Back in the late 80's early 90's (I think) I had two, one from Egypt & one from Northern Ireland. We wrote for about a year, then we just tapered off to nothing. Although I worried at the end about the guy from Egypt, the last couple of letters I received had been opened. I don't know if it was his government or mine that opened them. But it did bother me.

@bratface said:

Back in the late 80's early 90's (I think) I had two, one from Egypt & one from Northern Ireland. We wrote for about a year, then we just tapered off to nothing. Although I worried at the end about the guy from Egypt, the last couple of letters I received had been opened. I don't know if it was his government or mine that opened them. But it did bother me.

That is very interesting! How did you get connected with them (if you don't mind me asking)?

I had a Swedish pen pal for a very short period of time when I was in high school but we too tapered off. And then I've had several online pen pals with mixed success. Because I grew up with a pen pal success story right under my own roof with my mother, I kind of thought it was the norm to have a pen pals that could last on and on. I'm not so sure that that's the case, though. It definitely takes time, investment and commitment.

@Lemons said:

@bratface said:

Back in the late 80's early 90's (I think) I had two, one from Egypt & one from Northern Ireland. We wrote for about a year, then we just tapered off to nothing. Although I worried at the end about the guy from Egypt, the last couple of letters I received had been opened. I don't know if it was his government or mine that opened them. But it did bother me.

That is very interesting! How did you get connected with them (if you don't mind me asking)?

I had a Swedish pen pal for a very short period of time when I was in high school but we too tapered off. And then I've had several online pen pals with mixed success. Because I grew up with a pen pal success story right under my own roof with my mother, I kind of thought it was the norm to have a pen pals that could last on and on. I'm not so sure that that's the case, though. It definitely takes a time, investment and commitment.

It was through a magazine (Family Circle, I think). You sent in your name & address & they linked you up with a pen pal. I wish I could remember the name of the organization that came up with the program (old brain 👵)? I still have their letters & gifts (we exchanged things that were linked to our area) in a box somewhere. I should dig them out & reread them.

I guess I did have a couple of online ones, people from IMDb that frequented the same boards (the poll board mostly). We exchanged emails for a while after IMDb closed down but that tapered off as well.

@bratface said:

@Lemons said:

@bratface said:

Back in the late 80's early 90's (I think) I had two, one from Egypt & one from Northern Ireland. We wrote for about a year, then we just tapered off to nothing. Although I worried at the end about the guy from Egypt, the last couple of letters I received had been opened. I don't know if it was his government or mine that opened them. But it did bother me.

That is very interesting! How did you get connected with them (if you don't mind me asking)?

I had a Swedish pen pal for a very short period of time when I was in high school but we too tapered off. And then I've had several online pen pals with mixed success. Because I grew up with a pen pal success story right under my own roof with my mother, I kind of thought it was the norm to have a pen pals that could last on and on. I'm not so sure that that's the case, though. It definitely takes a time, investment and commitment.

It was through a magazine (Family Circle, I think). You sent in your name & address & they linked you up with a pen pal. I wish I could remember the name of the organization that came up with the program (old brain 👵)? I still have their letters & gifts (we exchanged things that were linked to our area) in a box somewhere. I should dig them out & reread them.

I guess I did have a couple of online ones, people from IMDb that frequented the same boards (the poll board mostly). We exchanged emails for a while after IMDb closed down but that tapered off as well.

This makes me feel a little better. Almost all of my online penpal friendships tapered off and it made me feel like kind of a loser after seeing my mother so successful with hers. I guess it's just hard to keep up communications with someone that you never get to see.

That sounds like an interesting pen pal program. It really can be a neat way to learn about people in other parts of the world and their cultures, even if short-lived.

I had a penpal (of sorts) back in the mid-1990's from England. He was a major Star Trek Voyager fan, but in England, they would air new episodes a few weeks behind North America. I met him on a Star Trek chat forum and he was always asking if someone could send him videotapes of new episodes so he can watch them before the rest of his country does. He'd always send me money for the videotapes and for my time putting the tapes together (I'd always edit out the commercials which he really appreciated), and he'd send me notes about what he liked about each episode. I'd write about DS9 but he'd always come back to Voyager. It was kind of a neat experience talking about Voyager through snail mail. But everything sort of stopped when Voyager ended. I've never met him, or even know what he looks like. I've long since lost his mailing address, but I sometimes wonder if he's still around and it would be interesting to find out what are his impressions of the current state of Trek.

@Dark_Sithlord said:

I had a penpal (of sorts) back in the mid-1990's from England. He was a major Star Trek Voyager fan, but in England, they would air new episodes a few weeks behind North America. I met him on a Star Trek chat forum and he was always asking if someone could send him videotapes of new episodes so he can watch them before the rest of his country does. He'd always send me money for the videotapes and for my time putting the tapes together (I'd always edit out the commercials which he really appreciated), and he'd send me notes about what he liked about each episode. I'd write about DS9 but he'd always come back to Voyager. It was kind of a neat experience talking about Voyager through snail mail. But everything sort of stopped when Voyager ended. I've never met him, or even know what he looks like. I've long since lost his mailing address, but I sometimes wonder if he's still around and it would be interesting to find out what are his impressions of the current state of Trek.

That sounds like an interesting experience! And how lucky for him that you gave him previews of those shows! 😁 Sounds like all of us so far would like to know how our pen pals are doing now.

@Lemons said:

That sounds like an interesting experience! And how lucky for him that you gave him previews of those shows! 😁 Sounds like all of us so far would like to know how our pen pals are doing now.

I know what you mean. There's a long list of people I've lost touch with. I've done a search for my old penpal on facebook but nothing comes up in his name, in the town he lived in. So, either he's not on facebook or maybe he's passed on. With the advent of DVDs, Netflix, and other digital media, I would imagine he's no longer asking people to send him videotapes HahA!