The Quotes in Postcard that I Write to My Future Self at Every Country I Visit
When I first started travelling, postcards were something you bought for other people.
You'd find them at every tourist centre, pick out the ones with the best landmark shots, scribble a few lines to friends and family, and drop them in the nearest postbox. That was the whole ritual. It didn't occur to me to send one to myself — why would it? What would be the point of writing a postcard to someone who was already there?
Then in 2011, something shifted. I sent myself my first postcard. Just quote to myself— nothing more. But it arrived weeks later, long after I was home and back inside the ordinary rhythms of daily life, and the feeling of receiving it surprised me completely.
That was the beginning of what has become, over the years, one of the most meaningful documentation habits I have.
Why Would Anyone Send a Postcard to Themselves?
The honest answer is that I didn't have a fully formed reason when I started. It was a small, almost accidental idea that turned out to be exactly right.
What I discovered gradually is this: a postcard sent to yourself is not a souvenir. It's a time capsule. I am writing how I feel at “that time” to my future self — standing in a country that has moved or surprised or challenged you — and sending that feeling forward to a version of yourself who will receive it weeks later, already home, already a little further from the rawness of what you felt in that moment.
Photos capture what a place looked like. A postcard captures what it felt like to be there. Those are not the same thing, and only one of them is something you can hold in your hands and re-read years later.
What Do You Actually Write on a Postcard to Yourself?
When I started in 2011, I write quotes to myself. It could be my feeling at that point of time or even encouragement. Documentary.
Some of what I've written over the years:
The feeling of a particular trip — what the place did to me, what it opened up or challenged in my thinking. The specific emotion of a moment I didn't want to lose.
Messages to myself about courage — particularly on trips I took alone, when the decision to go felt like a leap of faith. I would definitely have regretted not going. Writing that down at the time, while I was still inside the experience, made it feel like evidence rather than just a feeling.
Reminders about perspective — travelling to countries where food and water are scarce has a way of quietly reorganising your sense of what daily life requires. I've written about that on postcards. How fortunate we are. Seeing it in my own handwriting, weeks after returning home, lands differently than simply remembering it.
One line I wrote to myself years ago has stayed with me: "Insist on your dream. It will come true." I don't remember exactly where I was sitting when I wrote it. But I remember receiving it. And I remember that it worked — it still does, when I pull it out and read it now.
When writing your own travel postcards, try these prompts: What surprised me most about this place? What do I want to remember about how I felt today? What would I tell myself at home that I can only see clearly from here? You don't need to write much — a few honest lines hold more than you think.
What Is It Like to Receive a Postcard You Sent to Yourself?
The waiting is part of it.
International postcards take three to four weeks to arrive, sometimes longer. By the time it appears in your letterbox, you are well and truly home — back at your desk, back in your routines, the heightened awareness of travel already starting to soften at the edges.
And then it arrives. Your own handwriting, from somewhere you were weeks ago, saying something you wrote in a very different state of mind.
I always feel a small jolt of genuine surprise when it appears, even though I know it's coming. There's something about receiving something addressed to yourself in your own hand that doesn't lose its strangeness no matter how many times you do it. And sending it by normal post always carries a small anxiety — what if it gets lost? — which makes the arrival feel like something earned rather than just delivered.
Practical reality of posting from abroad: Not every destination has easily accessible post offices, though many tourist areas and hotels can direct you or even handle postage on your behalf. Address the postcard to your home address as you normally would any mail. Airmail is faster than surface mail but both work — factor in the longer wait for airmail from more remote destinations. Write the address clearly and use capital letters to help legibility across postal systems.
Why Is a Postcard Better Than a Photo for Preserving Travel Memories?
I take a lot of photographs when I travel. I always have. But there is something a photograph cannot do that a postcard can.
A photograph is what your eye saw. It captures the external world with extraordinary fidelity — the light, the composition, the fraction of a second in which something was true.
A postcard captures your interior world at that same moment. What you were thinking. What you were feeling. What mattered to you, in your own words, written in your own hand, on a piece of card that was physically in a country you cared enough about to visit.
