5 Tips to Better Pen Pal-ing

This picture is ridiculous and I love it.

I never had a pen pal when I was a kid. I always wanted a pen pal. But I never had one. I had friends who wrote to kids in other countries and it just seemed amazing.

I want to be the type of person who has a card for every occasion. I want to remember birthdays and promotions and be thoughtful. So I've got to practice. Couple that with my desperate jealousy of kids who had pen pals and you've got an idea.

And that's where International Geek Girls Pen Pal Club comes in. IGGPPC is a place where nerdy girls all over the world can come together and just talk. There are forums and groups and the friendliest people ever. No matter what you're nerdy about, there's someone there who shares your love.

And to top it off, you get to write letters. And receive letters. Each month, on the 15th, they open up the site to new pen pal exchanges. You put in some basic information about yourself and the genius ladies behind the program pair you up with someone similar to you and send you their info. It's awesome.

Here are 5 tips to better pen pal-ing:

1. Don't be afraid to be yourself. A letter is the most personal form of communication, which means you shouldn't hold back your personality. It's easy to over think sounding cool to your new pen pal but trust me you want to be yourself or no one will want to talk to you.

2. Always write back! I'm a slow do-er sometimes. I tend to forget what I was doing until someone reminds me. Which is BAD BAD BAD for a pen pal! (sorry buddies!) I think a good cadence for pen pal letters is to write at least 1 a month.  Don't sit on the letter for a few weeks (like me sometimes) and make your pen pal think you hate them. You would feel bad if you felt forgotten too!

3. Invest in stationery you love. One of the best parts of writing letters is getting to find fun cards and paper to write it on. Add stickers and washi tape and fun pens and you've got yourself a shopping list! And anytime you get to spend shopping for things you don't need is fun time.

4. Include enough postage. This is especially important if you're sending mail overseas. I'm a chronic worrier with a mom who works at the post office so I annoyed the crap out of her figuring out correct postage. But it's better to worry about it ahead of time than to have the letter returned to you! (Here's a postage calculator if you're in the US.)

5. HAVE FUN! Duh. You're going to have fun. You're going to make new friends and you're going to enjoy yourself. Don't get caught up in the stress of your handwriting or your supplies. Just remember that your pen pal will be happy with whatever you send. Because everyone loves getting snail mail.

This post is part of a blog link up with some of the other lovely ladies of IGGPPC. Check out the other posts over on Jenny's blog!

xoxo
Amanda