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.



Also, I'm heading to the Travel Blog Exchange (TBEX) conference tomorrow, where I'll have some aerograms and Not-So-Flattering Views of Famous Places postcards to give out--like this:

12 total--collect 'em all!

... So if you're going to be at TBEX, find me! I'll even buy a drink for the first person who mentions this post.

Finally, one last way to keep in touch: I've set up an e-mail newsletter, which you can sign up for by clicking the link in the sidebar (under "Keep in touch") or right here. If you sign up, you'll get sporadic (very sporadic) updates on my travels and book launch/tour details as the publication date approaches (Spring 2012!). If you all you really want is a gentle reminder when the book comes out, so that you can rush to the store and buy a hundred copies, there's also a "just remind me about the book next year" option.