What to Write on a Travel Postcard: One Scene for One Person

Decide who will read this scene

Start by writing the recipient's name on your blank postcard draft. Think of something they like, a conversation you shared, or a place you meant to visit together. Look for a point where that memory meets what you saw on the trip. A postcard to your sibling may begin somewhere quite different from a postcard to a friend, even on the same journey.

If the person likes the sea, go a little beyond saying you saw the sea. Choose a detail you actually noticed: wet trainers at the end of a harbor wall, perhaps, or someone waiting for a wave. If you have a photograph, let it supply some of the visual information. You need not explain every view and every stop.

Cut an itinerary into a message

This trip and its messages are fictional examples created by the editorial team. The draft reads: "Dear Anna, I went to the market this morning and had noodles for lunch. I walked around the harbor this afternoon and went back to my room in the evening. Tomorrow I'm going to another neighborhood. Take care." It lists the day, but gives little reason for choosing this postcard for Anna. Keep one harbor detail that recalls a shared moment, and cut the other stops.

Here is the finished postcard: "Dear Anna, I saw a red chair while I was waiting for a boat at the harbor today. It looked like the seat at our bus stop, and I remembered the day we sat there and missed the bus together. Here, I stayed in the chair until the boat arrived. When I'm back, I'd like to sit at the stop with you and tell you about this stretch of sea. Take care, and see you soon. Love, Maya." The revision follows a small chair into a memory the two people share.

Draft a travel postcard in four steps

1. 1

   Choose one recipient and a memory or conversation you would like the message to bring back.

2. 2

   Find one scene you actually saw on the trip that connects with that memory. Check a photograph or a note if you have one.

3. 3

   After the greeting, write a detail from the scene and what you want to tell the recipient. Cut the other stops and read it as one message.

4. 4

   Shorten the draft to fit the postcard you will write, then add a closing and your name. When saving the photo and draft, distinguish the trip date from the writing date.

Find a detail beyond the famous view

A day without sightseeing can still supply a postcard scene. Look for a small detail where you spent time, such as a shop opening outside your accommodation or sand on your shoes after a walk. After "I enjoyed it," add one thing you saw or did. That gives the person opening the card a scene to read.

When choosing words beside a photograph, imagine that the recipient has never seen the picture. You can mention the chair's color briefly and spend more words on why you sat there. If you are unsure of the person's tastes, write why you thought of them rather than pretending to know what they would like. A passing stranger's private conversation need not become postcard material.

Write from home without pretending to be away

You can write a travel postcard after returning home. Begin with something like "I was choosing photos after the trip, and kept coming back to this one." Send the memory from where you are now, rather than pretending you are still sitting at the destination. Distinguish the travel date from the writing date, and use only details you remember or can check in your photos and notes.

You can also keep the draft without posting it. If you have not decided whether to give it to the person, there is no need to include their address or contact details in the entry. Agree on the audience before using a photograph with other people in it. A short note saying "draft" or "copied onto a postcard" can distinguish the stages when you return to it.

Keep the picture with the message you wrote

In Pogaem, put the travel photograph and your own postcard draft in the same entry. You can choose the travel date and add the writing date separately in the body. If you later write a physical postcard, you can save a photograph you take of it, checking which parts to include if the address is visible.

Reopen that day's entry in your travel calendar, or browse the trip photographs in the album to find the draft again. Arrange physical postcard design, printing, and postage separately. You decide whom to give the words to; a personal draft does not have to become a public post.