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  • Postcards

postcards

my postcard collection
isn't all about where i've been,
but where i want to go.

What started as a childhood fascination for discovering the world outside my own backyard became a dogged and relentless pursuit for achieving my lifelong travel bucket list.

When you’re young, you build your world from scraps of adventure you see, hear, touch, smell and taste. at least I did. 

A precocious little kid always running around my neighborhood without shoes (I really hated shoes and still do to this day)), I built my limited view of the world from everything around me. walking through Marshes, petting rugged turtle shells, raising orphan kittens, sitting on civil war era cannons.

My trips were confined to places within the driving distance of our homes – outside Charleston and Washington, dc: a Fieldtrip to the Smithsonian, a weekend to the cape, a spring break to charleston. i can’t distinguish them now. they’re all just one flat, endless throttle down interstate 95 with pine trees, cracker barrels and 7-11’s sprinkled in between. for a while there, the world felt awfully small. i had lofty dreams, even at age 10, to see more. i needed a way to pin my dreams down, and I found them in the form of postcards. 

I’ll never forget my first postcard experience. i was at a yard sale with my bargain-finding dad, and spotted the glossary cover of a 1979 national geographic magazine (what would become my fave) with a postcard adorning the cover. Begging and pleading that i’d take no allowance for the rest of eternity if i could have it, he bargained it for 25 cents. and the rest is history.

My travel education started right there with a yard sale, a quarter, and a postcard. 

After that, i picked up a postcard everywhere i went: museums, second-hand shops, gas stations, visitor centers, you name it. whether the simple, lone cards showed scenes of a bustling cab-filled street in new York, the cobblestoned terraces of paris, or a bird’s eye view of australia’s great barrier reef, they captured everything i wanted to see and do. but they also nurtured something else in me other than FOMO: they offered me a way to become an explorer of other cultures, ethnicities, languages, art and communities.

From then on, buying postcards – even asking family and friends to send them to me – became standard Lauren practice. 

and it didn’t stop when i attended college. i taped them to the walls of my dorm at virginia commonwealth university, an indication to every new friend or classmate who walked through my door that i was a serious person. 

my collection became an anchor for me through the tough times, and a celebration of all my fun times. 

after graduation, my postcard ball-and-chain followed me. they came with me to my first job and apartment outside Washington, dc and when i moved to san francisco on a whim for a job at Stanford. they were always present, a reminder of bigger, better things, new coasts yet discovered and new waters yet swam. but i realized something at 27: my postcards had come to reflect fewer and fewer places i wanted to see and more of the places i’d been. I had done it. I had made those dreams manifest. 

today, 13 cities and many years later, postcards are still the fuel running through my veins. so far, I’ve collected 897 postcards from around the world from family, friends, colleagues, exes, collectors, shop owners, and more. take a peek below!

destinations, cities, countries...
and everything else in between.

New England
rhode island connecticut Massachusetts
maynard
boston hull New Jersey Avalon vermont New York
New york city snoqualmie falls Niagara falls Pennsylvaniayork county pawtucket philadelphia pittsburgh stroudsburg Cape Cod Maine Lovell New Hampshire North Conway
Mid-West
Illinois chicago
West Coast
solvang
California Victorville palm springs Orange County los angeles La Jolla san diego san francisco big sur hollywood encinitas Washington glaciar bay seattle Alaska Oregon seaside portland
South East
everglades chattanooga South Carolinacharleston tennessee Nashville Ormond Myrtle beach North Carolina Georgia Florida Tennessee Nashville pensacola Miami
Wild West
steamboat springs union city Montana Wyoming Jackson Nebraska Colorado Colorado Springs palisade aspen Morrison pueblo Arizona sedona Nevada las vegas utah park city santa fe tuscon canyon city denver
Gulf Coast
Texasirving Austin Houston Oklahoma Louisiana new orleans New Mexico
Mid-Atlantic
williamsburg washington, d.c. outer banks Virginia alexandria chincoteague allegheny point Delaware Tennessee Nags head
Mexico
Belize Costa Maya Tiajuanacozumel puerto Vallarta
Canada
Vancouver
Montreal
quebec
China
Shanghai changmai liaoning
Japan
hong kong
Kyoto nara Tokyo okinawa
Hawaii
Maui Honolulukauai
North & West Africa
senegal sinai trinidad
Australia
Sydney brisbane
South America
Chile
Central America
Honduras
Mediterranean
greece athens tuscon turkey italy rome verona tuscon Sienna riva san vitale rome milan florence
South Pacific
bali
South Pacific
bali
South Africa
cape town
New Zealand
Auckland
Northern Europe
bristol birmingham london Scotland Iceland Ireland Norway Sweeden Belgium netherlands amsterdam England uxbridge London norway oslo
Western Europe
Spainlisbon madrid
ibiza paris grenada valencia Portugal France Canary Islands Italy Naples Germany bern berlin tuscon alpen Interlaken
Eastern Europe
prague
Isreal Jerusalem kathmandu subashiri Tel Aviv chech republic leningrad Hungary istanbul vietnam Basel budapest jordan
Caribbean
barbados bermuda dominica Dominican republic dominican republic
Africa
cairo

New York

New York city

fighting cocks while the master looks on

New York city

fighting cocks while the master looks on
Read Adventure Blog

New York city

fighting cocks while the master looks on

New York city

fighting cocks while the master looks on
Read Adventure Blog

New York city

little Japan town

New York city

little Japan town
Read Adventure Blog

New York city

cannonball tree flowers, garden

New York city

cannonball tree flowers, garden
Read Adventure Blog

New York city

participating in the forging of a sword

New York city

participating in the forging of a sword
Read Adventure Blog

New York city

participating in the forging of a sword

New York city

participating in the forging of a sword
Read Adventure Blog

florida

florida

everglades national park

florida

everglades national park
Read Adventure Blog

russia

france

france

crepes galore
Read Adventure Blog

france

france

france

crepes galore
Read Adventure Blog

france

france

crepes galore
Read Adventure Blog

france

france

crepes galore
Read Adventure Blog

california

Los Angeles

land of hopes and dreams

los angeles

land of hopes and dreams
Read Adventure Blog

Los Angeles

land of hopes and dreams

los angeles

land of hopes and dreams
Read Adventure Blog

california

Los Angeles

land of hopes and dreams

los angeles

land of hopes and dreams
Read Adventure Blog

santa Monica

where the edge of Route 66 and Pacific Ocean mean

santa monica

where the edge of Route 66 and Pacific Ocean mean
Read Adventure Blog

hawaii

hawaii

aloha, aloha

hawaii

aloha, aloha
Read Adventure Blog

New York city

New York city

Read Adventure Blog

Turks & Caicos

turks & Caicos

crystal blue waters as far as the eyes have it.

turks & Caicos

crystal blue waters as far as the eyes have it
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maine

maine

chicago

skyscrapers for days

chicago

skyscrapers for days
Read Adventure Blog

Illinois

chicago

skyscrapers for days

chicago

skyscrapers for days
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georgia

Georgia

peaces, islands and more.

georgia

aerial view of tybee island's beautiful beaches
Read Adventure Blog

Georgia

peaces, islands and more.

georgia

aerial view of tybee island's beautiful beaches
Read Adventure Blog

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