Postcrossing July Stats

Wow! I still can't believe how fast time has flown. The 8th month of the year has just started and there's still a lot more to look forward to. I started with Postcrossing at the start of the year. Here are my latest stats on the site...

I now have over 100 postcards from all over. I still want to receive more. Indeed, in a short span of time, my postcard collection has grown. >.< 

What I love about Postcrossing is the steady number of cards I receive over time. To date, I've received postcards from 18% of the world. (Source: Been app) There's a lot more on my wish list. 

I would love to receive more cards from unique countries. >.< Plus, I'm still on the lookout for more unique and amazing local cards that I could send and share to the world. Postcard exchange is indeed a wonderful way of learning more about the big world out there! 

Till next update... ta-tah! May you have a productive month ahead! ^_^

Postcards Galore

It's been a few weeks since I last shared about my postcard collection. Well, I've gone a bit slowly in terms of direct swapping via IG. It's a bit of a hassle for me, that's why. Instead, I decided to focus on the official Postcrossing and Postcard United sites. Plus, there's the Postcrossing forum swapping. The latter has proven to be more reliable. To date, there are about three to four cards that I haven't received. Perhaps they have really been lost in the mail. Oh well, that's not so bad, is it?

Anyway, I was motivated to share this batch of postcards I've received mainly because they look nice. Even the stamps are worth sharing.

Monkey King postcard was sent via Postcard United from China. It's one of the first shaped cards that I've received. I find it interesting. Even the stamps look really nice. 

The Little Prince card and stamp. Castle card and stamp. Both postcards were from a fellow swapper on Postcrossing. Anja from Germany contacted me via private message to ask if I would like to swap with her. Normally, such direct swapping transactions are risky. But I agreed as I'd like to help her get some cards from the Philippines. Plus, there's really not much to lose for trusting fellow swappers, perhaps just a few nice cards. As it turned out, it was all worth it.

The above cute saying card came from Japan. It's a swap via the forum at Postcrossing. I find it cute and interesting. Even the stamps used were lovely. I do love the "Traditional clothes, festivals, and events RR" on the forum.

I'd say that a touristy card from Saint Maarten is rather rare. I'm so thankful that the fellow swapping with me went there for a vacation. I got this from the "Southeast Asia x World RR" forum at Postcrossing. Yey!

Last, but not the least, is an illustration card from Russia. I do so love lots of cards from Russia. Plus, the stamps used were really nice. 

Cards such as this batch that I've received recently are the main reason why I love exchanging postcards with other collectors as well. It makes me feel like I've traveled the world and been to places I could only dream of. That's it for now... I will definitely keep updating from time to time about my postcard collection. 

Have a nice weekend! Ta-tah >.<

Postcard from South America

Just a quick update for today. I've received my first ever card from South America the other day. It's from the land of Pope Francisco, Argentina. Yey! It seems my cards take a long time to reach their destination there. In fact, one of my traveling cards got expired today, after traveling more than 60 days to Colombia. I truly wonder if it would ever be received. :(

Julio from Argentina

Pretty ad card, I'd say, although I would have preferred a view card. Oh well, perhaps next time around I'd get something nicer. ^_^

Lately, I'm into Postcrossing forum swapping. There are various themes and groups that one can join, although some take a longer time to be completed. However, I've noticed that forum swapping cards get sent faster than the ones I swap with on Instagram. I guess some swappers don't mail them out right away. I've still a few from a month back at least that I haven't received at this time. I hope they're not totally lost, wherever they may be. I'm still counting on receiving them... even if it takes more than two or even three months! Ugghh!

Well, till next update... ta-tah!

Postcrossing Wonder

And I'm back for another couple of updates! ^_^ I'm sharing another two new postcards from random Postcrossing members. This batch is awesome, although I didn't receive them at the same time. One came a few days ahead of the other. Ooh, and that one card of mine that's traveling to Colombia is in danger of expiring soon... 5 days and counting... boo-hoo!

