Postcards As Check Ins

You’ve seen it at news stands, book stores, and airports. Those clever and beautiful photographs enticing you from the rotating rack. In your hand, you feel it’s sturdiness. On the back side, there’s white space for your message and an address, with a square in the upper right corner containing the message “place stamp here”. A postcard.

Postcards are usually sent to friends and family to share your adventures with them, and to let them know that they are in your thoughts. What if you also used it as a physical check in?

The web contains numerous sites where you can share your activities by “checking in”. Each check in basically says “I was here” and lets you add a comment. The downside with online check ins is they are recorded in someone else’s database. Also, they usually display the check-in as a pin on a map. How interesting is that? Not very. It’s pretty boring actually. When people check in online, it strikes me as being mundane. They do it so often, the value of each one becomes less significant. What people have forgotten is that scarcity is a provider of value. Going to a cafe in Paris to get your morning coffee when you live in Paris isn’t interesting. It is interesting though when it’s your first time in Paris and the barista thought you were cute. Of course, it didn’t hurt that you happen to be wearing her favorite cologne. An interesting way to remember that moment is to send youself a postcard.

There’s a number of occasions you can send yourself a postcard. These are a few that I thought of.

• Moving to a new neighborhood or city
• Places you travel
• Landmarks you visit
• Special events
  • Graduation
  • Birthdays, Anniversaries
  • New Jobs
  • Spring Break
  • Holidays: Christmas, Halloween, July 4th, etc
• First time events
• Goals you’ve accomplished

Over time, as you collect more postcards, your history unravels before you. Depending on how many you have, it will change how you present them. a photo album dedicated to your postcards is a nice compact way to store. Or how about a glass wall so you can see both sides? The more unique the postcards you send yourself, the more interesing your presentation of them will be. So go out and see the world. Then tell yourself about it with a postcard.