Sure, you can update your followers with your beach tomfoolery on Instagram Stories, you can let your mum know that you arrived to your hotel safely via Whatsapp, and you can enrage your desk-shackled colleagues by sending them mid-morning photos of your infinity pool on Slack – but does any of this truly reflect your holiday experience like posting a card of a badly Photoshopped kitten in a French market basket?
Often gloriously tacky, occasionally disappointingly quite tasteful, the holiday postcard is always a good idea. Whether you're taking the time to write a note to family and sending them a slice of tangible ambience from your travels or you're simply buying a keepsake of your time away to make you smile whenever you open your fridge, that rectangular (or, if you're really lucky, dolphin-shaped) piece of card is a delight in which memories of your loved ones and beloved trips reside.
Below, a few of the Papier team explain why they've kept hold of certain postcards that they've bought for themselves and that have floated through their letterbox.
Claire, PA to the CEO
"This postcard was sent to me from France by my dear friend, Jesse, who I was kitten-sitting for at the time. I'm sentimental about postcards at the best of times but there was no way I could part with this one, as it's so lovely and bright and the kitten's little face always makes me smile!"
Rachel, Head of Customer Experience
"I bought this from the Ashmolean museum in freshers' week at Oxford, had it on my pinboard throughout uni, and now it has been on my desk for four years since! So it is probably my most meaningful one!"
Will, Content Editor
"My dad sent me this when he was on holiday in Italy. The gesture was nice enough in itself as I don't go away with him much these days, so when a postcard drops through the letterbox, it's a lovely connection to his trip, but I loved the illustration on this one so much that I decided to go to Lake Como on my next holiday!"
Christina, Creative Director
"My older brother often sends postcards from his travels around the world. It doesn't matter which corner of the world he visits, the postcards always let me know that 'it's the same as home, but different'!"
Design your own holiday keepsake by creating one of our new photo books.
