There doesn't seem to be much letter writing going on these days but when I was growing up I used to love writing letters and had lots of penpals. It started when I was probably about 7 or 8 and I wrote to some of the kids who were listed in the Sindy/Care Bears/ My Little Pony magazines I used to get - none of them ever wrote back so no idea if Mum ever sent them for me! But when I reached my mid teens, I started writing to people from all over the world. I had penpals in America, Ghana, France, as well as all over Britain. I got some of them through a Royal Mail's penpal organization called Hola - not sure if it still exists, some through magazine listings, and even a couple from Teletext! One was my best friend for a while and I was even bridesmaid at her wedding. Today I do have one of them on my Facebook but we don't keep in touch very often. maybe because I don't get on FB like I used to. Really ought to change that!
To be honest these days, I feel like the people I connect with on social media because of my blogs are the closest that I have to penpals. It's lovely getting to know someone who lives beyond your neck of the woods who you might not otherwise have connected with, and for me personally, I would definitely love to meet them in person if I ever get the chance. I think so far, I've only met up with one. And I know I'm not the the only one. Some of the people I talk to on Instagram have also said that they've made similar connections. So I suppose this is like penpals but without the letter writing. Did any of you have or still have penpals? Do people even have penpals these days? Or did it go out in the nineties???
Without meaning to sound like an echo, I'm in my thirties and as the thirty-somethings have said, it wasn't really something we did. Perhaps if social media hadn't come along when it did, we all would've discovered the joys of letter writing! LOL! I'm pretty big on Instagram and have connected with loads of people that way, so I suppose for me and my generation, that is how we do it.
A lot of the kids I went to school with did have penfriends. You've got to remember that this was the time before social media, and if we had sites like Facebook and Twitter and the rest then maybe there wouldn't have been any need for penfriends. I went to an all girls school so the ones who were writing were really just trying to get to know some boys! LOL! Writing letters to strangers and starting friendships that way was never really my thing. But good on those who were into all that.
If you mean penpals in the traditional sense i.e. - writing letters or cards and then walking over to the post box or post office to post them then no, I've never had penpals. I really don't think it's something that my generation (I'm in my early thirties!) have ever really done. But that said I have had online friends who I used to message, some I still do, and as many of you have stated, that really is today's equivalent. I much prefer it - it's a lot greener for a start. Not to mention more instant.
I did have penfriends but these were people I actually knew rather than people I was matched with or however. When I was in elementary school my dad was posted overseas, so I wrote my friends at home to stay in contact with them. You got to remember this was the age before social media! Haha. And then when we returned to the States, I wrote the friends I made while overseas. So i was a pretty good letter writer but all that stopped when email and social media came along! Haha. I definitely prefer the more instant form of messaging but it is a pity that letter writing is becoming a lost art.
LOL! This post could have been made for me! While a lot of you here have said that you didn't have penfriends and that writing letters wasn't really your cup of tea, I was the penpal queen! I'd been writing to penpals since I was in my midteens, and then once the internet took off the way that it did, I made loads of online friends. Many of you here have said that talking to people on social media is your equivalent of having penpals. Well I'm willing to bet I was making friends online long before a lot of you did! Haha!
Most of my penpals were girls who were big pop music fans like I was. In fact there's a couple of you here who I met in this way! Haha! But the majority I'm unfortunately no longer in touch with which I suppose is to be expected. But for me, things like making penfriends and online friends was a necessity as I've suffered from anxiety for much of my life. I was quite withdrawn and wasn't very outgoing, finding it very hard to meet people and make friends. So if it wasn't for these, I wouldn't have made many friends when I was younger. I took my time getting to know them, and then when I was ready, we met up in person. And that is exactly how I met my husband as well! 😊
Unfortunately with the way my life is right now, I'm way too busy to write letters so I do get what a lot of you are saying. But maybe one day I'll be able to put pen to paper again. I've found it to be a really great way to make friends and connect with people I may never have got to know otherwise. So I would definitely recommend it to people, especially for those who need to take their time before that all important face to face meeting!
Never did have penpals when I was younger but then it's like a lot of you said, I was one of those who wouldn't have wanted to sit around writing letters. I had plenty of friends around me, and I lived in countries where the lifestyle was always very outdoorsy, so I was usually off out doing something with family or friends. And like a lot of you have also said, I suppose that the following I have on social media are like my penpals now! LOL!
