Postcrossing and the persisting wonder of snail mail

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It was your typical hot Tuesday morning.

While I double-checked my bag in the car, my boyfriend, Janver, fished out mail from our impossibly high post box. After he got in, he handed me a lime green envelope sealed with a heart sticker. It was a letter from Germany, addressed to me! Excited, I forgot about my abyss of a bag and the stuffy air wrapping us.

Within the envelope was a brightly illustrated postcard of women in various diving positions. Written at the back was a message from Angela, a woman from Neuss City. She told me of the cloudy weather and the 15,000 comic books she stored in her daughter’s room when she moved out. Along with the postcard, she also included paint swatch cards as well (the kind you’d get at IKEA).

On a mundane weekday, I was holding a stranger’s postcard that traveled halfway around the world to reach me. As quirky as the content may seem, these are actually connected to my profile in Postcrossing. I mentioned in my bio that I love comics and receiving scrap I can junk journal with.

6,000 miles away, Angela read this and wrote about the comics we have in common.

6,000 miles away, paint swatches from a German hardware store now belong in my journal.

6,000 miles away, I held a piece of Angela through a postcard.

All of this was made possible through Postcrossing. But what is it exactly?

What is Postcrossing?

Postcrossing is an online platform where you can exchange postcards with people around the world.

The website was started by Paulo Magalhães back on July 14, 2005. Sending and receiving postcards was initially just a fun hobby for him, but there was a wonder in anticipating what your mailbox had in store for you every day.

So when Paulo started Postcrossing, the project’s popularity rapidly grew. As of January 2025, it has reached about 80 million postcards received globally. Since then, the community has grown in various countries to the point there are events, meet ups, and collaborations with local postal services.

How does it work?

You simply sign up on the Postcrossing website and create your profile by: sharing your mailing address, writing a bio about yourself, and mentioning the type of cards you’d like to receive (optional). When you’re all set up, you can request to send a postcard to start.

The website will give you a randomly selected member’s bio, mailing address, and unique postal ID (ex: US-878). You can begin crafting your postcard (don’t forget to write the postal ID!) and drop it off at the post office, where you can also get it stamped (each stamp is about P15).

When the recipient gets your card, they’ll register the postal ID you’ve written into the website as acknowledgement.

They can also upload an image of the postcard you sent and it’ll reflect on both of your profiles. There’ll be a gallery for both received and sent postcards to look back to. You can even “favorite” cards from other profiles when you go to “explore.” This will also reflect on your wall and can give other members more ideas of what you like.

But back to the process: Once the postcard’s postal ID is registered, only then are you eligible to receive some as well. Fellow members will be randomly given your profile and will do the same process. Overall, it’s a fair exchange.

The more postcards you send, the more you’ll be able to receive. In the case of lost postcards (those that went beyond two months in transit), Postcrossing will generate a new recipient for you so you don’t get stuck.

Privacy concerns

For privacy, you can use a moniker for your username and your address will only be shown to senders who are assigned your profile. There’s a low chance of getting the same profile since the assignments are randomly generated.

In the case of pen pals, you can message another member for a continuous exchange or direct swaps. But the postcards won’t be counted on Postcrossing itself. If you’re not interested in swaps, there’s an indicator for this that you can put on your profile (so you don’t have to receive inquiries too).

My experience so far

In the four months I’ve been doing Postcrossing, I can say it’s a slow-burn type of hobby. I had to be patient when waiting for mail, intentional on crafting my postcards, and disciplined in dropping them off at the postal office or registering what I received.

But when a postcard does arrive, it makes it all worth it. The vibrant designs and quirky notes (some senders get creative with their messages through stationery!) are a nice surprise. But for me, it’s the process that truly makes it shine.

This postcard is a piece of paper that a stranger took the time to pick out for me. When I read their handwritten note at the back, suddenly the words peel back and I can picture their pen engraving each stroke. Afterwards, they’ll drop it off at the nearest post box, the faded one at the end of the street.

Then the postcard will go on its own journey and may even pass by towns they’ve never heard of, until it finally reaches me. It’s an elaborate thought, I know. Even so, I can’t help but imagine this stranger going about this little routine in their own corner of the world.

Sending a piece of themselves to God knows where. Meanwhile, here I am in my own little corner, holding that piece. May the postcard be from a country I haven’t been to or a person I’ll never meet, it’ll still feel like I existed there with them. Through postcards, we existed together.

As sentimental as I may be about postal mail, I do acknowledge it’s a thing of the past. Reasonably so with modern technology. Although social media has overshadowed snail mail, it has also given it a new and deeper meaning. It’s not about a postcard arriving quickly anymore. It’s about the intent. As fellow Postcrosser Yinna said:

“When you send or receive a handwritten letter or a postcard, there’s a sense of effort, thought, and personal touch that you just don’t get with a quick text. It’s tangible, you can hold it, keep it, and even look back on it years later. I think that gives it a kind of lasting emotional value that digital messages rarely have.

