Very recently I traveled internationally for the first time since 2019. It felt wonderful to be traveling again because when the COVID virus virtually shut down the world, I lost my nearly lust for travel. My friends were duly shocked when I told them in 2021 that I didnt want to travel anymore, and at the time I sincerely meant it! I didnt have COVID then, but I felt that some unknown malaise or ailment had incapacitated me in a most significant way and it seemed like the desire to travel had left me completely.
Since my friends and acquaintances from varied parts of the world had also stopped traveling during the 2020 – 2021 time period, I stopped receiving postcards from them. The near total absence of postcard surprises, those tiny paper rectangles of colorful snapshots arriving in my mailbox was a vivid reminder that life had surely changed. However, no longer hearing or seeing planes soar above on their way to and from the nearest major airport was probably the most stark reminder. Im not forgetting that the inability to travel was a small enough burden to bear considering people were losing loved ones to that horrible
disease. Still, I really missed receiving postcards as well as the closely connected ability to travel to places near and far from which to send postcards to others. Like other people, trips planned for 2020, and 2021, and unfortunately even a late 2022 trip had to be cancelled.
As a child in grade school my favorite subjects were Art, World Geography, and History – in that order. Maybe during the study of World Geography was the time when the first tiny seedlings of my passion for travel and collecting postcards were planted. In those days just learning about ‘distant lands their location on the globe, their languages, historic sights, topography, agriculture, what goods they produced, and seeing their native costumes excited something in me. The thought of actually having the opportunity to visit them someday seemed incredibly So the receiving of and the collecting of postcards was a way to virtually experience travel to places I could only dream of seeing then, even in my own country. Happily, my early childhood did include a few trips to Canada by car and train to visit relatives and the last trip actually included a visit to Expo 67
Where I bought my first postcard escapes my memory now (I think it could have been Williamsburg, Virginia), but when I received my first few postcards does not a postcard from my Father when he briefly worked in a southern state, and a postcard from Florida from a beloved friend, my brothers girlfriend, telling me she wished I was with her. I treasure these postcards.
No doubt, there was a lapse of many years when I didnt think about collecting postcards and probably received none personally. But when I developed a consuming passion for travel, and made friends who shared the same passion, postcards were something I began to desire receiving again and collect more seriously. And many friends would send postcards from their travels -- what a beautiful way to stay connected!!
The type of postcard, and there are certainly a lot, that I like to collect continues to evolve and expand. I dont devote time every day to my postcard collection. Rather, when the mood strikes or when Ive received a postcard in the mail, I enjoy having a fresh look at those Ive received from around the world Im lucky
I have friends (you know who you are but Ande, DAO, and DSwede ) who regularly take the time and expense to send me a postcard from their very far flung travels. The most unusual and far flung are places such as Antarctica, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Easter Islands, Equatorial Guinea, Greenland, Iraq, Mauritania, Oman, Paraguay, Reunion Island, the Seychelle Islands, Sierra Leone, Togo, Tonga, Tuvalu, and the Stan Republics, to name but a few! Ive also received more than a few Touch Note postcards, most from my friend, Margaret, in the Netherlands.
