Rediscovering An Old Hobby Over Quarantine.

When lockdown first began last March, we were all suddenly faced with being at home a lot more than usual, and I'm sure we can all admit that we got sick of Netflix and our phones at some point. While I found my new-fond (or should I say old-fond) hobby searching online (the irony!) it became something that I could take off-line and I found a great love for it again so that's why today's post is all about going back to my love of penpalling.

My brief past history with penpals.

Growing up, I had one snail mail penpal, I can't remember what age I would have been; possibly between ten and thirteen, but her name was Gemma and she lived in England. I can't even remember how we met in the first place, but I know that we were members on a website that I won a t-shirt on, and I was so excited because I had never won anything before! The website was one of the many at the time where you would create your own little website (They were very popular at that time). We would send each other letters using scented gel pens (They were my favourite!) and we would try to smell the scents from these letters. As we grew older, it fell to the wayside and while we did add each other on Facebook, we didn't stay in touch but it was nice to have that experience regardless.

How it started again.

As mentioned at the beginning, I discovered my long-lost love of penpalling again after discovering more websites online. Of course I had heard of Reddit before, but I didn't know it's purpose. I didn't really want to jump on another social media platform but once I was signed up, I realised it wasn't like that at all. Shortly after I signed up, I saw there was a subreddit for penpals and that's where it all started again. I was so surprised that it was so popular, because we've all so used to everything moving online; from bank statements, gift vouchers and even email penpals (which I also have now); so I didn't expect snail mail to be as popular as it still is.

Staying organised.

With this type of hobby, it has a longer time line. Sending half way across the world normally takes a few weeks and then receiving a reply takes another few weeks, so I wanted to keep everything in one specific place, rather than letters lying on my desk not having a home. I had looked all around for a cute folder or box for a few weeks but found nothing that I absolutely loved, but I popped into IKEA one afternoon and found the perfect little build-your-own-box and it was so perfect, that I bought another one and made that one for my important documents. (I didn't realise the importance of an important documents folder or box until I had one, but we'll talk about that another time).

I also use my trusty Notion to keep on top on who I have sent letters to, when they were sent, who I'm waiting to hear back from and the date of when that letter comes back to you. If you don't keep on top of your box organisation (like me sometimes), having any note app is a great tool to use to keep on top of that, and if you're not interested in using an app, a piece of paper inside your box that you keep updated is a great idea too.

What do I truly love about it?

I love writing letters, it takes me quite a while because I'm such a slow writer but considering how neat my handwriting is, it's completely worth it in the end. It's a much more connected way to get something across, whether that's through a letter or when you're writing a birthday card. For me, I have to really think about what I want to write, whereas on a computer screen, you can always go back, delete, re-write and repeat for as long as you want. I'm the type of person who doesn't like to cross anything out so I'm super sure of everything I'm about to write, but it means really concentrating on what you're writing in the first place. The positive of that though is you're choosing the most important aspects of your life you want to share, good or bad of course, but it's very tailored to you.

I have a small number of email penpals too so it's not all snail mail, so the above only talks to my snail mail side, but I still feel like I'm intentional with my emails but because I type so much faster than I physically write, I tend to waffle and write a lot more than I ever would in a letter. I love the balance between the two mediums, it keeps the art of penpalling interesting. It sounds quite cliche but it's nice not always receiving junk mail through our letter box and I always like getting emails from someone who isn't trying to tell me about their tenth sale this year.

Interested in writing letters but a penpal is too much commitment?

A lovely alternative if you miss putting pen to paper but don't necessarily want a reply back is to sign up to projects that deliver letters to elderly people, mainly in care homes. It gives a smile to older people who may not be able to see their family at the moment. There are many projects where you can take part all over the world; I am part of a programme called Letters Against Isolation, set up by two sisters in high school to help spread some joy to older people around the world. This particular programme is set towards nursing homes in the United States but they do have a small number of homes in the UK and further afield too.

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I think it goes without saying that finding new people to connect with online is fun, but safety must always come first. It's important not to put yourself in danger so be safe first and foremost if you're out there looking for new friends to talk to, especially if you're under the age of eighteen.

Thank you so much for reading today's post and I hope you have a wonderful day!