Easy Postcard Project For Travel Memories

I'm not very crafty, creative, or otherwise talented in the DIY arena most of the time.  I get easily intimidated by crafts and creative projects.  However, one thing I do love (and I like to think I excel at) is being a pen-pal... and anything else related to stationery and cards.  I have always loved to write and send letters, cards and postcards, and for as long as I can remember, I've been in the habit of sending at least a few postcards whenever I travel somewhere.  So when we moved to Australia, I wanted to make sure I kept that habit.  Something I also really wanted to prioritize during our time here was keeping track of all the places we've seen and all the memories made in those places. 

So when I stumbled on this simple travel postcard project idea from my all time favorite blog Young House Love just a few weeks before our move, I knew it was a craft/DIY project I could definitely handle!  It's so easy for me, because it involves something I do anyway.  When I'm picking out postcards to send to a few friends/family during a trip, I just make sure I remember to pick out one extra for us!  Then, all you do is write a postcard to yourself describing what you saw, did, loved, favorite places, funny travel mishaps, etc. on your trip.  Then I just bring it home with us, and toss it in this dish on our coffee table.  It's fun to look through them from time to time and it's a great conversation starter- PLUS it looks pretty!

Our collection so far- 19 and counting...



A few of our recent postcards







Postcard project on our coffee table (among the few Fall decorations I have)


Here's the link to the original project idea found on YHL:
http://www.younghouselove.com/2008/08/post-haste/

Snail Mail Collective {September}

A fun surprise all the way from South Korea arrived in the mail for me today!  My partner for the September Snail Mail Collective was Amber from "The English Travelers," and the theme for this month was "Back To School."  I had a great time getting to know Amber through the emails we exchanged and through her blog.  Amber and her husband are American expats currently living and teaching in South Korea.  They've had some amazing adventures so far- I loved looking through their travel photos! 

Amber did a great job finding fun gifts from her country that fit with the theme.  As a teacher, I always LOVE stationery and office/school supplies, so everything in this package was a hit with me- especially the panda notebook and the cute socks!  I also love that everything was so unique and different than anything I would be able to find here- or anywhere else I've ever visited. 

 

Thanks so much, Amber, for all the fun "Back To School" loot!  I love it all! 

Expat to Expat Q & A ~ Perceptions of Our Expat Life

Linking up with Found Love, Now What & The Hemborg Wife

 

Question #1: How do your family and friends back home perceive your new life, and is it accurate?

I actually think my family and close friends do have a pretty accurate perception of our life here in Australia.  Because I talk to these people pretty frequently, they are able to hear about both the positives and the negatives of living here.  However I'd say that my parents and my friend Jen (shout out to her new expat blog, "Lady, Relocated") probably have the best idea of what it's like to live here since we were lucky enough to have them visit already. It's one thing to tell people about the place you live and the experiences you're having, but it's another to actually be able to show them those places and let them experience the place for themselves. 

If I'm being honest, I guess it's probably safe to say that the friends I don't talk to regularly or other acquaintances from back home probably have a pretty distorted perception of what our life here is like.  And that is mostly because these are the people who only get to see the occasional Facebook travel photo updates.  By simply only considering what people see on social media, life probably looks pretty glamorous here.  Of course that is true sometimes- we are so lucky to be here and to get to do so much travelling, but those people don't get to see the other side of things: the challenges of living so far away, culture shock on a daily basis, dealing with my husband's ridiculously long work hours, etc.  During the time between the travelling (which is the majority of our time here), life here truly is pretty normal. 

Question #2: Do you find the need to edit your life from friends and family? 

I really try not to do this.  I try to be pretty open and honest about what life is like here- both the positives and the negatives.  However, I guess every once in a while, I have found myself "toning things down" a bit- this applies to both the highs and the lows.  By this I mean, I try to be careful not to come off as "brag-y" during the times that we do get to travel and see amazing places.  I want to share my photos and stories from these times so that my family and close friends can feel like they somehow shared in that experience with us, but not come off as obnoxious or boastful at the same time.  And on the other end of the spectrum, I sometimes also tend to "tone down" the lows as well.  By this I mean that if I'm having a really low or homesick day, I often try and minimize that to a certain extent when talking to family or close friends.  Not because I don't want to talk about it, but more because sometimes talking about it makes me really dwell on it more and sometimes end up feeling worse. 