When I look back at my postcards, they don't just bring back the image of a place — they bring back the version of me who was there. That's something no photograph has ever done quite as completely.
Postcards are also, in their own small way, a travel journal. A record of where you were, when, and what it meant to you. Unlike a journal kept in a notebook at home, a postcard is self-contained — one moment, one place, one thought — which makes it easier to start and easier to sustain across many years and many countries.
When choosing which postcard to buy, try to find one that depicts the specific place you are visiting rather than a generic national image. The connection between the image and your words makes the postcard more meaningful to read back later — and it becomes, in effect, a small illustrated record of the places that mattered most to you.
What Do You Do With Your Postcards When You Get Home?
For a while I kept them in a box. Which is where most things go to be forgotten.
Then I started putting them on my wardrobe door.
What I discovered is that a postcard pinned where you see it every day functions completely differently from one stored out of sight. It's not archived — it's present. It's a daily reminder of where you've been, who you were in those places, and what you told yourself mattered enough to write down.
The visual effect is also genuinely beautiful. A collection of postcards from different countries, each with its own image and its own story, makes for a display that no purchased artwork could replicate — because every piece of it is yours, and every piece of it means something.
You could do the same on a wall, a section of fridge, a cork board, or alongside a collection of travel photographs. The postcards sit naturally alongside photos because they document the same journeys from different angles — one external, one internal.
Display ideas: Pin a mix of the postcard image side and the written side facing outward — the contrast between the place photograph and your own handwriting creates a visual narrative that draws people in. Group by continent or by year for a more organised arrangement, or mix freely for a more instinctive, living collection.
Should You Buy Gifts for Others or Send Postcards to Yourself?
This is a quiet argument I've been making to myself — and anyone who'll listen — for years.
The keychains, the fridge magnets, the locally-packaged foods, the small things you feel obligated to bring home for friends and family — they are genuinely kind gestures, and I'm not suggesting you stop entirely. But they take up luggage space, they add weight, and there is a very real chance you'll pay excess baggage fees to bring home items that will end up in a drawer within a month.
A postcard weighs nothing. It is low costs to buy and send. And unlike a keychain, it does not depreciate in meaning over time — it appreciates, because the further you travel from the moment you wrote it, the more valuable it becomes to be able to return to it.
Send the postcards to yourself. Let the people who love you settle for your company and your stories when you get back. Those last longer than a souvenir anyway.
Frequently Asked Question about Sending Postcards to Yourself
What should I write on a postcard to myself? Write what you're feeling in the moment rather than what you're seeing — the photographs will handle the visual documentation. Good prompts: what surprised you most about this place, what you want your future self to remember, something you only understand clearly from inside this trip. Keep it honest rather than polished. Future you will appreciate the rawness more than the eloquence.
How long does it take for an international postcard to arrive? Typically three to six weeks for most international destinations, though this varies significantly by country and postal system. Some arrive faster, some take longer, and occasionally one gets lost entirely — which is part of the anxiety and part of the charm. Always send early in your trip rather than the last day, to maximise the delivery window.
What if my postcard gets lost in the mail? It happens occasionally, and it stings when it does. Write the address clearly in capitals, use airmail where available, and post as early in your trip as possible. For particularly significant trips, consider sending two postcards — one earlier and one later — to increase the chance of at least one arriving.
Is sending a postcard to yourself better than keeping a travel journal? They serve different purposes. A travel journal captures more — longer thoughts, full days, detailed observations. But journals require discipline and time that travel doesn't always offer. A postcard is a commitment of five minutes and a few honest lines. Both are worth doing. If you're choosing one, start with postcards — they're lower friction and the delayed delivery creates a kind of magic that a journal written at home doesn't replicate.
How do I find a post office when travelling abroad? Hotels are often the easiest starting point — many can either direct you to the nearest post office or handle the postage themselves. In tourist-heavy areas, dedicated postcard shops frequently offer a posting service. In some countries, postcards can be dropped in standard street postboxes; in others the post office is the only reliable option. When in doubt, ask at your accommodation on the first day rather than scrambling to find one on your last.