Alongside letter writing, we have seen the steady decline of the postcard over the years. These days we prefer to send a lovely filtered photo of our destination and ping it around the world for all to see within seconds via Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook etc. Unsurprisingly Britain’s oldest postcard publisher. J Salmon shut its 140-year-old operations in 2021 due to declining sales. Such as shame since these little sun cream smudged notes hold so much significance and remind us of people that we love.

When my best friend died ten years ago, I was clung to tangible things that made me feel connected to her. These included a small stash of birthday cards and I was very sad when our text messages perished alongside my old phone. If you have experience cleaning out the home of an elderly relative, you can piece parts of their together through letters and postcards with their dates and stamps. Even a few words scribbled on the back of an overexposed sunset, form part of a paper trail and a legacy.

Over the years I have tried and failed to write postcards. This is a particularly excellent rainy day activity or something to do with children when waiting for a meal. The tricky part of completing this task is having a pen, buying stamps and finding a post box. I would suggest getting the stamps, novelty pen and postcards on the same day. There is usually a post box at the airport and it really doesn’t matter if you get home before the card arrives.

It makes me a bit upset to think that all my memories, photo’s and correspondence are stored in the cloud and probably being used to suggest weight loss programs, cruises and funeral plans amongst other things. This year, I am going to attempt to write, because there’s nothing like that dog eared postcard that constantly falls off the fridge and reminds you of someone.

Sophie x