Start Penpalling Today!
Find Friends Around the World With a Letter-Writing Hobby
Penpalling is a low-cost, absorbing hobby that gives you a reason to look forward to the mail every day.
Hobbies can be expensive and sometimes require equipment before you can start to follow your chosen interest. All you need to get started in penpalling is a pen, notepad, envelope and a stamp. You can write letters almost anywhere and at any time, so it’s easy to fit this hobby around a busy life.
A penpal can become a lifelong friend, and will help you to discover more about other countries. Sharing the ups and downs of life with a friend through letters can be immensely therapeutic.
Finding a Penfriend
The quickest and easiest way to get started in your quest to find a penfriend is to go on-line. There are dozens of websites offering penpals, but it pays to do a little research before committing yourself. International Penfriends is one of the oldest penpal organizations and as such, is a good starting point, even if only to compare to other sites.
Free sites often look attractive but paying a small fee may allow you access to people who are serious about finding a penfriend rather than just looking for a date or future spouse. You can either choose to write to one or more of the people listed, or enter your own details for potential penpals to write to you. Sites which allow you to state your age and hobbies can help you attract penpals you have something in common with.
Another option is to look for penpal sections in print magazines. Many specialist magazines, for example on the topics of needlecraft, stamp collecting etc, have small adverts for penfriends and having a shared hobby can be a great starting point for a friendship.
Writing to Your Penfriend
Once you’ve found your penpal, you can get started. The first letters are often the hardest to write, as with other friendships, you’re finding common ground to start with. It can be tempting to launch into a full description of yourself and your life but try to keep back some information for future letters.
Once you’ve exchanged a few letters, it’s nice to swop photos to put a face to a name. You could also exchange postcards of your home towns and local area.
Don’t feel you have to write back to your penfriend immediately you receive their letter. Wait a few weeks if you can, so you have more news to share.
Penpalling Dos and Don’ts
- DO be aware of your safety, particularly in the early stages of a friendship. Obviously, you’ll be giving out personal information, but it’s best not to mention details such as information about your home, when you’re out of the house or on holiday or too much about your place of work.
- DON’T feel you have to confine yourself to penpals who are very similar to you. Part of the fun of penpalling is discovering more about other countries and cultures. Someone of a different age or with differing family circumstances can still be a fascinating friend.
- DO ask questions in every letter. It’s not being nosy; it’s a way of keeping the dialogue going and learning about your new friend.
- DON’T be tempted to write to too many people when you first start out. You might be very enthusiastic to start with, but could find yourself overwhelmed and with little time to reply to everyone.
- DO give your penpal a fair chance, but don’t feel tied to the friendship for life. If you feel the penfriendship isn’t going anywhere, write politely and perhaps explain that you’ve become too busy with work or things at home and unfortunately won’t be able to write anymore. This is kinder than simply not writing back at all.
- DON’T fall into the trap of standard letters. Some penpals do write a general letter on a computer and send this out to everyone. If you personalise this with some paragraphs written just for that penfriend, most people won’t mind. But no one likes to feel they’ve received a round-robin newsletter in place of a personal letter.
- DO enjoy the experience of communicating with new people around the world. Once you get start, this is a hobby you might keep for life.
