I got my first pen pal in 2020, after three months of living in my parent’s basement mid-pandemic pushed me to start pacing a hole through the carpet. I know to some people the idea of pen palling might sound incredibly outdated, and maybe even a little lame, but hear me out before you cross it off for good!
Personality-wise, I have a thing for the creative. In the right- versus left-brain belief, I am fully a right-brained individual. There’s something about creative hobbies that just scratch that one hard-to-reach part of my mind. I like art, writing, and pretty much anything that involves plucking ideas from my head and putting them out into the world.
Pen palling is one way I was able to combine all of that in one hobby, and I took it to the next level — like, the multiple trips to Michaels, little baggies full of stickers, and endless amounts of card-stock paper and hot glue level. In a way, it was kind of therapeutic; it turned into both a great way to kill time and the perfect outlet for creative energy.
But, what if you don’t really care about the arts and crafts side of things?
Well, then I’d still say having a pen pal is great. It gives you the chance to meet someone (on paper, anyway) who may have lived a completely different life than you, in a completely different place. It gives you an incredibly unique opportunity to learn some surprising new things about the world, and from a first-hand perspective.
I had three penpals when I first started, all of whom I still talk to today, two years later. One is from France, and we alternate between writing letters in French and English so we can both practice writing in our second language. The second is married and from Florida, where she and her husband of just two months have moved into their first home. The third lives on a farm in England, and she, like me, makes very frequent trips to the craft store to keep her letters aesthetically appealing.
I know some people are going to sit there and think, “what’s the point in mailing a letter when DM exists?” Well, I can tell you with absolute honesty that I have never once gotten as excited about an Instagram DM as I do every single time I get a new letter in the mail. It’s a completely different experience, even if it might not seem like it. That, and people can’t send you keychains and souvenirs over Facebook.
So, how exactly DO you find a pen pal?
It’s actually pretty easy. In the last 10 years, dozens of websites and social media pages have popped up and dedicated themselves to matching future pen pals from all over the world.
On Facebook, you can join groups like WorldWide SnailMail Pen Pals, which gives members the chance to either post their own blurbs and photos or to just scroll through those that are already posted. Differently, websites like Global Penfriends give you the ability to filter the profiles you see and to make your own for others to find!
Either way, both social media and curated sites give you access to hundreds, if not thousands, of people from all over the world, looking for pen pals just like yourself. Just (at the risk of sounding like my fourth-grade teacher) make sure you remember it’s still the internet, and to be safe when you’re sussing out new pals.
No matter which route you take, you’re opening yourself up to the chance to meet new friends and, often, to collect things from all over the globe. More than that, if you’re the kind of person who likes to travel, then you’re basically setting yourself up with great tour guides for future destinations. And, if nothing else, getting a pen pal gives you the perfect excuse to invest in some really cute stationery to keep around the house — I’d call that a win.