So for me, snail mail hasn’t lost its purpose; it’s transformed into a more intentional, meaningful form of connection. It’s a way to slow down and show someone that you really care. I guess that’s why I love it — it feels timeless in a world that moves too fast.”

Since it was Postcrossing’s 20th anniversary this July, there was a local meetup at UP Los Baños. Ever since I started, it was just me and my partner, Janver, doing this little hobby. But as soon as we entered the library venue, I realized this hobby wasn’t so little after all!

When we walked in, we were greeted by Leila, the event organizer and the #2 Postcrosser in the Philippines. Around me were about 10 to 15 other members at different tables buzzing around and chatting. There was even a postmaster on standby to collect and deliver postcards from the event. Overall, the atmosphere was lively and our greetings echoed throughout the room.

At the registration table, Leila gave us each a basket with an assigned letter and postcard freebies inside (vintage cards, even!).

We were also given a small index-type card with rows of letters as well. This apparently was a list of other members’ baskets carrying their own postcards that were meant to be signed by everyone.

Once you’ve signed all of the postcards in it, you can tick off the designated letter on your index and pass the basket to the next person. These signed postcards were either for memorabilia or stock that members can swap for in the future.

I realized that the electric ambiance was because of this activity. People switched from table to table exchanging baskets. There were over a hundred cards to sign and some even used their own customized stamps!

The unique design of each was like colorful patchwork on each backside. After settling at our table, I quickly got to work while chatting with different members who sat with us. It felt like the clearance season in high school where everybody is excited for the break. Except this time, I was excited by the thought that our signatures might reach countless people around the world!

This notion is what got other members hooked on Postcrossing as well. To be able to make connections globally one postcard at a time felt like you’ve traveled along with it. You may even learn more than you expected. Postcrosser Gavin De Vera says:

“One of my requests to people that send me cards through the platform is to share something unique or lesser-known about where they’re from! Through this, I am able to learn fascinating facts and stories about other cultures that you simply cannot search or read on the internet.”

Meanwhile, Postcrosser WiliMonz has been collecting postcards since the 1960s. He also has a collection of hard-to-get and unusual cards mailed/postmarked from remote places such as Antartica, Fiji, Palau, Tibet, and Jordan. One of his cards from Germany has an actual piece of the dismantled Berlin Wall.

Postcrosser Aniruddha Chatterjee, an Indian who found community with postcrossing Philippines, also shares that:

“As with anything you do in life, Postcrossing is what you make of it. If you invest your time and learn about the hobby, practice writing about your life and country and customs, seek new perspectives and about life and customs in other nations and regions, then Postcrossing and snail mail can be truly fulfilling over a period of time.”

As I signed away card after card, Leila facilitated a game of postcard bingo. Beforehand, members were asked to bring 5 postcards to use. Whatever detail Leila shouts out (ex. A postcard with a flower in it etc.) was a mark. Watching people play, I saw all kinds of different cards with quirky designs and shapes. Some even showed me their favorites and binder collections.

Postcrosser Ces helps produce postcards then sells them online on her Facebook page Poskard at Letra PH. Ces collaborates with artists and does themed open calls online. She then tells me of the importance of keeping postcard prices affordable to make it more accessible to the youth as well. This can help children appreciate the values that come with snail mail such as patience and community.

Cabbie, the #1 postcrosser in the Philippines, has sent about 4,000 cards ever since she started in 2006. She has a collection of beautifully illustrated mushroom postcards.

Goldie, meanwhile, shows me her intricate collection of maximum cards (postcards that feature an image along with a stamp that’s similar to it). Some stamps are rare since they were specially issued by the Philpost for specific events or personalities only.

While admiring all the collections, fellow postcrosser Sibelle tells me that Postcrossing is an intersection for different kinds of hobbies as well. Some members had their own niche such as deltiology, philately, calligraphy, journaling, stamp making, and more. Who knew so many interests could fit in one postcard? As postcrosser Camille Jusi said:

“[I think snail mail] is a unique collection of niche hobbies that reveal genuine human connection. In a single postcard, a recipient might love the written content, or look forward to the stamps, or stickers, or the image, or all of the above. Each of those elements may be a single niche hobbyist’s collectible. And yet, all put together, the postcard CHOSEN by the sender, the stamps and ephemera included, the HANDWRITTEN message itself all reveal a part of the person who sent it. There will always be that multi-dimensional human connection that t̶r̶u̶m̶p̶s̶ eclipses digital means.”

As the event came to a close, I noticed that there were more than 40 members now and the library was bustling. Leila noted this was the biggest meetup they’ve had yet. People were swapping cards, showing off collections, giving out freebies, and (still) signing as much as they could.

It was a kind of persistence that reminded me of why Postcrossing, even snail mail in general, still enchantingly perseveres today. It’s because of communities like this that keeps it alive, through sheer diligence and genuine devotion. It’s a love not just for the craft, but for the worlds it’ll open us up to.

Eventually, Janver and I said our goodbyes and emptied our baskets. I realized I left with more postcards than I came with. Looking at all the unique signatures and stamps on each, I realized my little Postcrossing hobby was not so little anymore. – Rappler.com

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