Sunday 21 July 2013

New Hobby

I am not a natural traveller. My experience of the globe is limited to Great Britain, a bit of France and a bit of the Channel Islands. I don't know what it is; I just do not have a natural wanderlust. It bothers me not that I have no desire to travel. Sometimes I think it bothers other people more than it bothers me. Some have even gone as far as to suggest that I might be limiting my life experiences by being a non-traveller. I say, what's it got to do with anyone but me? I do not feel the need to experience the rest of the world, first foot as it were, to be happy.

Anyway, these days the world is here, at my fingertips, at the other end of this blog. It connects me with lovely folks in New Zealand and America, Canada, Oman and France. I know I have regular visitors from Germany and Russia. And of course, all sorts of fab 'n' crazy people in this fab 'n' crazy country called England! And I would have met none of you if I had travelled to your doorsteps because I am notoriously insular when I do go on holiday. Well, I mix with people during my working life, surrounded by youngsters all the time. I want to be away from people when I'm not working. I am a very capable island of my own if I choose.

So anyway, before I become boringly philosophical and up my own backside about the pros and cons of travelling, I came across an organisation which runs a global postcard swapping community. Basically, you register yourself and your address, and then you get an address in return to which you send a postcard. And then you get a postcard from ANYWHERE in the World! You come home one day and voila! There on your doormat will be a card from someone you have never met before from a totally random part of the world!

Well, sounds like a good hobby to get involved with, methinks. I like writing. I like postcards. Our volume of post these days is very poor, save for the flurry of takeaway menus that appear every week and are immediately consigned to the recycling bin. So I have registered. And I have just written my first postcard to someone called Jeanne who lives in San Francisco. I shall post it tomorrow.

And I'll let you know when I get my first postcard!


6 comments:

  1. Brilliant! I'm not a globe trotter either, which is not to say that there aren't place I'd like to see, there are, just only a handful of special ones. I like home too much, and besides, there is so much to see here if you open your eyes and look.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am a great home fan, too. And Britain has enough history and variety to satisfy my travelling curiosity. Plus it has the NHS and driving on the left hand side of the road!

    ReplyDelete
  3. And weather, which is generally lacking in typical holiday destinations

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm exactly the same, which surprises me that I moved to France. We have many friends here who go sight seeing all over Europe, who are frequently going off in their camper vans, cars, or boats, and who keep telling us that we ought to do the same, but we don't want to. There is nothing wrong with being content to stay at home and not 'do' global travelling!

    ReplyDelete
  5. When I was a child I joined a pen pal club and had letters from various parts of the world. This sounds like a a grown up version...what fun!

    I love to travel, but I'm also a homebody which I'm sure sounds totally contradictory. When I get home from work or on the weekends I prefer to stay there. And yet, at least once or twice a year I need to get away.

    I love seeing and experiencing different places. By the end of the trip though I'm always to get home.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hello Vera! How are you? Well, I think moving to the South of France counts as a pretty big travelling adventure! I guess it all boils down to where you are happy, that's your home. And I am always happier when I am at home.

    Hi, Eileen! Good to hear from you. Yes, I had a pen pal when I was a child. Loved writing and receiving letters, so I am looking forward to seeing how this Postal Crossing adventure goes. It is an oddly compelling idea.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting, reading and hopefully enjoying. I love receiving comments and will do my best to reply.