I'm not sure that having penpals is something that my generation did (I'm a nineties child!) I certainly didn't know anyone of my age group who wrote to people. There were people in my family who were older than me who did have penpals though. I think it's because for my generation, when we were coming to the stage where we could write letters, we were entering the wonderful world of emails and social media which I think pretty much replaced the whole penpal concept.
I think it's probably me, Madame Bo and Bailamos who were keen letter writers back in the day. Nothing quite beat seeing a letter addressed to you with a foreign postmark coming through your letter box. At least it wasn't a bill! But we all lead such busy lives that sitting down to regularly write letters - especially if you've got more than two penfriends - can be tricky. But I do think that the connections that we make via social media have kind of replaced our friends of the letter writing variety! In fact on my recent visit to London, I met up with three of my Instagram friends and I'd like to think that they are friends now rather than social media friends.
A couple of my cousins used to have penfriends, and one of my friends, her brother who was in the army also had a female penfriend who he used to write to. I don't believe my cousins are still in contact with their friends anymore, or if they are I'm sure it's been transferred to social media rather than letters, as I don't see them writing letters any more. Actually does anyone now???
As for me, I never had any penfriends although when I was younger I wished I did as I loved the idea of post coming for me. I just never seemed to have the time to write to anyone!
I can't say I've ever had penpals, no. I've never really been the letter writing type. I know a lot of you here have said that the people you have on social media are something like penpals to you, but for me, I only really talk to the people I know. They're friends to me in the real world so I wouldn't really consider them penpals. I know there were family members and family friends who did write to penpals for many years and I admire the dedication that took. But I know it's not something I'd be able to do given how busy my life is.
Never had penfriends. I was a very energetic teen so I wouldn't have the time or patience to sit there and write someone. But There were people in my family who did write other people. Maybe not overseas but in other parts of North America. Some of you have talked about social media kind of being like the modern version of having penfriends and I guess that's true. I use Facebook to talk to people who have now moved some place else. I do not however, talk to people I don't know. I know some of you have talked about making friends that way but it's not for me. I need to know the person I'm talking to.
The closest thing I had to penpals was writing to my cousins in Ireland. And even then that bored me. Not talking to my cousins but the whole letter writing thing. I just didn't have the patience to sit there and write letters. So thank goodness for Facebook coming along when it did not to mention all these wonderful apps we now have.
I have had penfriends for many many years. People I've met on my travels, people who I've taught abroad... I went on to keep in touch with them when I returned home. I have to admit I was quite a prolific letter writer in my time. Haha! But then email and then social media came along, and while I'm still in touch with many of them, the letter writing has pretty much stopped. So I'm not sure I can call them penfriends anymore. Just friends! Haha!
When I were at school we were encouraged to have penfriends in other countries to improve our language skills. My school had this scheme where you could write to students in schools abroad so I was paired up with a French girl called Sylvie. I wrote to here for a while but then the letters soon fizzled out. To be honest I weren't too bothered as my French skills were far from great, and at that age you can't be bothered with anything that's too difficult. So it's amazing that I now live in Canada where one of the official languages is French!
But I know there were people in my family who had penpals and they wrote to them for years. No idea what's happened with that now. I also know that some of them did meet at least the once. But as far as I know, nobody in my circle of friends has what could be termed 'a penpal' but there are loads wo talk to people online so maybe that's the done thing now rather than writing letters.
I had a couple of penpals when I was in my early teens because it sounded like a fun thing to do but it didn't last long as I were bored writing letters! I can't even remember their names now. They both lived in England so they weren't anywhere exotic or anything. All I can say is thank goodness we have other more instant forms of communication these days or how would I communicate with my family and friends back in Britain?
I think my nan had a penpal. A lady of a similar age who lived in Wales. But today I don't know anyone who writes to penfriends and it may well be a thing of the past. But I do agree with Angel in that the online friends we make are kind of like our penpals now.
I did! I used to have quite a few penpals back in the day. If I'm truly honest, it was really boys I used to write to! I was a teenage girl after all, and yes I was looking for a boyfriend. There wasn't really a whole lot of talent going on in my area. Plus a lot of those boys, I knew from school or church or were family friends so I didn't really want to go there. So penpals seemed to be a good way to meet people. Especially boys! All of my penfriends lived in England. I didn't write to anyone from abroad. But I also didn't get to meet any of my penfriends in person so my idea clearly didn't work! 😒 No idea where any of them are now. Also as I live in Australia there's no chance of me crossing paths with them now. Unless of course they have moved out here as well. 😂