I know with the advent of Facebook and e-mail that the popularity of sending postcards to family and friends while abroad is waning. I have to admit, though, I'm a postcard junkie.
The only souvenir I ever buy while travelling is postcards of the places I've been and I always send one to a friend of mine who lives in Barcelona. She sends me postcards from the cities she travels to as well.
For travellers who love turning their own photos into postcards, HazelMail.com has been the answer. This web-based application allows you to upload a photo, compose a message, and then prints, stamps and mails your postcard for you at a cost of $1.50 US per card.
I tried sending a card this morning and I have to say it's really as easy as 1, 2, 3. I uploaded a photo of my boyfriend and I at the Toronto Zoo, composed a message to him and mailed it all from my chair.
To ensure that postcards get to their destinations quickly, HazelMail utilizes a global network of printers based in North America, South America, Europe and Asia which print and deliver postcards from the location closest to the recipient.
But what about travellers who want to send their travel photos home while still vacationing? As of this weekend, HazelMail once again has the answer, in the form of a simple iPhone application. Snap a photo from the top of the Eiffel Tower and mail it instantly to family back home.
"So many travellers have come home from a trip with a pile of well-intended, purchased postcards that never made their way into a mailbox," says HazelMail founder Michael Lato. "HazelMail makes it possible to use your iPhone or iPod Touch to create a postcard that is one-of-a-kind and truly memorable. Plus you don't have to eat up valuable vacation time figuring out foreign postage or finding the nearest mailbox or post office. It goes from your phone directly to someone's heart."
In addition to being free to download, the app comes with a credit for one free postcard.
HazelMail is currently available in six languages -- English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish-- for users around the globe.
To download the app and start sending postcards from your iPhone, go to hazelmail.com/iphone.
-- Nicole Feenstra is canoe.ca's travel editor
