What’s changed for me is that I used to look at the front of the cards first when they arrived. Now, I find I have to remind myself to check the picture on the front. It’s not that the image isn’t valued, but my focus is much more on the message first.
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I’m new to postcrossing. I’ve sent about 100 postcards (including direct swaps), and maybe only received about 80 postcards (including direct swaps and replies). Even so I was still excited when I received the postcards. The excitement and the dedication to the postcards I send haven’t changed at all from the first time I started postcrossing. I try to provide interesting content in postcard writing. I started postcrossing to get to know the stories of people from all over the world, and didn’t worry too much about cards or postal stamps. the stories kept me sending postcards and trying to share a little of mine.
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Thanks for this thread, this is a great question!
What has remained the same:
I am still just as thrilled to receive any postcard as I was in the first place. I am also still just as thrilled when one of my cards has arrived, as I then get to send a new piece of love and joy to someone else.
What has changed (in no particular order):
- I know the locations of a vastly larger number of post offices than I did before
- I know numerous postal clerks in a variety of post offices by name
- I keep a much larger of array of stamps on hand
- I have thousands of blank postcards on hand
- I have a significantly higher number of postal related rubber stamps then I did previously
Most importantly, I now have penpals all over the world with whom I routinely correspond, and I have been exposed to views/environments/values/cultures I was not familiar with before. I was much more prepared for the pandemic, and I am in general, a happier person as a result of this hobby. I am more educated, more worldly, and more tolerant, in fact more interested, in other’s views and outlooks. I believe that this hobby has made me a better person.
In the past three years I have been given so much joy through here. I cannot imagine life without it.
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I have made a transition from student life to being a boring working adult, so I have more money to spend on Postcrossing. 
Also, most importantly, I am aware where to get stamps under the current value, when new stamps are issued, what kind of cards to buy and keep in my stock etc. My enthusiasm has stabilized (not waned), 10-20 cards in a month is a good amount to send. It might seem really fun to draw 15-20 addresses on one go, but I have done that a few times mainly for postcrossing meetings and noticed that it isn’t so fun after all. If there are a lot of participants in a meeting, you don’t really have a lot of space to write something personal. And with our prices it feels a bit of waste to send a card with only signatures. Also, my postcard stock is huge nowadays (~ 550 cards). 
In addition I have noticed that I enjoy sending so much more that I wouldn’t actually need to receive a card back for every card I send. This has also something to do with the space of my apartment because I don’t have an excessive space to store my cards.
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I relate to this! In fact, I just picked up some postcards today and didn’t look at the back until I was halfway home. 
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Not everywhere there is concept about “local stamp” and “international stamp”. You simply must put on the card or envelope the stamps for price what needed. If I need put on 1.35, there doesn’t matter- one stamp for 1.35 or two, for example 1+0,35, or any other way. Not always there are stamps, costing your needed price. So combination is only possible way.
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Good question!
Let’s see. After almost 3000 cards, when I think off-hand, what I do now that I didn’t do when I started is:
- having a huge inventory of cards to send
- making my own cards
- ordering things like stickers, stamps (decorative), washi tape, etc. to decorate and personalize cards with
- ordering commemorative stamps (postage) instead of just using generic ones
What I stopped doing is:
- keeping a personal log of all sent and received
- uploading received postcards (except in very unusual circumstances)
- sending the maximum Officials allowed (I only send 6 a week now, at my “peak” I sent 15 but that just was not economically sustainable for me)
- participating in Forum tags (not affordable unless I cut back on the Officials, which I don’t want to do)
It will be interesting to see how that changes after the next 3000.
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I started out with a little wooden box for postcards.
Now I have an entire room in the house. 
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Thank you all for replying to my question! It has been wonderful reading your responses!
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I may have rounded down! I don’t want to know the actual number. Four shoeboxes, plus several box sets…
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This is a great question!
What has changed for me:
- I now have thousands of postcards in stock (I used to have hundreds)
- I now buy stamps in bulk (I used to get 20-30 at a time, but now I have about 100+)
- I also now have a wider variety of stamps, so sometimes I will try to match the stamps with the postcard themes
- I now buy stamps from the philatelic store as well, to get the commemorative ones too
- I now stock up on postcards of different themes (e.g. space, cats, touristy, ballet)
- I am now on Postcrossing forum, and doing swaps and tags here
- I use washi tape now
- I now write my postcard ID right at the start of my message (I used to write it at the bottom of the postcard, but I realised some countries would imprint a barcode at the bottom)
- I make a few cards from time to time too
- I upload my sent and received postcards
- My wishlist on my profile (I never knew I liked certain themes until I received them or saw them in the Postcrossing gallery)
- I surf the Postcrossing gallery a lot more
- I have a theme of the month for postcards I would like to receive
- I write about a wider variety of topics on my postcards
- I can afford this hobby more often now (I was a student back then)
- I buy postcards from more places now (e.g. online, discovering a new shop here)
What has not changed:
- The excitement I get from seeing Hurray messages
- The excitement I get when I unlock a new slot after every 50 postcards sent
- The excitement I get from seeing a postcard in my mailbox
- The satisfaction I get from choosing the ‘perfect’ card for someone
- The excitement I get from seeing interesting stamps from all around the world
- I still check my mail everyday to see if my postcards arrived
I feel like I can go on and on… 
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So happy to hear you and others still get excited and have enthusiasm. I liked your lists. When I get a postcard I feel for a moment I am in that city.
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I love your last sentence 
Preach
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I’m still a newbie
I hope this pandemic disappear very soon so that mail services come back to normal
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I am still just as excited to receive a postcard as I was 10 years ago but I take a much greater care to pick a card that will be perfect for the receiver. Other things that changed:
- It is much easier to know what to write on the card
- I send a lot more cards through forum but in total I send a lot less than I used to
- I stopped focusing on hunting rare countries and also turned on sending to repeated countries
- I stopped uploading received postcards
- Overall, I think the hobby has changed for me from purely postcard oriented to more people oriented
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The excitement is still the same as on day 1, for writing and receiving!
One thing has changed though, there are now plenty of photos that show me with postcards that I’ve bought. My friends laughed at me for even carrying around my cards during a hike (Spit to Manly walk near Sydney) in 2019.
You never know if there might be a good spot to write some cards. Spit to Manly Walk, April 2019. #travelmode
Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, April 2019.
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When I started seven years ago, I wanted to present my area and have a little conveesation with strangers all over the world and I wanted to know about their area. That has not changed.
But when I started, I waited for my first card to arrive impatiently, now I have 94 slots, so I can always write and I get cards on a daily basis.
I think, PC made me a bit more openminded, I think that ist the biggest and best change.
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Oh yes, for some time I also usually have some postcards, air mail stickers, stamps and ballpens with me. But there are no pics of me carrying them around.
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Why did you stop uploading received cards?