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.

Kristopher Geda Kristopher Geda

an impossible puzzle (Oregon)

Who could solve this puzzle?! It’s impossible to try. Thanks to Linda who sent this after her recent visit to the Oregon Coast, which was her first visit outside Portland in quite some time!

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Ratatouille et la Tour Eiffel (France)

I wonder if they remembered that this is one of Andy’s favorite movies of all time when they picked this card to send to us? They spent some time in Le Marais right before fashion week so there was lots to see!

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ArtPrize (Michigan)

My sister-in-law Nikki took a trip to Grand Rapids and visited ArtPrize, described on the back as “…an international art competition and festival open to all and determined by public vote and expert jury. ArtPrize encourages critical discourse, celebrates artists, transforms urban space, and promotes cultural understanding.”

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Repubblica di San Marino

Matty sent me this postcard from San Marino; it’s my first from this country! As I’ve written here before, I am fascinated by micro-nations, so I’m particularly excited to receive this postcard! In fact, I’m currently living just a few blocks from the Honorary San Marino Consulate here in San Francisco!

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paysages d’Alsace (France)

Dominque, mon ami à lettres, sait très bien que nous adorons le vin. En fait, nous avons même appellé notre chien “Pinot.” Dominique m’explique que le début septembre se commence la récolte. Il me récommend de trouver un grand cru Rosacker.

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Geneva (Switzerland)

Another great postcard from Switzerland, or as it’s written on the stamps “Helvetia.” Matty writes how different Geneva is from Zurich, surprisingly so. I think the cantons have remarkably different identities and practices, especially given their long history.

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wonderful Malaysia (Germany)

This postcard comes from my penpal Andreas who was visiting Berlin for the weekend. From there, he sent me this postcard he picked up in Malaysia earlier this summer on a big trip through South East Asia.

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life is just… (Spain)

Oh if art doesn’t imitate life, I don’t know what art is! This is so so, true. But I just can’t imagine why Julian and Salvo thought of me when they saw this postcard?! ;-)

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Zurich (Swizterland)

Another great view from Matty’s North American-European tour! This time he’s in Zurich. The only problem, Matty writes, is that he “forgot how expensive Switzerland is!” Oh yeah. That economy is going to get you!

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tapes, menú, paella (Spain)

Our friends Julian and Salvo are galivanting in Spain for a few weeks and found time to send this infinitely charming postcard from one of my favorite cities of all!

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Mission San Juan Capistrano (Illinois)

At first, I couldn’t read the caption of this postcard but as I was examining it, I thought to myself, “It looks like an old mission…” Well, I was right! This one is the Mission at San Juan Capistrano. This amazing postcard is from our niece Emily, whom we’re looking forward to seeing soon at a family wedding!

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More to come from the past…