Are You a Postcrosser? [PHIL-OSOPHY]

Paulo Magalhaes loved receiving mail, especially postcards. So in 2005, he came up with the idea of Postcrossing, where if a member sends a postcard, they will receive at least one back from a random Postcrosser member somewhere in the world.

It sounds genial and best of all, it's not email. The more postcards you send, the more you'll receive. It's that easy.

I welcomed Carolyn Doremus, a UMass Dartmouth biology major, to come on the show and explain how Postcrossing works and why she got interested in this noteworthy global system.

The first step, she said, is to request to send a postcard. So I went to the website Postcrossing.com. You can create a free account and off you go, but don't be in too much of a rush. Explore their site and discover some really neat things.

Germany leads in most postcards sent, followed by the United States, then Russia and the Netherlands, followed by a lot of countries all across the Earth.

Carolyn was describing the different, far away places, cultures and languages that she has received on postcards from the far reaches of the globe. Your mailbox turns into a box of surprises.

Carolyn's mother, Lisa, came on later in the show and talked about some out-of-the-way places she too had received cards from and how both mother and daughter find so much satisfaction from Postcrossing. With close to 800,000 members in 208 countries, this definitely beats all those magnets on the fridge.

The average international stamp that must be on the postcard is less than $2 and that pays to have your postcard delivered to the grasslands of Africa or Marrakesh, Cairo, or the very tip of South America, or the top of Russia, all for less than two bucks. Not a bad deal at all.

Some of the senders make their postcards look extraordinary with personal decorations and drawings because there's still some well being in the world, and Postcrossing helps bring it out.

Phil Paleologos is the host of The Phil Paleologos Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Contact him at phil@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @PhilPaleologos. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.