 

The Glamorous Side of Our Aussie Life:

 

The Not-so-glamorous Side of Our Aussie Life:

 

 

6 Things About Me

I've seen this "6 Things About Me" post going around for a few weeks now.  And I always love a good survey, so when my fellow expat blogger friend, Lisa at Meanderings, Wanderings, and Adventures tagged me, I was game to jump on the bandwagon.  So, here goes:  

1.) What is your favorite animal and why?
Since moving to Australia, I've become somewhat obsessed with koalas.  The time I got to hold a koala at the zoo in Brisbane was probably one of the top 10 happiest moments of my life.  So much cuteness in one animal- I die!  And they seriously have the best life- eat some leaves, then sleep for 16-20 hours a day.  Sounds good to me! 

How can you resist that face?!

2.) If you could travel to one place in the world, where would it be?
Just one place?!  I refuse to pick just one.  So I'll list a few. :-)  Right now, I'm really prioritizing seeing as much of Australia as I can while we're here.  But beyond that, I would love to visit Bora Bora, Greece, and anywhere in South America. I don't know how my obsession with Bora Bora started, but ever since I can remember, I've always wanted to go there and stay in one of those above-water huts.  Greece- I'm just dying to see those beautiful cliffs with white-washed and blue buildings, ride a donkey, and who can resist Greek food?!  I know South America is huge, but I'd be happy to visit any country there.  I've always loved Latin culture, and it's been too long since I've traveled somewhere where I get to use my (very rusty) Spanish skills. 

3.) How many countries have you traveled to?  How many of the 50 states?
Countries: USA, Canada, Mexico, Antigua, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, England, Italy, Australia, New Zealand (that makes 11!)
States: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Washington (That makes 21!).  Looks like I've been neglecting the Midwest! 

One of my favorite states I've visited- Montana.  This photo was taken on a trip to Glacier Park during Spring Break of my Senior Year of college. 

4.) What is your favorite thing about yourself?  
I think that one of my best qualities is that I am very patient.  It takes a lot for me to lose my temper or get frustrated with someone or something for "taking too long."  In a lot of ways, I think I have always been this way (maybe my mom and dad can verify for me?), but I also think I've developed so much more patience being a teacher.  I often have people compliment me on how patient I am, and while it isn't a glamorous quality necessarily, I really do take it as a big compliment and it is something I really do like about myself. 

5.) What hobby would you love to pick up?
Like just about every other blogger and traveler out there, I would love to learn more about photography (and have a fancy camera).  I have run across and pinned a few free (and a few paid) online photography classes, but I just need to find the time to actually try one out and see what I think. 

6.) What is something not a lot of people would know about you?
I was a dancer for around 15 years- ballet, tap, and jazz at first, but mostly ballet as I got older.  I never really had the "dancer body," but I loved dancing, especially ballet!  Since I never really got into competitive school sports, dance was my thing.  I remember how proud and excited I was when I finally got promoted to "pointe" classes at my ballet studio!  I still have several pairs of my pointe shoes.  I miss it a lot sometimes! 

Feel free to join in and share 6 things about yourself!  Below are some of the questions to choose from:

Choose 6 questions you'd like:
What is your favorite animal and why?
Would you prefer a city break or a sun, sea, and sand vacation?
If you could travel to one place in the world, where would it be?
How many countries have you traveled to?  How many of the 50 states?
What is your favorite thing about yourself (or quality you like in others if you don't wanna talk about yourself)?
What is the best advice someone has ever given you?
What did you want to be when you grew up and what do you do now?
What is a pet peeve of yours?
What is the LAST concert you went to?
What is something not a lot of people would know about you?

Old Family Photos

Monday, September 30: Share a photo of something old. Maybe something that has personal history for you, that was passed down to you, and that has special meaning to you. Tell us about it and why it's special.

 

If the majority of my material belongings weren't in storage (or a safe deposit box) halfway around the world, I probably would have chosen to share a photo of a pearl necklace that my grandmother gave to me a few years ago.  Or the necklace that has a small diamond in it from my great grandmother's wedding ring.  But since I don't have access to those things here, I'll share a couple old photos that have special meaning to me. 

 

This first photo is one of my favorites of my mom and dad.  I think this was taken before they were even married.  Aren't they so beautiful/handsome?!  And just babies! 

 

 

I also always love looking at old wedding photos- whether I know the bride and groom or not.  But in this case, I do :-)  These are photos of both sets of my grandparents on their wedding days.  How gorgeous are they?! 

