I was before france, netherlands, luxembourg. Nice countries to find stamps and cards too.
Bali is also nice to send postcard, some places is easy to find cards, but don’t out them in mailboxes, they don’t have the key of them anymore.
2 Likes
Currently we are cruising the Baltic sea, and are just leaving the port of Oslo. With only one day in each port, the pressure is on! The tour guide said the only place she has found stamps is the Tourist Information office. I forgot to take photos, but the European stamps are currently farmyard animals and I sent the cutest piglet to my family, and the Rest of World are about sustainability and the QR code takes you here: Forskning, innovasjon og teknologi på nye frimerker
I didn’t spot many Postboxes, but they look like the picture below. I saw this pair in the Tiger Square and also another pair next to the cruise terminal - the perfect location!
5 Likes
Two new Travel Mode stinkers…Guyana and Trinidad. Nothing has arrived from Guyana as of yet (sent almost two months ago) and half of my cards from Trinidad seem to be lost. I wish I knew what happens to mail in these countries. Do the post offices just throw it in the trash?
6 Likes
My three cards from Greece arrived in Germany with no problems. My friend was kind enough to mail them.on my behalf because I ran out of time, but buying cards and stamps in both Thessaloniki and Vergina (Unesco WHS) was not a problem at all.
1 Like
I lived in Guatemala for a year… so not travel mode. Oddly, I was able to receive postcards there, but I couldn’t send at all since there is no outgoing international mail 
I sent some postcards from Mexico and none of them arrived. I had read online that the specific office I was sending from never sends their mail out, just puts the postcards in a drawer to rot I guess 
I figured I’d give it a try since that thing I had read had been from easily ten years ago. But lo and behold, my postcards were put in a drawer and none of them arrived. The two official ones are closing in on the year mark. A friend of mine also lives in Mexico and I sent her two postcards several months ago. Neither has arrived. I would imagine, though, that it isn’t always like that. I believe there are active postcrossers in Mexico, but my guess is that the post is only reliable in the most major cities, like Mexico City.
4 Likes
Into Copenhagen, the lesser spotted post box! These were beautiful examples outside an old post office and telegraph building. Stamps bought from a tourist shop - I asked before I looked at cards if they had normal stamps or tourist stamps and they had both! WiFi all over.
Only 1 more slot and 3 more destinations so I hope some cards are received soon!
^^this is the Engima museum, as detailed in the post museum wiki topic
7 Likes
My cards in travel mode from South Africa sent in March to Germany and The Netherlands have yet to arrive. I did not spot mail boxes, I guess you have to go to the post office. I sent via the hotel who also sold cards and stamps (I checked the value of stamps online and they were selling the right one). Which is always a risk as you never know what they will do, however after my return I read that South African post has gone bankrupt, so I guess that’s more likely the cause of the problem.
1 Like
3 Likes
Adding on, Pulau Pinang, Kuala Lumpur and Melaka in Malaysia seem to have lots of postcards you can find if you look hard enough (in tourist places especially, such as Pasar Seni in KL, which has the General Post Office right across the river).
Postage is very cheap in Malaysia for postcards too - 90 sen only. You can find definitives easily, but special ones you would need to go to the state General Post Office. You need to drop the postcard with 90 sen for international in the postbox found outside the post office and thats it. Do note international shipping is quite slow and usually takes more than two months!.
Lokamade can be found in bookstores like Popular and are cheaper if bought in bulk (RM2.50 each, RM2 each in bulk). However, you can find many postcards at RM1 on the streets.
2 Likes
The last time I bought postcards in Melaka, it took me very long to find them. When I finally found some, the auntie told me they were no longer producing them 
I had to ask a friend to help me purchase Melaka postcards from online (Shopee etc)
2 Likes
Thats sad to hear! Many of the postcards online nowadays are Penang and KL, so no wonder. Thanks for updating!
1 Like
Stockholm today - when I asked in the tourist shops if they were ‘real’ stamps or tourist stamps, she seemed horrified that other stamps even existed! She also has a mini postbox that she empties daily incase anyone can’t find one, but they are very easy to spot; blue for local, yellow for non local.
There is city public WiFi so easy to draw addresses.
I have historically bought stamps from the post museum, as they have a large selection, however it is currently closed for renovations, reopening in the Autumn. The stamp design is currently Queen Silvia of Sweden.
