I’m curious to know if there are vacation destinations that are ideal for using Postcrossing in travel mode.
I would use the following criteria: ease of accessibility for stamps and mailboxes for visitors; rich, varied selection of places to buy a wide variety of postcards and even stationery supplies; reliable internet service.
Nice to have but not necessary criteria would be safe, convenient public places to sit and write, and a bonus would be philatelic and postal museums to visit. Any other criteria would be welcome.
What places have Postcrossers visited that were the best for Postcrossers in travel mode? I’m also curious to know which places were the most challenging for Postcrossers in travel mode too.
I found Noumea in New Caledonia quite good. I found it easy to find a variety of postcards, stamps, and post boxes around Anse Vata Bay and could access their wi fi easily on my mobile phone. It’s also easy to find spots to sit and write in cafes or around the bay. And, even better, New Caledonia is a rare country in the Postcrossing world.
Hi Chi Minh City in Vietnam is also quite good for finding postcards and posting them if you have easy access to the Central Post Office… and Vietnam is also a rare country in Postcrossing-land.
So far I have tried US and Cyprus
Both had available postcards and stamps plus postboxes without too much effort .
This year I will try Lanzarote and France…
I’d definitely factor in the price of postage too. I was in Copenhagen for an unrelated reason and it was very hard to limit the number of cards I sent. But at 36 DKK (about €4.85) a stamp I had to!
I would say Taiwan is a good place to use travel mode
Malaysia is not bad too - if you go to the larger cities where there are postcards.
Alternatively you could buy some postcards before your trip and have it mailed to your hotel? I like Loka Made cards
Singapore is a good place as well.
I would guess most challenging places to be countries in the African continent. Or far flung/isolated places like Falkland Islands etc.
I have used travel mode so far in Belgium, Germany, France and USA.
USA was definitely the easiest to get pretty stamps, at the counter at the post office they even had pictures of the stamps available which is very nice! Postcards were pretty easy to find and also not too expensive.
Germany didn’t have as much selection in terms of stamps but I usually buy the stamps in advance before I go to my vacation adres, same with Belgium and France. That way I make sure I can use the stamps I find the prettiest
USA, and France had postage prices that were close to what it is over here, Germany is a lot cheaper but Belgium is in my opinion really expensive, almost €3 to send a card outside of Europe.
They all had postboxes really close to my vacation place, in Germany there was even one on my campsite which was really great! I love using travel mode a lot and this summer I can’t wait to use it in even more countries!
I have used travel mode in:
Portugal, Ireland, Austria and Luxembourg. Hopefully I can use it in Belgium when I go next month.
Portugal - I was in Lisbon so it was easy to buy postcards. I could buy stamps at the postoffice. I had wifi in public transports and other places
Ireland - I did a roadtrip and everywhere I went I was able to buy view cards. They were not that expensive either. I bought stamps at the postoffice in Dublin so I do not know how easy it is to buy stamps in other parts of Ireland. Locyl wifi was easy accessible in the accomandations we booked
Austria - I visited a friend so I was able to use her wifi. The stores that also include a post office had a lovely variety of stamps to choose from. Some view cards were available but I was not in a very touristic spot.
Luxemburg - I was able to buy stamps online in advance and could choose from everything available in the online shop. Postcards were sold at souvenier shops so that also was not a problem. Wifi was accessable at the restaurant we went to.
I will see what the wifi situation is like in Belgium but I am almost sure that it should not be too bad. From experience I know that Germany’s neighboring countries are way more advanced in technical things as Germany is.
I have never sent in travel mode, so I’m imagining being a foreign postcrosser in my own country.
In touristic places / art cities in Italy a Postcrosser in travel mode could easily find nice postcards (Venice maybe the very best place), most hotels and short rent apartments offer wi-fi, and there are also public free wi-fi point in libraries, museums and in main squares. There are several red boxes all over cities to post your mail, and you can also find their position on the Italian postal service website
BUT, the problem are stamps. It’s not always easy to find them, especially the international ones. Tobacconists should sell stamps, some do and are very well stocked, but not all of them do, and some only have domestic stamps.
Some shops that sell postcards also sell private post stickers, which can be used to stamp and send postcards from special yellow boxes (not the red ones of the Italian post office!), but I don’t recommend doing this because these services are not very reliable
To be relatively sure to find international stamps you should go to a big post office with a philatelic counter, but there is the risk of having to wait for one’s turn for a long time, or the risk that the philatelic counter will be closed that day.
To be really sure of finding the stamps, a postcrosser should go to a Philatelic Space, but there are only about ten of them in all of Italy and only in the main cities.
It is not easy to buy stamps in advance through the Italian postal website.
I have used travel mode in Portugal and Isle of Man so far, in Portugal the hotel’s wifi worked perfectly for getting addresses, in the isle of man, wifi at the hotel was showing me as still being in the UK, I was able to use the free wifi on the local buses to get addresses.
