For the New Year, I decided to start a blog that encapsulates some of my life's biggest passions - writing and travel, especially connected through the medium of snail mail. I'll be posting tips and info that overlap with these topics, as I come across them. So the blog won't always be about me. But for my inaugural post, let me simply introduce the topic of penpalling and how I got into it, so you know where I'm coming from.
My introduction to penpals came through my grade 5 teacher in the Maritimes (Atlantic Canada), who asked the whole class if anyone would like a penpal. Little did she know that almost everybody would want to give it a try! And then some of us took it to a whole new level. I started with one penpal in England at age 10, then 4 more the next year, and the rest - as they say - is history.
By the time I was in high school, I had 50 penpals. In university and beyond, the number climbed to 150+. For the past several years, my family and I have been sending 300 Christmas cards to far-flung penpals, plus friends & family we know in-person. (My husband is a very understanding and tolerant guy!) My grade 5 teacher had unwittingly created a monster. Or at least a penpalling addict.
Needless to say, for many years now, my main spare time activity has been writing. Chances are, if you come looking for me in my off-work time, I'm composing letters, penning post cards - or posting one of the above. Here I am admiring a mailbox in Iceland.So in this blog, I hope to give some fun glimpses into how much penpalling, travel, and armchair travel through penpalling, can enrich one's life. Sometimes the posts will be about my own experience - and sometimes I'll share resources on penpalling, writing, travel, postal systems, or anything else related to such matters.
Will you come along with me for the ride? I can't wait to see what we'll discover!
Meanwhile, I wish you a good mail day. :-)
You have a wonderful introductory blog entry. I had my first pen pal at about age 12: My teacher in New England knew a teacher in Louisiana and they matched us up. I loved her dramatic letters and her long-winded descriptions of her asthma attacks. It was all enchanting but I had to have a principled falling out with her because we stood on different sides of Civil Rights issues. It was so exciting while it lasted, however.
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