This experiment was inspired by and is related to a previous post regarding fellow users wanting to (successfully) send cards to Russia.
Having made countless positive connections in my tenure with this WILD PostCrossing project, I’ve definitely felt a void for some time now given, in my opinion, some of the best cards I’ve ever received came from Russian Postcrossers (woot woot)!!! Having said that, this is perhaps personal bias. From a point of practicality,why Russia? Well, while there are several other countries USA is not currently sending mail to, USA and Russia are currently ranked #1 and #3 in terms of total membership (respectively). It’s reasonable to infer that the current inability for cards to travel directly from #3 to #1 represents one of the larger potential number of affected Postcrossers. Trying to control for the myriad variables between and within respective other countries might be a true fool’s errand! Therefore, I would suspect the findings of this small experiment to be generalizable onto other countries to varying degrees (e.g., probably most accurate for cards from USA to Belarus also, but far less than from USA to Sudan, Syria, and/or perhaps Yemen) Therefore, for these purposes of practicality, I’ve chose to test only alternative methods in sending cards from USA to Russia.
I’ll state up-front (and hopefully have to state only once) that this experiment is in no way a political statement or position on global affairs, but rather simply a test of alternative (indirect) or “intermediary” methods of sending mail from USA to Russia. If you feel moved to engage in discussion or express commentary extending beyond the subject of the experiment, I kindly ask you do so via direct message! My intention was to adequately document my approach, experiences, observations, and outcomes so that others may benefit from and, if desired, take these learnings into consideration should one desire to send mail to a country not currently receiving mail from one’s home country (shameless plug for new Postcrossers to always check the POSTAL MONITOR when searching for and initiating direct swaps!)
Today I decided to execute a simple rapid experiment aimed at evaluating the successful rates of delivery of alternative methods of sending cards to other (restricted) countries. In addition, when successfully delivered, I’m hoping to gain a rough estimate of total travel time between the SEND date (1/8/2024) and each recipient’s “RECEIVED” date (Total # of Days).
⦁ A smaller subset of Postcrossers have expressed attempts (and success!) in mailing postcards and envelopes to Russia from USA via intermediary methods, namely by mailing cards in an envelope to other Postcrossers (typically located in such countries as United Kingdom or Germany) and users in such countries agreeing to forward mail along to Russia via Royal Mail, DeutchPost, etc. This is the method I have personally been using with reasonably high delivery rates, although with typical travel times from USA to Germany (1 - 2 weeks) then from Germany to Russia (3 - 6 weeks), totaling 4 - 8 weeks
⦁ Other users (such as my guy James / @uconn ) have been utilizing United Nations (Geneva) to send along cards to various countries, including Russia. This method hasn’t personally worked for me (yet) but I’m hoping that my luck changes. It involves placing an order through United Nations Post (https://unstamps.org/), and forwarding cards to one of three UN mailing locations (well, two UN mailing locations, as UN New York utilizes USPS, which doesn’t currently deliver to Russia at present). If only I had known this all along, I might not have (potentially) wasted a good share of UN (USA) stamps 
Today (January 8, 2024) I sent off the following from USA:
⦁ A single envelope containing postcards (each stamped with DeutchPost stamps) along to a fellow user in Germany who as agreed to drop off the stamped cards into DeutchPost dropbox located in a major German city, addressed to seven (7) different Russian Postcrossers
**CARD #1 to @Xute arrived Feb. 3 (27 days)**
**ENVELOPE to @pltlc arrived Feb. 13 (37 days)**
⦁ Three postcards in envelope destined for United Nations (Vienna - Austria), addressed to three different Russian Postcrossers. In addition, one card was addressed to myself back here in the USA.
**CARD #1 Arrived to @pltlch Feb. 13 (36 days)**
⦁ Three postcards in envelope destined for United Nations (Geneva - Switzerland), addressed to three different Russian Postcrossers (the same recipients as above in the envelope to Vienna, and included in the envelope to my German friend). In addition, one card was addressed to myself back here in the USA.
**CARD #1 arrived to @pltlch Feb. 13 (36 days)**
**CARD #2 arrived to me on Feb. 21 (44 days)**
Realizing this may semantically get confusing, the same three Russian Postcrossers can expect to receive three cards from me, all from varying locations (Via Germany, UN Austria, and UN Switzerland). I have / had more German stamps than I have UN Vienna / Geneva stamps, which is why more cards were sent via Germany.
I will update this post as events develop / edit the post with permissions from the expected recipients. I wanted to respect each person’s privacy, so at the time of the original post they were intentionally unidentified. Each Postcrosser has blessed me with identifying them in this post, and are @pltlch , @Xute , & @Olegovich . My sincere thanks to each of these three friends in agreeing to participate in this small experiment. On a more personal note, my sincere appreciation for these three folks for their cards over the past year(s) - these folks always follow through on their swap commitments, and continue to engage in thoughtful, meaningful, and spirited conversations.
—Update 1/23/24—
To Russia via Netherlands intermediary:
CARD #1
SENT: 1/16/24
RECEIVED IN NETHERLANDS: 1/23/24
SENT TO RUSSIA: 1/23/24
RECEIVED: by @pltlch on Feb. 21 29 Days
CARD #2
SENT: 1/16/24
RECEIVED IN NETHERLANDS: 1/23/24
SENT TO RUSSIA: 1/23/24
RECEIVED:
—UPDATE 1/26/24—
Sent an envelope with several cards to @mike12 using the “Via Germany” route today.
Sent: Jan 24, 2024
Received: Feb. 19, 2024 (26 Days)
—UPDATE: 1/30/2024—
Today I have addressed an additional four envelopes to one single user (@pltlch) covering the four following scenarios:
-
USA to Russia (direct) SUCCESS
SENT: Jan. 9, 2024
RECEIVED: Jan. 30, 2024
TOTAL TRAVEL TIME: 21 DAYS -
USA to Russia (with “VIA GERMANY” added below addressee) SUCCESS
SENT: Jan. 9, 2024
RECEIVED: Feb. 13, 2024
TOTAL TRAVEL TIME: 35 DAYS -
USA to Russia (with “VIA UNITED KINGDOM” added below addressee) SUCCESS
SENT: Jan. 9, 2024
RECEIVED: Feb. 21, 2024
TOTAL TRAVEL TIME: 43 DAYS -
Canada to Russia (direct)
SENT:1/20/24 (Windsor, ON, Canada)
RECEIVED:
I chose envelopes so as to more easily add my return address. I also selected a single user because - hey man, postage is getting expensive! At a certain point, the experiment is to be as practical as I can make it, otherwise there would continue to be additional variables to account for (and which I’m not, at present, ready to take on!)
I hypothesize that each envelope will either not be delivered or will be returned to me (null hypothesis). With full transparency here, of course I hope null hypothesis is incorrect!
Feb 26, 2024 UPDATE
@Angelthepup22 was generous and kind to offer up some Royal Mail stamps for purposes of sending via UK. Today, an envelope containing several cards (2x Russia, 2x United States) was mailed out to Royal Mail special postmarks in London. I will update below as they are delivered. Since the first stop is from USA to UK via non-postcrossing user, the length of the first leg of the trip will be unknown.
CARD #1: USA to UK to USA
DATE SENT: Feb. 26, 2024
DATE RECEIVED:
CARD #2: USA to UK to USA
DATE SENT: Feb. 26, 2024
DATE RECEIVED:
CARD #3: USA to UK to Russia
DATE SENT: Feb. 26, 2024
DATE RECEIVED:
CARD #4: USA to UK to Russia
DATE SENT: Feb. 26, 2024
DATE RECEIVED:
