Hey! I’m new and I was wondering if setting up my account to accept post cards from the US is something I should do or not? I’m a young woman. Has anyone had a bad experience doing that? Or maybe even a funny one like you got to send one to someone in your town? Do other young women also not check off the “Send within my own country” option? thanks in advance!
Hi @thejulibean! Welcome to the community! 
This is completely up to you. Postcrossing switches the “sending to own country” off by default, since we believe that might make newcomers more comfortable — but if you’d like to exchange postcards with your own country too, go for it! Both are ok, and the choice is entirely personal.
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I have this selected. Canada is huge! I love getting cards from my own country :). Plus, it saves the sender $.
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Italy is much smaller than Canada or the States, but I have always had this option on, because there is so much to see in Italy, and in most countries, I guess.
Moreover, I don’t often have the chance to write a postcard in my language, so it’s always welcome to draw an Italian profile!
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I send within my own country (I’m also in the USA ). Before I signed up with Postcrossing I considered getting a P.O. Box for privacy reasons, but after biking and driving to my 2 closest post office branches I decided it would be too hard to get there often enough to pick up my mail promptly (plus the extra cost was not something I wanted to deal with). I’ve never had a problem or felt unsafe exchanging within my own country. I’ve received official postcards from neighboring states and once last winter from someone in my own state (though miles away and from a city I’d never even heard of!) Of course it’s not without possible risks, but there are printed and online phone books with people’s names and addresses publicly available and any intentionally creepy person is more likely to find info about you on the general internet (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram are all far more risky for attracting creeps in my opinion).
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This is not going to happen, as postcrossing won’t give someone an address in the same town.
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I’m sending and receiving from/to the Netherlands, which is rather small, and the shortest distance I’ve sent is just 13 kms (8 miles). Since I like view cards, I like having some in my collection from my own country, otherwise I’d have to send them to myself if I wanted to have some amongst my international cards. So I think it’s fun! And it does indeed save you money + the cards arrive fast.
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I send within Germany and there is, as mentioned above, no way you would get an address from your own city. I think there even is a radius of I don’t know how many miles that will not receive your address.
However, I live close to the border to the Netherlands and used to live even closer to the border befor. So my shortest distance of sending a card was 11km (6.8 miles) to a person in NL. This radius, as far as I know, does not go cross border so for someone living close to a border it could be that you are just sending 2 strees away (if these two streets are in your neigboring country)
card to NL 11km
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Thank you 
I am also a young woman and when I first started, I was even younger than I am now, haha. I think I was 19 and also very skeptical of not just handing out my address, but especially juat handing it out to people in my country/region/area.
But I quickly realised that it’s not as scary as it seems I have not had a strange experience with anyone and feel very comfortable here. So far, everyone has been very nice and I think Postcrossing takes personal security very seriously.
Of course, it’s up to you, but I don’t personally think there is a huge risk involved.
With that said, I also don’t have a clear picture of myself as my profile photo for a reason (just in case 
)
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Cards to and from your own country travel faster, so it is good to give it a go. Nobody can draw addresses from their own town, so no need to be afraid that someone from your neighbourhood comes along.
I like to have it on, for there are many beautiful corners in my country Germany ,where I have never been so far.
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I just joined last month and have already received a card from only 45 miles away, I didn’t feel concerned. I should also add that I’m not a young woman so my experience and comfort will obviously differ and I understand why you might have concerns. Do what feels comfortable and safe to you
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I am also in the US and love sending/ receiving other US cards. I have never had any issues, but I did have the awesome coincidence of sending two official cards to real life friends who happen to live all the way across the country and receive one card from a real life friend out that way as well. Of course the algorithm has no idea that we know each other because we live so far away, but I thought that was really cool. 
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I like to send and receive postcards within my own country, even though Finland is small and the distances are short. So far, I haven’t got the address of anyone I know. Unfortunately, sending mail within my own country is not fast. Travel times are long, often more than 10 days. Mail goes to some countries abroad faster. Nowadays, I don’t get cards from other Finns very often, but I would like to. It feels good to write Finnish and receive cards in Finnish.
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Hello! I’m a 12 year old (female) and I personally have it on. If you don’t feel comfortable with it then don’t do it:) and to answer your question. Yes! I have received postcards from people only about 45 minutes away from me! I personally enjoy it, and so do the people that are sending the card. It’s fun to see a address from around you! Also I have a P.O. Box. (I know it’s still not completely safe. But it’s way better then your home address if you are concerned about safety) I hope I answered your questions, HAPPY POSTCROSSING!
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I did not use the own country option so far. However, if you do decide to turn it on, I think it’s even more important to keep in mind to never announce on your profile when you are away from home for longer periods of time, e.g. traveling etc., than when it’s turned off.
People seem to have made good experiences with this option… I’m thinking about trying it out too, since in the galleries I sometimes see beautiful viewcards from other parts of my country, and would love to receive some myself 
On the other hand, I’m not sure how high the chances are to receive from your own country if you are in one of the rarer countries 
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Hold my Heineken 
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I choose not to send within my country, feels a little safer, but also because my family, friends and relatives etc. send me cards too, so I “save” Finnish cards for them.
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I also have turned it on. It is cheap, the cards travel fast and I get to know people and places of my own country.
A second thought on the safety issue:
If you participate actively in RR and Tags in the forum you might already be sharing your address with people in your own country.
This is not to be meant as threatening, but in my opinion, if someone is a member of Postcrossing and a bad person (I don’t believe it’s possible) than they would look for people of the same country in the forum and not hope to get a nearby address from the official system.
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I have it turned on as I’m curious about the various areas of the UK, as well as the rest of the world. I joined Postcrossing in January 2021 & have received 4 out of 249 cards from the UK.