Featured image by KLMircea

Sounds a bit ridiculous right? Sending postcards – a modern trend? Surely that’s been around forever, and the age of the postcard is dead.

I mean, when was the last time you actually received a postcard? When was the last time you wrote one? Got your hands all covered in ink, and traveled with a print out list with everyone’s mailing address?

But despite the fact that you don’t visit your letterbox anymore, the act of sending postcards is not dead. Secretly everyone loves the idea of postcards, but as social media swept in we lost the motivation to buy them, write them, and track down a local post office.

So how has it come back as a modern trend? To revive the act of sending postcards, and make it easy and relevant for modern travelers, MyPostcard is a website / app at the center of a movement which says no to E-cards, and yes to the real thing! You upload your photo and a personalized message, they print and mail them. It’s easy, cheap, and solid proof that the age of the postcard is not dead!

The Age of the Modern Postcard: Reasons You Should Send a Postcard This Year

Because it’s Personal

Sending postcards is an incredibly personal thing, and unlike posting a faceless photo to Facebook or Instagram, receiving a postcard tells someone that you’re genuinely thinking about them. 

And ultimately, that’s why people love postcards. It’s a genuine “wish you were here”; a personal, hand-selected thought card from the other side of the world. It makes people feel warm and fuzzy inside because you’ve actually put effort into it, which these days, sadly, is pretty rare.

Antarctica 2017, I thought it would be fun to send postcards again. Something I hadn’t done since 2010. And after they arrived the thankyou calls and text messages started rolling in; my family and friends were really touched that I had thought of them.

And think about it; when you send a Facebook message or email, do people save and treasure it? Do they print out your tweet and stick it to the front of their fridge? Do they pass it around their friends and family? No. But they do that with a postcard. Because it’s more exciting. More thoughtful. More interesting.

Postcards are the Best Souveniers

I’ve always said that photos are the best souvenir. Because nothing plastic can bring as much joy as a photo can. Sure, a snow globe or a key chain might represent a country or place you’ve been, but it’s not able to capture the moment like a photo can.

And that’s why postcards are the best souvenirs – especially when they’re your photos! But they also act as a long-lasting, handwritten chronicle that may be kept and enjoyed for generations. Something that will jog your memory or that of others in years to come. And they look amazing on the wall!

To send a card online, upload your photos to MyPostcard, and send a unique card to your family and friends – or as a souvenir for yourself (I love sending postcards to myself as a memory, and so that there’s something in the mail for me that’s not a bill!) The app even lets you upload photos directly from Instagram to create your very own design.

They’re Cheap

When I sent everyone postcards from Antarctica, I’ll admit to being a bit of a cheat. I bought 25 postcards, but once I found the post office in Ushuaia, I realized that postage from Argentina was going to cost $7 each!!!

So I waited until I returned home to Australia, and sent them so I only paid local fees! Assuming that it would have taken an age for post to travel from Antarctica, people didn’t even question that I got home before the cards did!

But sending postcards with the MyPostcard app, you can send a postcard from anywhere in the world for as little as $1.99. That includes the custom imagery, the design, and even the postage!

I still paid $2.75 for international postage from Australia (the purple stamps), which is more expensive than sending them online. 

You Can Send Them From Anywhere

Now that we’re living in the digital age, gone are the days when you only have 3 or 4 postcard covers to choose from, or if you’re visiting a place so obscure that postcards are hard to find.

The fabulous thing about having apps like MyPostcard is that postcards can now be sent from anywhere in the world – you don’t need to find a post office, and you don’t have to worry about opening hours or language barriers, to all you need is an internet connection.

And it’s not just anywhere, but anytime; 6am in the morning, or extremely late at night. You probably wouldn’t dare rock up to the post office in your underwear, but an app doesn’t judge you! Quite a number of airlines even offer in-flight WiFi now, meaning you can send postcards whenever you find some downtime.

The Modern Postcard is Hassle Free

Let’s not get too lazy now – it’s not actually that much hassle to buy a post card, write it, and find a stamp. And I may be the only one, but there’s something very romantic about sitting at a pavement cafe while carefully crafting your message. You might even find that modern post offices these days have machines with English menus from which you can buy your stamp.

But apps like MyPostcard make sending them really easy, and you don’t have to worry about the old-day hassles of getting your photos printed, running down to the post-office, and trying to find the word for ‘stamp’ in Hungarian (it’s bélyeg).

Postcards Last a Lifetime

Unlike an email or text, a postcard isn’t something you can accidentally erase. Postcards are tangible, which means it won’t get deleted if your computer crashes, or lost unexpectedly in cyber space (though admittedly many postcards disappear into closet space!).

If stored properly, anything made out of paper can last hundreds of years, and you might find them pinned on your wall, or even framed and hung up. Most of them are art after-all! You might also preserve it to show future generations in years to come.

“With an email you’re running two risks. One is that after being read it is simply deleted by the person you sent it to, and completely forgotten by the end of the day. With a postcard the recipient is much less likely to simply throw it so quickly”.

The Age of the Postcard is Not Dead!

I genuinely love sending postcards, and I can’t see myself doing it any other way now that I know about MyPostcard.com.

The age of the postcard is not dead! Jump over to MyPostcard.com (or download the app) to send one too!

CAMERA GEAR WE USE & RECOMMEND. CLICK PHOTO ↓

Nikon D5300 24.2 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera

Canon PowerShot SX50 HS 12MP Digital Camera

ZoMei Z818 Light Weight Heavy Duty Portable Travel Tripod

Megan is an Australian Journalist and award-winning travel writer who has been blogging since 2007. Her husband Mike is the American naturalist and wildlife photographer behind Waking Up Wild; a website dedicated to opening your eyes to the wild & natural world.

Committed to bringing you the best in adventure travel from all around the globe, there is no mountain too high, and no fete too extreme! They haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on their list.

If you enjoy getting social, you can follow their journey on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram.