What if I told you that I had friends in Switzerland, Portugal, Russia, The Netherlands, Lithuania, and Germany, but I’ve never left the United States? This is because, for almost three years, I’ve made friendships across the globe with penpals!
After I graduated from high school in 2016, my mom and I took a trip down to Orlando, Florida, to stay at the one and only Disney World Resort. We had a great week, explored the parks, and rode Soarin’, a thrilling, immersive experience that takes you across the world as if you were parasailing. You’re probably thinking, “Samantha, what does this have anything at all to do with having a pen-pal?” Well, Soarin’, along with the rest of Epcot, inspired me to learn more about the world we live in. At the time, I had only ever traveled along the east coast of the US (I went to Southern California for the first time this summer. It was the first time I had ever left the EST zone), and I wanted to connect to people from different countries. In the Orlando Airport, I searched on my phone for platforms to find penpals, and I signed up for Global Pen Friends, PenPal World, and Postcrossing.
Since then, I’ve sent postcards through Postcrossing, a website which connects you with a user to send a card to, then you get a postcard from somewhere else in the world. Some of the connections I’ve made on Postcrossing have become regular pen-pals, but most of them have just been amazing pick-me-ups and they all now live on my wall. They’re little tokens from all over the world. Some of them have images of the places they were sent from, and some of them contain special things that the people have liked, or thought I would like. Getting postcards during the week always puts a huge smile on my face, and connecting with people from all over the globe is an experience I’d never had before.
I usually get my postcards from local gift shops (If you live in Manhattan you’ll know that they sell them on almost every corner), but you can also find hundreds of awesome designs on Zazzle.
Through Global Pen Friends and Penpalworld, I’ve made several friends that have taught me so much about living on a different continent that I haven’t been able to experience for myself. With my pen-pal from Portugal, we even started to write our letters half in Portuguese and half in English, and I’ve begun to learn different languages little by little. With my pen-pal from Switzerland, I’ve heard about his engagement, marriage, moving to his house near the Alps, finding out his wife was pregnant, and then the birth of his son! Learning about people’s lives and where they live was super weird at first because I don’t follow them on any social media or talk to them outside of handwritten letters, but it’s so astonishing that two people all the way across the world have gone through life milestones together.
I know so many of my friends check their mailboxes often “just in case” because close to nothing tends to be sent to people of college age through the mail (except for things about college). However, I get to check my mailbox because I’m always anticipating the arrival of something handwritten with care! Then, I get to sit down and take the time to write out a thought out response to my friend, which is so different to me, as a person who has grown up in the digital age. The whole community of pen-pals has been so welcoming, and I even got my mom to sign on and send out a few postcards of her own. It’s a unique and rewarding experience that allows you to learn and connect with people from thousands of miles away. For anyone that wants to learn more about other cultures, or begin to learn a language, I’d definitely suggest looking for a pen-pal! If you’re looking to start out your first letter but don’t know where to start, remember to gradually introduce yourself, ask questions, and just tell them about your life at the moment! Letters are great time capsules, so write the date on them! I keep all drafts of the postcards and letters I’ve written in a journal, and I have ended up with a journal about my life the last two and a half years in the process. Plus, I feel like an adult when I say “I have to stop at the Post Office on the way home.”