I've got mail

As noted recently, as part of my campaign to bring back the handwritten letter/postcard/aerogram, I now have an official post office box. Write to me! And I'll write back and/or, if you don't mind, put your postcard here on the blog.

Like these wonderful pieces of correspondence, which were waiting for me when I did my inaugural mail run a few days ago. Thanks to the two mystery correspondents! 

First, a postcard (with an Eiffel Tower design on the front) from someone in San Francisco: 

And! This letter from none other than Oracle CEO Larry Ellison*:

* Or perhaps--just maybe--an imposter with a sense of humor and access to Oracle letterhead. 

Keep 'em coming, please! Postcards, fake CEO notes, silly tourist photos, aerograms (template! over! here!), pastry tips, anything you've got! Long live the handwritten letter.

Doug Mack
PO Box 1922
Minneapolis, MN 55458-1922

Live and in concert! One night only! (Kinda)

Don't worry--you don't actually have to hear me sing. I've just always wanted to type that headline.

But! If you're in the Twin Cities next week, you can, in fact, see me live and in conversation with Mr. Breakaway, Kirk Horsted. Please join us on Thursday for an informal EuroTravelTalk about, well, European travel and my own experiences with same--in particular, my Not-So-Grand Tour with a 45-year-old guidebook.

When: Thursday, June 23rd, 7-9pm
Where: Ginger Hop in Nordeast Minneapolis
Featuring: Travel! Humor! Pathos! More travel! Etc.! Also: cheap beer.

Kirk's official event description:

Greetings Dreamers & Schemers!
Sweet summer has finally arrived in Minnesota, but that doesn't mean we can't break away for a few hours to ponder more exotic places...

On Thursday, June 23, from 7 – 9p, please join us for an informal Meetup to talk travels, BreakAways, and ???. We’ll have a light agenda, serious $4 beers & $5 wines, and face-to-face fun & chat. (Food menu also available.) 

You can RSVP on the event pages at MeetPlanGo or Meetup ... or just show up! I'd love to see you there, answer some questions, and hear your travel stories.

Special Super Awesome Added Bonus: free stuff! I'll be giving out some aerograms and postcards and maybe even a travel book or two. 

Send me a letter! The real, old-fashioned, dead-tree kind!

I believe I'm on the record as something of a social media skeptic and fan of the old-school ink-and-paper correspondence. Well, I thought it might be time to put those ideas into action and put out a call for letters.

So I went down to the post office. Got a box. A lonely box. Forlorn. Empty inside. But not for long, I hope.

Write to me, willya? I promise to write back, if you include a return address. I'll also scan the best postcards and letters and post them here, on this site, as a sort of newfangled celebration-slash-portfolio of an oldfangled form of communication, a dying art.

I'd love to hear your tourism stories and travel tales, and whatever other musings you care to share. Please send letters, postcards, pastry tips, what-have-you, to:

Doug Mack

PO Box 1922

Minneapolis, MN 55458-1922

Blog comments are great (seriously, if you've ever chimed in on the conversation here, or sent me an e-mail, I'm genuinely grateful), but nothing thrills me like a rambling letter or pithy postcard full of doodles and indecipherable handwriting and notes in the margins. My lonely mailbox and I can't wait to hear from you.

And if you write me an aerogram (template right over here!), I'll think up some Ultra-Excellent Bonus Prize for you.