How many stamps do you put on a postcard? 

I’ve tested scores of pens and pencils to write postcards. Here’s where I tell you about it. 

Links to pens and pencils I use to write postcards:

Blue Sharpie

Tombow

Staedtler

Sarasa Zebra

Retro 51

Baronfig

Sakura

Blackwing

Camel

It’s National Postcard Week this week. I talk about it. 

I chatted with postcard collector extraordinaire Mark Routh of Mark’s Postcard Chat about what defines a postcard — and how we make a distinction between a postcard and a piece of art. I think you’ll be surprised at the answer. 

I went on a trip across nine states and 20 hours of driving. I stopped along the way. I was Desperately Seeking Postcards. This is a show I recorded along the way. 

Artist Nicole Carnes joins me on this episode where we discuss a wide range of topics: from her art, her inspirations (Vincent Van Gogh and Toulouse Lautrec), her ambidexterity, and what pictures she visualizes when she gets art inspiration.

You can find Nic on Instagram @rockabillynic.

Nic’s Etsy store: Fiber and Wooly Arts

Midnight in Paris

Loving Vincent

Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience

Mark Routh joins me this time to talk about curating his world-class Covid postcard (and associated mail and stamp) collection. He gives pointers to budding postcard collectors on how to start and where to focus to build a collection. 

You can find Mark’s work many places, including as a long-time author at Picture Postcard Monthly and at his blog — Mark’s Postcard Chat

I was joined again by Kate Wiggins of Sugar & Kiki, who you heard on Episode 101 talking about her Adventure in Place Snail Mail Bingo idea. You heard Kate talk about donating a portion of the profits of that Spring Break Adventure Pack to the Make a Wish Foundation. 

In this episode, Kate joins me as co-host to interview Sue Salter, who is the President and CEO of Make a Wish for South Dakota and Montana. Want to hear stories that will uplift you? Here you go. Play along; write postcards; do good. 

I forgot to ask Magda a few questions about her postcard that took four years and 11 days to get to her. Here’s the answer.

Madalena Wojcicka of Travel Trinkets Canada left me a message that started with a bit of amazement. She got a postcard at her home in Calgary, Alberta, Canada that had been sent from Spain four years and 11 days earlier. It’s a real mystery.

The other part of the mystery is how we covered that topic, talked about the World’s Largest Fishing Lure, Muffler Men statues, postcard design, and walking around the earth — all while my cat Benjamin was yowling in the background.

Here are some links to items discussed in the show:

Travel Trinkets Canada

Tonkinese Cats

Muffler Men

The World’s Largest Fishing Lure

The World’s Largest Coffee Pot

The World’s Largest Skunk

Atlas Obscura