Who knew that one of your closest friends could be halfway across the world? If you told me in January that one of my best friends would live in Germany, I would not believe you. Then again, I wouldn’t believe half of what you said about 2020.
I started penpalling for my Virtual Vacations post, and never would have expected for it to have become a daily activity. However, I found it was an experiment I didn’t want to end. There are so many wonderful people that I met through Global Penfriends – a penpalling website, and I am so happy I joined.
Thanks to penpalling, I now have friends in Hungary, Brazil, South Africa, Israel, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
I’ve learned about so many other cultures and developed genuine friendships. The site is full of open-minded people, and we have talked about everything, from our latest Netflix binge to the politics of our countries. Talking to people from around the world also made me feel less trapped during quarantine, as I felt like I was experiencing a bit of their world through their stories. I learned that in Brazil they spent New Years at the beach, and it is a tradition to jump seven waves – each of them representing a wish you have for the new year. In South Africa, Lobola is the word for their dowry, and celebrity lobola’s could be worth millions. Germany is home to ‘the real life Disney castle’- the Neuschwanstein Castle, and their Carnival lasts for months. Each one of my penpals have made their country sound so beautiful that they are all on my bucket list to visit.
If you are even mildly interested in penpalling, I highly recommend that you try it. You will make new friends, learn about other communities, and if you do snail mail then your art skills will improve too. Plus, you can exchange trinkets with your penpals!
SITE DETAILS
Through Global Penfriends, I signed up for e-pal, snail mail, postcard pals, and language learning. One thing I love about the site is that you are able to customize so much. If you don’t want to include your address in your profile, than you don’t have to. Personally, I like to use e-pal, so I use social media, email, and the site to communicate with my ‘penfriends’. Although I did send my first ever snail mail letter today, which was very exciting. I’ll include photos of my letter and the one I received below.
The site is also very safe. They review your profile each time you try to change it, and they encourage the usage of an alias.
Another thing I love is how you can set preferences. You can search for pen friends from a specific region and/or age range. You can add specifics in your bio interest section. You can even set preferences for how often you want to communicate with other users, whether daily, weekly, or monthly. A feature that I think is adorable is the ability to send smiles to people, to let them know you are interested in being a penpal!
Again, Penpalling is amazing, so definitely try it out, and if you do let me know by commenting, or DMing me on Instagram @_teentraveler_! Also be sure to tune into my Instagram stories for weekly polls.
Teen Traveler 
This is so lovely!
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Thank you so much:)
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