Send A Custom, Personalized Postcard with Lettr

A picture I took at Petit Tabac in the Tobago Cays.

What if you could take a selfie in front of the Taj Mahal and turn it into a postcard an hour later?  What if you could send that postcard from the comfort of your favorite wifi hotspot or internet cafe without ever having to go to a post office?  Furthermore, what if that postcard could be signed by you and arrive at the intended destination in about three days time?  Wouldn't that be awesome?  I can't tell you how many postcards I have sent from exotic locations that never met their intended recipient for one reason or another. Enter: Lettr.

We get a lot of emails from companies that want us to promote their stuff. I have said before that we are very selective about this, turning down probably 98% of these offers, regardless of financial gain. But every now and then a company or product graces my inbox and I think "now that is an awesome idea" and I get really excited to share it with you guys.  And if I get really excited about sharing something with you all, I know that I'm doing the right thing.

Such was the case when we were contacted by Lettr, an innovative postcard company that is making it their mission to bring more than bills and catalogues to the mailboxes of people all over the world.  No need for a pen, no need for paper -- just upload a photo, type a message and they'll take care of the rest.

I created and uploaded the photo above to test it out (and send myself a little bit of sunshine) and five days later*, this is what arrived in the mail:

Pretty neat, right?  The blurred out section at the bottom is actually a map with a pin on the location where the postcard was sent.  A nice little touch.  The postcard is just like any other postcard in size, stock and feel - but even better, because it's totally personal and a one of a kind.

The whole process to create the card took about 10 minutes, and that's only because I got creative.  Here's how it works:

STEP 1

First, I did a little photo editing to my image, adding a border and some text.  You don't have to get as creative as I did - you can simply upload a photo.  Or you can get really creative and add all sorts of bells and whistles using your favorite photo editor like Photoshop, Pixlemator, Lightroom ...etc (Lettr has no photo editing tools built-in, fyi). It's up to you.  When the image was ready, upload it to the site.

STEP 2

Next, write a nice note, virtually sign the postcard (not going to lie, that part is a little tricky with a mouse and cursor, but better than nothing!) and fill out the recipient's mailing address.

STEP 3

Pay $1.99 via PayPal or credit card, click "mail postcard" and your original postcard in on the way to brighten someones day!

Simple, easy and fun. A pretty good recipe if you ask me. There are so many ways you could use this service, whether you are a roving gypsy or a homebody; you could send an uplifting picture with a nice quote to someone who needs a pick me up, a photo kiss to a long-distance loved one, a funny picture to your grandkids, or just a nice scenic snapshot from your travels - the possibilities are really endless.

* The time took longer this week due to the high demand of Valentines Day.  Typical turn-around time is 3-4 days.

Full disclosure: I received a free postcard code to send one to myself to test out the product and service and we are affiliates of Lettr.

Keeping in Touch Abroad: Whatsapp

Scott's view yesterday, sent via Whatsapp

Even though Scott is approximately 2,500 miles away in the Grenadines, we are in (almost) constant contact via text message.  The ship has a Blackberry that Scott uses and I have an iPhone, but despite the fact that we send at least four texts to each other a day, we pay nothing for it.  That's right, texting to the Caribbean is F.R.E.E.

We do this by using Whatsapp, a "cross-platform mobile messaging app" which allows you to exchange messages without having to pay.  The only requirement is a data plan because the app uses the internet to connect.  Data plans are fairly easy to come by in the Bahamas and the Caribbean and you can usually purchase one for a short amount of time as opposed to the USA where you are usually locked into a two year contract or something similar.  In the Bahamas and the Caribbean, you simply sign up with a local carrier (Batelco in the Bahamas and Digicel in the Caribbean, for example) by purchasing a SIM card and you can minutes to your phone by purchasing "top up" cards which are sold just about everywhere.  It's a great system and when I was a land traveler, I used one little Nokia phone over the world; Africa, Southeast Asia, South American and Central America.  I simply got to a new country, bought a SIM card, purchased some minutes and was good to go!

Many Americans have never actually seen a SIM card.

The catch is you must have an "unlocked" phone.  Most phones in the USA are "locked" to a specific carrier (you can purchase unlocked cell phones online with Best Buy, but not in the stores) so they don't work abroad unless roaming which is VERY expensive.  Luckily, "unlocked" phones are the norm pretty much everywhere else in the world and to buy one that is locked is the exception abroad.  Scott and I bought an "unlocked" Blackberry in the Bahamas and we have used that phone in just about every country with a local "SIM" card to connect to the local carrier, make calls and (sometimes) get internet.

While many of us live this lifestyle to untether ourselves from our phones and sever the constant connection with technology, having a way to make calls - at least locally - definitely comes in handy if you ever need to find a local vendor for something.

How do you stay connected?  I'm sure there are other cost-effective ways (for example, we Skype from our computers if we get a strong enough wifi signal)...what do you use to connect when cruising?