 

 

 

 

Dearest Facebook Friends

Friday, September 27: An anonymous letter to your Facebook friends. Be as snarky as you'd like. (but don't include people's real names.) 

 

I think it's easy (and was truthfully really tempting) to take this prompt down the route of addressing how certain Facebook friends of yours annoy you with their various annoying posts, political rants, bragging, etc.  And I'd be lying if I said I don't get annoyed by things like that on the daily- just like everyone else.  But truthfully, I've been pretty good recently about just removing people from my newsfeed who post things that annoy, offend, or upset me.  It's a surprisingly simple solution- they're still my Facebook friend, but no one has to know that I choose not to view their crap posts and status updates :-) 

 

So, since I'm trying to avoid going (any further) down that road with this post, I thought I'd focus on the positive.  Because after all, I really do enjoy Facebook and how it allows me to stay connected with people in my life.  Here goes:

Dear Facebook Friends,

 

Whether you're a family member, a former classmate, a childhood friend, someone I once worked with, a friend of a friend, one of my very best friends, or any of the other categories you may fall into- I just want to say, thanks for being my friend.  Some of you I talk to quite frequently in "real life," and some of you I might not have even seen or talked to in years, but I am still grateful that our paths crossed at some point and that we were at one point a part of one another's lives- no matter how big or small the role. 

 

It's amazing to be able to "keep in touch with" so many people that I otherwise probably would have completely lost touch with.  It's fun (and feeds my nosey tendency) to see what's going on in other people's lives and how they've changed (or stayed the same). 

 

Each year on my birthday, it's fun (and a little self-indulgent, I admit), to hear from so many of you.  Even if we haven't talked in years, it's nice to know that you're thinking of me- even if just for the 2 seconds it takes to type "HBD".  And I love that your little birthday wish or photo/status like allows me a brief moment to think about someone I hadn't thought of in a while or brings me back to a fun memory with you or to a time in my life I'd forgotten about. 

So thanks Facebook Friends, you're the best!  Some of you more than others ;-)  But still, thanks! :-)

 

A Change of Scenery & My August Snail Mail Collective Gift

Thursday, September 26: Go to a coffee shop. Order a favorite drink. Write about what makes you happy and what makes you sad. Or write about anything you'd like! Bonus points for including a photo from the coffee shop.

*if you can't make it to a coffee shop, at least leave your usual space and write someplace new.

 

I didn't make it to a coffee shop today :-(  However, I did take some time to leave my usual "blogging space" (butt planted on the couch in front of the TV), and sat outside on our patio for a while.  A simple change in location even within our home was actually surprisingly refreshing.  We purchased a nice little patio set when we moved here, but hardly ever actually use it- usually heat or bugs keep us inside.  So it was nice to sit out there for a while and enjoy some fresh air and "new scenery" before it got too hot. 

 

 

Since today is a bit of a free topic, I thought I'd take the opportunity to write about my Snail Mail Collective gift that arrived in the mail at the end of last week!  This was my second month participating in the exchange.  You can read about my first month in the exchange HERE.  The exchange was created by two great expat bloggers- Melyssa at The Nectar Collective and Chelsea over at Lost In Travels.  You can read more specifics about the exchange HERE.  But, the basics of the exchange are: you are paired with another participating blogger from a different part of the world, you spend a few weeks getting to know each other through emails and getting to reading that person's blog, and then at the end of it, you exchange a $5 or under gift from your country that centers around the specified theme for that month. 

This past month, I was paired with Louise from the blog Stars In Jars.  Louise just recently moved to London after a short stint with her parents in Ireland and a year teaching in South Korea.  It was fun to learn more about her and her experiences living in both South Korea and the UK! 

The theme for this month's exchange was "Under the Sea."  I struggled with finding a small gift to match this theme, but Louise was really creative with what she sent! 

My Snail Mail Gift (Please ignore the dead plants in the background...)

I felt very important receiving mail with a "Royal Mail" sticker on it :-) 

 I love that she sent me a copy of one of her favorite books The Old Man and the Sea!  And that card?  How cute is that?!  I'm a little card/stationery obsessed, so I really loved the card- and how even that tied into the theme.  I'm excited to add this book to my list of books to read- I feel like it's a classic that I should definitely have in my repertoire. 

Thanks, Louise!