan and Whitney for this lovely, literary postcard.
Devon (England)
This postcard comes from Jo and her family, a very dear friend of mine from way back in my days as an assistant de langue anglaise in northern France. She’s visiting family in England, and sends this stunning postcard from Newton Poppleford (is there a more English town name on the planet?!) where cottages with thatched roofs are not uncommon! This house was the first one built in the village and dates back to the 1500s. This postcard was in fact made by the guy who owns the post office!
sur la route des Baleines du Québec (Canada)
Vous savez bien que j’adore tous les mammifères aquatiques, donc je suis un peu jaloux entendre que mon amie Corinne est allée sur croisière aux baleines de Tadoussac. Elle, avec ses enfants, a vu les bélugas, les petits rorquals, les phoques communs, et les marsouins! Par excellence!
Gaslamp District, San Diego (California)
Matty has made it back to the West coast, starting down south in San Diego. I haven’t visited SD, yet, although it’s high on my list. One interesting thing, besides the message of course, is that the front of this postcard depicts a sign saying “Gaslamp Quarter” but on the reverse, it’s printed “Gaslamp district.” I wonder what the official designation is?