Buying stamps in Portugal was hard, at least it it was in Albufeira, so I started to buy stamps on eBay before going, on Isle of man, it was very easy, you can get them printed at a self service machine at the local Tesco.
Both countries were fast but Isle of Man delivered 18/20 items in about 10 days, Portugal once took 1 month.
Some information if you’re traveling to the US: A lot of the public street mailboxes are gone now (mostly for security reasons). If you’re staying in a hotel, one of the easiest ways to get your postcard in the mail is to give it to the front desk - they have their own outgoing mail. I do this myself here and in other countries. Sometimes hotels have stamps, but not so often anymore. Many grocery stores sell booklets of stamps at the register, but you have to ask. They will only have domestic-priced stamps, but you can put extras on to bump it up to international. Make sure you know the current US postal rates! Lastly, as our small post offices have closed, there have been lots and lots of “shipping” stores open. They will have the USPS (post office), FedEx, and UPS logos displayed. You can drop off outgoing mail here for free, but be aware that they are for-profit and charge a bit extra for stamps.
New Zealand
Very efficient post offices. Great cards (with gob-smacking views). Really nice stamps. And everyone I sent to was so excited to get a card from a country that has less than 2000 PC Members.
I also brought 3 cards home with me to give in a lottery and folks loved that as well.
The MotW card I sent from there is one of my top “liked” cards, too!
Postage there was a bit more expensive than my US rates, but the stamps were gorgeous!
While this was before travel mode existed, I have sent mail from most countries I have visited. The most recent that I can remember doing it and with relative ease: France, Belgium, Netherlands, anywhere in the US, Spain, and India. I’ve never really had trouble finding postcards or a post office! It’s always on my to-do list when I travel!
In Finland, you can buy postcards in a supermarket and the cashier should have stamps if you ask. You may have hard time finding view cards.
In Iceland, there are tons of beautiful view cards in tourist shops. Tourist shops have stamps as well. If you don’t want a view card, it will be more difficult to find something. Most convinient is to send from Reykjavík. There are two major tourist streets in the centre and they provide everything you need.
Both countries are easy to send from. Local wifi is a standard in accomodation.
In Greenland, you can buy beautiful postcards in tourist shop in the centre of Nuuk. Stamps are sold at the post office and in 2015 it wasn’t possible to pay with card. There was an ATM at the post office but the minimal amount it allowed to draw was quite high. I still have a few DKK at home. I can’t tell about accessibility of local wifi because I was accomodated by locals but I imagine it will be available in hotel, the tourist shop or in the local museum.
Some of the Caribbean islands are great for Travel Mode. The Bahamas, Aruba and Bermuda have lots of great postcards and their postal systems are functioning better than many places.
Forget about the most of the Middle East. I was recently in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. There were no postcards to be found and even sending the ones I brought with me was impossible. I’m still waiting for cards to arrive from Egypt and Morocco that were sent last year.
I’m currently in Luxembourg in travel mode.
Good town WiFi, lots of postcards, but the post office in the town I am in (Vianden) closed at noon. Thankfully the tourist shop had international stamps.
Look out for LU-98243 on its journey across Europe!
We visited Vianden castle, which has been featured on stamps 4 times since the start of postage stamps in Luxembourg
Thank you for the all the responses thus far. It’s been informative to hear of those destinations where using travel mode has been positive.
I’d also like to hear of those destinations where using travel mode has not been easy, whether it was unreliable wifi, a lack of access to stamps or postal services, or even a lack of postcards. For example, I found it a challenge to find postcards in some communities because postcards are difficult to find. One city I visited had a noticeable lack of selection of postcard images and I had to rely on the local art gallery for the majority of my postcards.
I mentioned in my earlier comment about Kuwait and Saudi Arabia being awful places for Postcrossing in every way (no postcards, no stamps and no functioning postal service). Some other stinkers are Haiti (no postcards to be found, until I was departing from the airport and it would have cost $15 to send one) and Guatemala (plenty of postcards, no functioning post office).
In Finland, you can buy postcards in a supermarket and the cashier should have stamps if you ask. You may have hard time finding view cards.
In Iceland, there are tons of beautiful view cards in tourist shops. Tourist shops have stamps as well. If you don’t want a view card, it will be more difficult to find something. Most convinient is to send from Reykjavík. There are two major tourist streets in the centre and they provide everything you need.
In Greenland, you can buy beautiful postcards in tourist shop in the centre of Nuuk. Stamps are sold at the post office and in 2015 it wasn’t possible to pay with card. There was an ATM at the post office but the minimal amount it allowed to draw was quite high. I still have a few DKK at home. I can’t tell about accessibility of local wifi because I was accomodated by locals but I imagine it will be available in hotel, the tourist shop or in the local museum.