Leila from Finland

I love it that some members really take to heart your wish list. Leila from Finland went to France for vacation and shared with me a card of La Louvre. I totally loved it! I dream of visiting France one day too... esp. Paris. I would love to see the Eiffel Tower in person! LOL ^_^

Svetlana from Russia

Moscow Kremlin is on my wish list as well. And look what came today? It's from Svetlana, who's from Moscow, Russia. How awesome indeed! It's been 70 days since I joined Postcrossing, and for me, I'm doing a lot of traveling, albeit via these international postcards that I've been receiving. I simply love the cards and the stories from each sender. It's such a wonderful experience to also be able to share my own experiences.

Perhaps if there's something that I would need to work on, it would be local travel. Yup, I'd love to travel around my country more. I'd love to experience for myself the beautiful places featured on the different postcards that I've been sending out. That way, I would also have stories to tell. ^_^

Well, I've sent a total of 12 postcards now. Three more and I would be able to send an additional card. That would mean 7 traveling cards at the same time. The more traveling cards, the more that can be sent and received. Yey! 

Eventually I would need to organize my album into the different countries. Right now, I just upload each photo consecutively. It's not even arranged by country or continent. LOL! Soon... I hope...

Well, that's it for now! Till next update...

Official Postcrossing: Postcards from Germany

Here are the cards that I previously mentioned. They both came from Germany, from official Postcrossing members. 

Dieter from Germany

I'm amazed that there are some people who are truly picky or choosy when it comes to postcards. Some don't even like multiview cards like the one above. Frankly, I don't know what's not to like. I appreciate multiview cards. It's a great way to introduce one's own city, if you ask me. Then when there are views that are worth looking at, that's a good time to go for single view cards. Oh well, to each his own.

Yvonne from Germany

This card rocks! (Pun intended LOL! ^_^) The sender mentioned about some balancing art just like the photo. And true enough balance is indeed something we should all seek in our daily lives. Thanks for the reminder, Yvonne! I truly appreciate it! The postcard looks like it came from a postcard book. It seems to have perforation on one side. How I wish I could get hold of a really nice local postcard book. I haven't seen one yet. Perhaps I should start out an edition. I would love it, but then it would mean I would need to do the traveling and the picture taking myself! ^_^ Now that's a great idea! Perhaps someone with more financial capacity would read this and embark on this project! 

At the moment, I'm just waiting for one more card from official Postcrossing. One of my traveling cards is due to expire in 9 days -- uh-oh! In a way, that's pretty good as I get to send one again. But I do hate it when my card doesn't make it in time for the 60-day deadline. It's the first for me, and the destination is Colombia. It truly amazes me how come some cards travel a long, long time before reaching their new homes. 

Well, it's the start of another week. I truly look forward to Mondays and every weekday as I await the arrival of more postcards. These days I've added forum swapping to my activities. I guess I would be more picky when it comes to whom I swap with. Some swappers truly are irritating. I don't like sending blank cards.. lest alone in an envelope! Ugghh! Oh well, other than picky swappers, it's fun to send and receive postcards. More updates to come next time around...

Have a great week ahead! ^_^

Postcrossing February Stats

And so, February's gone! It's now March, and I'm entering the third month of being a Postcrossing member. I've recently discovered the forum as another venue for swapping. There are themed swaps there, so I guess it would be a great way to complete some collection series. It does take time for some categories, esp. for countries that are rare. I've signed up for a few, and I've also sent out postcards for them.

How was my February as a Postcrosser? Well, my stats have started to look better. 

I have now sent a total of 10 postcards. I'm waiting for 5 more to be received before I have another increase in the number of postcards to be sent. There are 6 more cards that are traveling.. so I hope that at least one of them gets received soon. I'm just wondering how come it takes too long for some cards to reach their destination. 

So, in February, I've sent out postcards to the above countries. So cool to see the colorful pie chart, huh? I'm hoping to receive as well from the countries I've sent to, esp. Italy and the Netherlands. My goal is to receive cards from as many countries as possible. 

