I’m imagining your writing this postcard to me crouched behind a desk when you should be working. The lights are flickering, and you’re worried the warden is going to pop by for a tortuous second round of questioning. A distant thunder in the background shakes the building as you scratch out “I haven’t got much time.” I’m loving the drama!
On your practical inquiry about looking for stamps: I get where you’re coming from – sort of. On one hand, the place selling postcards also sells stamps. On the other, the place selling postcards for cheap can sell stamps at a high markup. Generally, this isn’t a problem, but I did have a recent experience at a souvenir shop in London where the cheeky clerk wanted a king’s ransom for stamps. I took my postcards and yes… had to find stamps elsewhere. A bona fide inconvenience, but I wasn’t in a hurry.
So, on ordering foreign stamps in advance, you can check out foreign-stamps.com, but I’m not endorsing as I’ve never used them. Quora also has a Q&A - You’re not alone.
Personally, I like to get to a country, see how I feel two days in, make a list of people that I want to write postcards to, and then get postcards and stamps together. Selecting postcards is a whole separate blog post, so I’ll leave it there for now.
My personal nagging practicalities are not with stamps, but pre-printing address labels. Onetime, my list of postcard recipients had 30 names on it… and rather than sourcing stamps being a chore, simply addressing all the postcards was a pain in my ass and in my wrist. I’ve always thought about pre-printing address labels, but then it would be very assembly line and feel a bit impersonal somehow. Or less genuine. Yes, shades of gray - but not to worry, pre-printed return labels are kosher.
So, these days, I limit my list to about 10 names per trip and mail out with minimal complaints from my wrist. And I’m not shelling out 30 bucks for stamps anymore.
Anyway, David, hope you’re off traveling - well and often. I got your postcard!
Get there!
Personally, I like to get to a country, see how I feel two days in, make a list of people that I want to write postcards to, and then get postcards and stamps together. Selecting postcards is a whole separate blog post, so I’ll leave it there for now.
My personal nagging practicalities are not with stamps, but pre-printing address labels. Onetime, my list of postcard recipients had 30 names on it… and rather than sourcing stamps being a chore, simply addressing all the postcards was a pain in my ass and in my wrist. I’ve always thought about pre-printing address labels, but then it would be very assembly line and feel a bit impersonal somehow. Or less genuine. Yes, shades of gray - but not to worry, pre-printed return labels are kosher.
So, these days, I limit my list to about 10 names per trip and mail out with minimal complaints from my wrist. And I’m not shelling out 30 bucks for stamps anymore.
Anyway, David, hope you’re off traveling - well and often. I got your postcard!
Get there!
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