During our travels in Europe, my mother and I seemed to spend more time addressing the postcards than writing them, the world around us proving more distracting than we anticipated. And we’d laugh each time it was time to move on to another country, because we still had a stack of unwritten cards with stamps and scrawled addresses, and nothing more. We’d furiously scribble some notes at the airport then run around trying to find a postbox to send them. Or beg the on-board staff to post them when they got back home. In April and May, 2006, as my husband and I drove around Greece researching a guidebook, my mum back in Australia in a coma, I would write her a postcard a day, sharing my everyday experiences, my secret thoughts, my fears that I might never see her again, as much as my ideas for the things we’d do together upon her recovery. I just wanted her to know that I was thinking of her. Fortunately, three weeks later she was out of the coma, speaking a little, slowly remembering, and (miraculously) rapidly recovering. I was by her side a month later. The postcards were in the drawer beside her hospital bed. I never did ask her if the nurses or anyone had read her the cards. Knowing she was well enough now to read them was enough. But now I wonder: does anyone read the postcards when we send them?
Postcards: does anyone read them?
February 14, 2008
by Lara Dunston
Categories: Uncategorized
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MEET LARA DUNSTON
A perpetual globetrotter and travel writer who has experienced over 60 countries, authored 40+ guidebooks, and published 100s of articles for National Geographic Traveler, Wanderlust, Paperplane, Get Lost, Lifestyle+Travel, Voyageur,
Hemispheres, The Independent, Lonely Planet, DK, Footprint, Rough Guides, Insight, Thomas Cook, AA Guides, Fodors, USA Today, and more.
This blog is about the things that are cool (and not so cool) about travel, that inspire us to travel, and that are inspiring about the places we visit. It's a space for me to reflect upon my work as a travel writer, the travel media, travel publishing, and travel industry. Read more here.
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2 comments
Wendy says:
February 14, 2008 at 6:06 PM (UTC 10 )
Yes! And I admit I still display them on the fridge and hate to throw them out.
Lara Dunston says:
February 17, 2008 at 3:46 PM (UTC 10 )
I used to do the same when I had a fridge. I also had a noticeboard in my home office that I’d pin cards to. I love their ability to inspire dreams of travelling to the destinations they depict.