I received two postcards each from USA and Germany. These are the countries that have more numbers of Postcrossers. I guess that's why I happen to get more cards from them. But, I'm happy to have received from Finland and Norway too. I hope to receive more from rare countries. My postcard collection has grown and I'm quite happy. Pretty soon, I'd need a nicer storage for them all. Right now, I have them sorted according to continent, then sorted alphabetically according to countries. 

Well, that's it for now. Yesterday, I received two Official Postcrossing cards from Germany once again. I will be sharing them soon.

Till next update... ta-tah! ^_^

Big Incoming Snail Mail from Postcrossing

I've been a Postcrossing member for almost two months now (56 days as of this writing). I must admit that I've been waiting for quite some time for more incoming mail from random members. The thing is I seem to be able to send out faster than I receive. It must be 'coz I mail out at the main post office in Manila. Nonetheless, I find the incoming process too slow. ^_^

Earlier, I got the surprise of my life when I found that I actually had 14 incoming mail. Yebah! It was truly a happy mail day for me! It's about time I keep getting my mails. After all, I've been mailing them out regularly. If you're a newbie at Postcrossing, you may need to wait a little while to start getting lots of mail. What works for me is that I also do postcard swapping via Instagram. Of course, it's not easy at the onset. There's always that benefit of the doubt whether the person you're swapping with will really send it to you. In my case, I decided to take a leap of faith. But I digress.

Back to Postcrossing, here are my 5 incoming official Postcrossing cards:

Joa from Oregon

The above card is from Oregon. It's an artist sketch in the early 1900s of a famous mountain in Oregon. It's kinda cool as I do like art illustrations. And finally I got a postcard from the US. 

Chris of Ohio

I truly liked the above card as it is both a map and a flag card. How awesome indeed! I've been trying to collect map cards from as many countries as I possibly can. Then, there's the US States map cards too. I find map cards a bit fascinating but they're a bit harder to trade for.

Irene of Germany

I liked this owl card a lot! One reason that I like owls is that I'm a night owl myself! I just happen to work better when all is quiet around me. ^_^ Anyway, it's from Irene who lives in a dairy farm. I bet that's pretty cool. I've been a city girl all my life and sometimes wish I do have a hometown.

from Finland

Although the above card had a nice message and stamps, it wasn't signed; so I couldn't tell who sent it. The sender must like being anonymous. It's awesome since I do like cards featuring light houses. I happen to find them interesting. Some day I'm going to visit and climb a real light house! ^_^

Hedy from Taiwan

This one came from somewhere closer to home -- Taiwan. One of the good things I like about sending or receiving cards to/fro Taiwan is that it takes less than two weeks for mail to arrive. Yup! So far it's the fastest send or receive for me! Plus, Taiwan has a lot of really nice cards that I can't find much of in the Philippines. I'm always on the lookout for good local cards to send out.

Anyway, that's my biggest incoming mail from Postcrossing so far. I dream that one day I will be receiving a postcard a day for each day of the year!!! ^_^ How awesome would that be indeed!

Well, till next update folks! Ta-tah!

More Postcards from Postcard United

After being a Postcrossing member for more than a month, I came across another site that was apparently an offshoot of Postcrossing. It sure looks like a newer site and not as high tech as the previous one. Just the same, I signed up as I'm enjoying this postcard sending thingy. Plus, I've been doing some purchases of postcards more than the usual and I don't want to be stuck with a hoard of them. I might as well find folks that would want to receive some local postcards from me. 

Enter Postcard United, where I'm also a member now. The difference here is that you could send as many as 7 postcards at the beginning. Then you'll have to wait till all of them are received before you'll get an increase. So far, only one of my sent cards has been received... the one that went to France, which traveled for approximately 11 days. 

I decided to post about it 'coz I received two postcards yesterday that were from random members of Postcard United. 

