Hey everyone, you might have read my article before on how much I love postcards? And the fact remains that everywhere I go I hunt down a Post Office, buy some stamps and make sure I post my youngest brother a postcard from everywhere I go. Here’s a photo of young Danny with just some of his postcards – he must have well over 200 now from over 100 countries around the world.
My kid brother and ‘some’ of his postcards I’ve posted him from around the world!
While I continue to post him postcards and enjoy the culture of it, there are new ways to save the hassle, time and the money! It costs twice as much to send a traditional postcard back to the UK from places like Italy and France than it does to send one more than 5,000 miles home from Mexico, as revealed by handy postcard app, ‘Race It Home’ .
Race it Home is a cool Apple and Android app, which allows users to send their holiday snaps as personalised postcards without the hassle of searching for foreign stamps and postcards, never mind trying to locate post offices. They compared the price of average postcard and stamp costs across 12 popular holiday destinations. Incredibly, it costs just £1.08 to send ‘Wish You Were Here’s’ from Cancun, however it can take up to three weeks for the postcard to arrive. France and Italy cost £2.19 per average postcard, which compared to the £1.94 price for reporting home from the US, does come as a surprise.
Understandably, costs from Australia are high, topping the chart at a whopping £2.25. The Maldives seems amazingly affordable given the distance, at £1.28 per postcard, however they can take up to two weeks to arrive. I’ve had postcards take 6 months to arrive from Johannesburg and Port Lockroy in Antarctica before!
Posting a postcard in the wilderness at Port Lockroy in Antarctica.
Race It Home’ is a hassle free way of sending proper postcards back home. Simply take a photo on your camera or phone, write a message and the guys at Race It Home do all the hard work!
Race It Home: A Cool New Way To Send Postcards!
Within minutes your postcard will be printed out in the UK printing station of Race it Home and it is then popped in the UK post. Your recipient will receive the postcard in days, not the traditional weeks! They also offer a choice of A5 or A6 postcards and standard or priority postage (read – first or second class).
Race It Home is cheaper than buying postcards and stamps abroad, with credits from just 99p which can be purchased before jetting off. Recipients’ addresses can also be saved in advance to make it even easier to send personalised holiday snap postcards whilst relaxing by the poolside. Users simply snap a photo, type in a brief message and select a friend. The app automatically recognises which country the user is in and adds the relevant flag to the reverse of the postcard. Then comes the really clever bit: the cards are printed in the United Kingdom within hours and popped into the postal system. This ensures they take only 1-5 days to arrive (depending on the delivery service chosen), ensuring that the postcard always wins the race back home.
A new invention in the world of postcards
So this is for sure a new innovative way to send postcards and I’ll be testing it out on one of my brother’s next cards.
To download the free app visit:
Apple iPhone / iPad: http://www.raceithome.com/apple
Android Tablets/Phones: http://www.raceithome.com/android
Hey Jonny, its really amazing the way you suggested to revive the Postal age, since i am a great follower of postal stamps and all, thumbs up for the great article.
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Hi Alex, thanks for the comments. Yes – when you travel, you alwasy see postcards in souvenir shops. It’s important to pick them up and post and for those that dont want the hassle of that, this app is excellent. I really think postcards are better than emails of Facebook posts. It’s a physical memory for someone to keep from your trip. Safe travels. Jonny