Sadly, this summer, I am not going on a trip (which makes it no different from the last five years). I’ll be going to North Dakota to see family & attend a conference, but that’s it. Lots of hometown touristing.
But maybe you’re going somewhere fun, or doing something fun in your area. How about a postcard exchange? I love real mail, & I adore getting postcards from all over the world. I’ve kept just about every one I’ve ever received! This could be similar to the holiday card exchange or CD exchange. We could trade addresses & you could send a card to any & all, or we could pick names of 2-5 people that we will send a surprise postcard to sometime this summer. I’ll be happy to make arrangements either way. Anyone in?
Yes, that would be fun! I’ll send you my address.
I’m not going anywhere too exciting, but we have a couple of short trips planned, and both would be postcard worthy. Where do we send our addresses?
I’ll play. We’re not going too far either but heck, I can get cute postcards from my town at our food co-op.
Sure!
That would be fun! I’m in.
I think Mira and/or Isaac would potentially also be interested. I know they’d LOVE to receive postcards but I think they’d even get in to sending them. Does anyone else think their kids might be interested?
I think Lucy would! She’s going to be at home this summer for the first time ever (tomorrow is the last day of school, yikes!) and we’re trying to think of activities to do so she won’t be bored. I’d love to get a bunch of big O! Postcards and have her write them and send them out.
Can I coordinate a kids’ list separately from the MT list?
Sounds great! Gus would definitely be in. I think we talked some time back about having kid penpals & there was interest. This could be a fun way to jump start that.
Okay, my address is sherishu68 at gmail. Send your kids’ names and ages with the addresses. I’ll see how long the list is and either match kids up somehow or just have everyone send to everyone else. This will be fun!
Yes! I love postcards and mail! Put me down.
That’s a great idea. I’m in!
We won’t go anywhere until July, but I’ll be able to get some postcards from our usual vacation spot at that time.
I’d love to do this — just tell me where to send my address [can't remember for sure who said they wrote this diary]
Cindy!
What a great idea! I’ll be lucky if I get out of town at all this year, so I may not be able to participate, but I just wanted to chime in because it sounds fun.
I’m in. Sounds like fun, and I love postcards. I’ve kept a lot of mine, too! We’re doing a home exchange vacation in Europe, and I will happily send postcards to anyone.
Marney, we thought of doing this this summer and then didn’t for a few reasons, but the idea still intrigues me. Does it feel like a lot of work getting your place ready? Are you boxing stuff up and storing it? Will your vehicles be part of the exchange? How did you choose who to trade with?
Sorry to bombard you with questions! I hope it all goes well. My folks have done this a bunch of times and always had good experiences. Where are you going, and how long will you stay?
No, we don’t do a lot of work to get the place ready. We put a lock on a room, and that’s where we put our papers, etc. while we’re gone, but we don’t do much boxing and storing. The getting ready is just making sure everything in the house still works and that the bikes and stuff are in good shape for them to use. We are not exchanging vehicles this time, but we have in the past. This will be our 10th exchange, something like that. We have our house listed on some sites, and in this case, we were contacted. We’re going to England and Spain for about 3 weeks.
10 times! Wow! That sounds fun.
I do have a room attached to the carport I could lock stuff up in…. Thanks for the info.
Yes, it’s me! I didn’t realize I had to identify myself somewhere in the diary before I published it! So the first decision is: like the holiday card exchange where I collect & distribute an address list, or like the CD exchange where I randomly assign people so they are surprised when they get a card?
I vote surprise!
I like the surprise idea, too, of getting a few cards unexpectedly.
I’m in! Nothing exciting this year. Detroit next weekend is about it. I’ll probably make it to my cousin’s wedding in Illinois but I WANT to make it to another cousin’s wedding in Syracuse. I just don’t think it’s a drive I can make by myself!
I’m in Syracuse!!! Oh please, please, please come see me! And make it to your cousin’s wedding of course!
This thread is reminding me of one of my favorite postcards I ever got. For some inexplicable reason, I’ve always wanted to road trip to Mt. Rushmore. I don’t know where this idea came from, but it’s there on my list of things I want to do. (A lot of my IRL friends know this about me.) A few years ago a friend of mine who was driving across the US detoured to Mt. Rushmore just to send me a postcard of it. Now, it sits on my desk, reminding me that I need to plan that road trip.
How lovely.
if we do random assignments, I may just send postcards from everywhere I go — I have a trip to Dallas, I’m sure I can find nice Austin postcards, and wherever we end up going on vacation….
It’s kind of a fun idea just for those summer thingies we do in our own areas. I like seeing things in other cities and places that I didn’t really know about before.
I’m in! How do I send you my address?
I love this – btw, even if you don’t travel, wherever YOU are is a place that I am not – so it’s still a fun postcard. I once looked for NYC postcards to send to someone and it was sort of fun to play tourist in my own city.
I”m in!
Yeah, I’m sort of thinking the same thing. It would be fun to get postcards from my favorite local places, although of course I’m hoping to have a new city to play tourist in!
Cindy, where do we send our addresses?
I meant, “get postcards from my favorite local places to send to y’all.” Not “receive them in the mail.” In case that wasn’t clear.
Postcards from Chile!
OK, let’s combine ideas. Send me your addresses like we do for the holiday cards. My email is cynmillbea at hotmail dot com. I’ll distribute them & your task will be to randomly send cards to any or all participants (send someone more than one…it’ll make her day!). Even if you are totally staying home, send postcards from your hometown. It will be fun to see what your area thinks is what tourists want to see. Plus, we will be helping the economy & the US Postal Service!
I’d like to play! I’m vacationing in late July – will that be okay? Or should I send something local before then?
That’s fine. We’ll say any time before Labor Day. Keep those cards & letters coming.
When do you want our addresses? I’m hoping mine will change mid-summer.
You can send them as soon as possible, & if it does change, you can send an update for people who may be sending you a card later in the summer.
This sounds like fun! We’re planning our vacation in the US, though I suppose my local area might be more fun.