Diana from Germany

The first one is from Germany. I really loved this four seasons card. And I love it more 'coz it features a lighthouse! ^_^ 

Michael from England

The second one is from England -- yey! It's the first card from there that I've received. ^_^ This hobby is indeed getting very interesting. Now, I feel like I'm fulfilling my bucket list of traveling the world... this time in postcard mode. ^_^

I can't wait to receive more postcards in the coming days, weeks, months, and years! Right now, here are the albums of my postcard collection: Official Postcrossing|Postcard Swapping on IG|Official Postcard United. ^_^

Till next postcard update... ta-tah! 

My Postcrossing Update

I've been a member of Postcrossing for more than a month now. Just thought I'd log some updates. So there, I have sent 7 postcards that have been received. How awesome! I hope that means I would be receiving more postcards soon. I have yet to receive any since the first week of February when I got two at the same time. ^_^

For the meantime, I've been stacking up on local postcards as well as doing some postcard swapping on Instagram. I must admit I'm not too fond of direct swaps, but that is one good way of completing one's collection of postcards, esp. the rare ones.(My Postcards - received from various swaps on IG)

I've also accepted an invite recently to join a forum group that does personal swaps of postcards under a moderator who organizes the categories as well as the participants. I signed up for a couple of groups, but have yet to belong to a completed group. That would give me ample time to fill in the needed postcards for each group. 

Well, it's another Friday today. We're coming from a holiday -- Chinese New Year celebration; today it's back to work & school. I sure hope I will start receiving more postcards soon. I'm still expecting a bigger batch from all the postcards that I have already sent out. Inshallah!

Till next post and update... Happy Chinese New Year to all who celebrate! 

Officially A Postcrosser

I'm back... with good news too! I consider myself to be officially a Postcrosser now! How so? Last week, I finally received two Official Postcrossing postcards! ^_^ Yebah! 

Angela from Germany

One of the cards was from Angela of Germany. It features a lighthouse -- one of the view cards I would love to receive. What a great way to start my postcard collection!

Heidi from Norway

My second card is from Heidi of Norway. It is a map card of Heidi's hometown. What a lovely map card indeed! It's my first one too! There are indeed lots of map cards of the different countries. I would love to start a map card collection, but they're a bit too difficult to swap for. I wonder how many map cards I would actually get to collect, huh? ^_^

As of this writing, 4 of my postcards have been received, so I'm like expecting two more postcards from Official Postcrossing. I actually need one more in order to have six simultaneously traveling postcards. ^_^ 

I can't wait to send and receive more postcards! Till next update... ta-tah!

Postcard Fascination

Howdy! I haven't been blogging here in a while. I guess you could say life happens. It's been three weeks down another new year. How time flies indeed! ^_^ 

I discovered not too long ago this website that enables one to send and receive postcards from around the globe. I must say it got me fascinated as I used to have international pen pals when I was in my teens. I guess I thought that snail mail has gone out of style. Boy, was I ever wrong! 

Instagram is a fascinating smartphone app as it led me to rediscover that I actually would like to receive postcards from all around the globe. I used to have a collection when I was younger, but I lost it all when we moved to another place. Pity indeed! Now, I will get another chance at starting over with my postcard collection! Travelling is a lot more expensive. Perhaps even in postcards, I would get to realize my dream of travelling the world. 

I have been sending out postcards for three weeks now. I have yet to receive one in the mail. I'm sure a few of them are on their way. My, I've forgotten how long it actually takes for snail mail to arrive at its destination. LOL! ^_^

I was tempted to start another blog for my postcard fascination, but thought better of it. I guess since I'm quite new to Postcrossing, I won't be getting lots of postcards at the onset. I can add updates here now and then when I do get some positive news regarding my "new" hobby. Till then, I have something new to look forward to every day. 

You may want to try joining Postcrossing too, esp. if you'd like to get surprises in your mailbox. I know I do! ^_^ Well, till next post... ta-tah!