Postcard-traveler Bashny.Net

Today's story is about how ordinary postcard flew around the earth four times and safely returned to the sender. Further, with the words of Vladislav Polyakov (author): It was one winter evening, when the idea was born to start a postcard to travel the globe and from that moment began the journey. It would seem that it is almost impossible, but in the end everything turned out to be more than real. Continued under the cut. There is in the world such a site where people share real paper greeting cards in the mail. Site work is organized so that people send cards randomly to participants of the project and benefit from the same random participants, ie you never know who will be the next to read your card and from whom you will get the answer. That's the beauty of the system - there is intrigue. I came to this site for more than 2 years ago, and last winter I already had quite a lot of luggage sent and received postcards from all corners of the world, from Brazil and ending with New Zealand. In my opinion - it is very interesting to get different cards from around the world, especially because sometimes generous and kind people can not be limited to only sending cards.





After sitting on this site for about a year, one winter evening I had the idea - to start a journey card, but so that in the end she came back to me again. Thanks to this site it was quite feasible idea. Just had to make a brief statement to the people by sending a card in an envelope and put my card, too, with these instructions. Thus: each additional participant in the project, read the instruction was to simply put a postcard in the envelope next party - a kind of relay :)
Once all details have been thought through - I embarked on the plan. The statement has been drawn up like this: A summary about me and about the postcard and the reason why I started all this; forwarding rules postcards; Table Registry participants (city, country, postal code, email address, date) and my contact details. Participants in the project, I decided to make a 15 - not much, but not so little.
According to the rules, 15 participants had to send the card back to me. Short and very clear instructions, even for a little girl from Laos, have been prepared on a leaf A5 and looked powerful appendage to the main element of the project - a postcard. I chose the postcard features which recently ordered the printing of Novosibirsk. The postcard depicted a polar bear in the water. Behind postcards I added the word «Postcard» - the word «Traveler», not to mix and a short version of the table of the participants accounting instructions. That's all my preparations were complete - the card was ready to go on a journey. The idea that this piece of cardboard circled so many countries and so many people touched me very inspired. After all the careful preparation I could only generate a participant on the site, to write his address on the envelope and send a postcard to a great trip.
The first member of the project was a woman from the state of Ohio, USA. An envelope with a card in the morning January 23, 2013 went up to her and from that moment began the countdown. The chances of success I estimated 20% probability, because any member of the project could just pick up a card yourself.



Some participants in the project were even sent pictures of what is now the card - below give an example of some of them:

The first project participants - Delta, USA. February 18



Adelaina, Australia - 7 March



Vilnius, Lithuania - March 19



Vitebsk, Belarus - April 14



Bombogen, Germany - July 5



Dublin, Ireland - 11 October



Goes, The Netherlands - November 30,



According to the postcard enclosed instructions, all participants had to send me e-mails with information about the current location of postcards. This allowed me to be aware that the card still travels and that the project is still running. Some participants did it once, and even add their photos, and some have not been contacted no lines. Thus for a time card was lost and I did not hear about it for months. For example, after the party lost card from Germany for 3 to 5 months, and I thought that someone took her own. The most annoying that no letters I do not even keep track of who is stopped this chain. But in October, I received a letter from Dublin that the card travels and this was very good news.
November 30, 2013 card has reached the Netherlands - it was a 13 member of the project. He chose the following party girl from Macao, China. Postcard went to Macao for over a month and when it finally came, I asked this girl to complete the project and send this card back to me. I did not want to take risks, because it would be very disappointing if it was gone again.
And on January 27, 2014, exactly one year traveled - card returned to St. Petersburg.

Registered parcel of Macau, China - January 27, 2014



Fortunately there was no limit! :) It was the first card I sent in this project and she returned back to me. The most interesting thing is that after I sent postcards more, within a month, 20 such cards «Postcard Traveler», to be sure of at least one back to me exactly. But how strange it would not be, all cards are gone and recall only the first - with a bear in the water. All the others were missing after 2-3 participants. That the probability of the return of such cards was at least 80% is required to send a minimum of 20 cards and when planning your trip very carefully treat the preparation instructions and the paper on which it is printed.
Postcard returned to St. Petersburg, Russia



Both sides cards



Study in detail the accounting table participants and work on a calculator - I built a rough map travel card on Earth. It turned out that the card flew 116,162 kilometers.

Detailed map travel



But since this distance was calculated using the straight lines (rhumb line), and the Earth we have the shape of the ball, it was necessary to consider the great circle, which means you must enter the appropriate corrections. Plus, this amendment adds a correction for "indirect" flying aircraft. Stumbling on the scheme of Russian Post can safely be added to the total correction area 30,000 km.
Thus it happened that my card has come a long way, before returning back to St. Petersburg. It seems such a small thing, but if you think about it very much excites the imagination, the fact that a piece of cardboard done this way, the length of 146 thousand kilometers. Through many hands and people took this postcard on which the number of aircraft it flies? :) If this card would be a camera or GPS receiver - it would be more interesting, but these things are unlikely someone will be forwarded on. Easy way to fly around the Earth in absentia - send their fingerprints on a postcard in the mail :)



Source: masterok.livejournal.com