7 Likes
What are tourist stamps? 
Where have you encountered those I suppose fake stamps? It would never even cross my mind that I could be sold anyhing else than real stamps!
I have experienced tourist stamps mostly in the UK and Italy. They are more expensive than regular stamps and use a different service (so also different mailboxes) that is waaaaaaay slower. A real tourist trap, unfortunately I don’t know which other countries have them.
3 Likes
I’ve accidentally bought them in Lisbon. They need special post boxes and take months to arrive. Sometimes called global stamps.
1 Like
In Brazil, almost nobody sends postcards anymore and it’s almost impossible to find them unless you’re in one of the main cities, like Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo. In Rio, you can buy them in stores and newsstands close to the main tourist attractions, such as Christ the Redeemer, Copacabana and Sugar Loaf, at the airport and museums. In São Paulo, postcards are sold mainly at newsstands on Avenida Paulista and in a few museums, such as MASP or Pinacoteca. In other cities, even tourist ones, they don’t exist or eventually you’ll find two or three postcard options from 20 or 30 years ago.
Most Post Boxes have been removed, and even if you manage to find one, I don’t recommend putting your postcards in it. In theory, it is possible to send postcards from any post office, but as I said earlier, this is no longer common practice here so if a staff member is confused by the procedure, you can tell them that the postcards should be send by “Documento Standard” whose prices ranges between R$ 4,10 and R$ 6,05. This never happened to me, but I’ve heard reports once or twice about clerks who never sent postcards and didn’t know the procedure. Finally, you can buy “ordinary” stamps at almost all post offices, but if you have the opportunity to go to the main post office, called “agência central dos Correios”, in the city you are visiting, ask the clerk to show you the collectible stamps available. They can be used normally for sending postcards and are much more beautiful than the ordinary ones. But if you are going to buy special stamps, make sure you have enough time because the whole process is always time consuming.
Practically all hotels or inns in Brazil have free wifi for guests, so I think this will not be a problem. In larger cities, it is very likely that you will be allowed access to the internet in cafes, malls and some restaurants as well.
4 Likes
A double whammy!
Tallin - such a beautiful city!
City WiFi, stamps available from some postcard shops, but there is also a post office next to the Russian cathedral (photographed) and also a little post office desk in the tourist information which is where I went.
As I understand it, the older post boxes are dark green (the one pictured only empties 4 times per week), and the new ones are orange, but I don’t recall seeing any of these.
Lots of postcards, 0.5-1€
Helsinki - sadly no official from here as I have run out of slots 
WiFi all over, some postcards sellers selling postcard and stamp combo for 4€, but we went to the post office by the main station for some beautiful purple flower stamps and a handstamp.
Orange postboxes EVERYWHERE!
7 Likes
I accidentally bought tourist stamps in Patagonia (Argentinia), before my Postcrossing time. I bought postcards in a souvenir shop (postcards are very easy to come by), and although I knew that a post office was not too far away I asked if they had stamps because of the opening times of the post office. They said yes, sold me some stickers that sort of resembled stamps, and when I asked where to put the card (thinking they would refer me to a box in front of the post office), they showed me a cardboard box directly on their shop counter with a slit on top 
I was wondering and a bit wary about the circumstances, but since I was short on time, I still did it.
The cards arrived 8 months later and I noticed they were posted from some other country instead of Argentina. I’m a bit bummed about that, and about having missed out on Argentinian stamps, but in the end I’m just glad they arrived at all.
Nowadays when I’m traveling and want to buy stamps in some shop instead of directly at a post office, I always make sure to ask if the mail can be put in the regular mailboxes. If they say no and describe anything other than the official boxes, it’s a scam, no matter how much they promise that it will be fine 
8 Likes
They have a similar system in the Dominican Republic with a private mail service that takes months to deliver. The regular post office is no shining star, but it’s still better than the private service.
1 Like
Estonia would be pretty easy. Postcards are available at souvenir shops in the larger towns, and at most post offices. Stamps are available at post offices and kiosks. Postboxes are everywhere, often next to the supermarket in smaller towns.
Latvia and Lithuania can be more difficult, since is seems that most postboxes have been removed, and only those by post offices remain.
2 Likes