People
This IT engineer sometimes sends 100 postcards a month
Thomas Streit from Faulensee in the Bernese Oberland is an IT professional with a passion for postcards: his hobby, “Postcrossing”, is a fitting theme for today’s World Post Day.
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Postcrossing is an analogue round-the-world trip with digital support. It’s a global project where postcard enthusiasts randomly receive addresses on postcrossing.com, a shared digital platform, to send handwritten greetings to all four corners of the world – and receive cards from over 80 countries. Thomas has been active on the platform since 2018. “At peak times, I’ve sent out up to 100 cards a month,” he says.
“For me, it’s the harmony between the card, stamp and postmark that makes the whole thing special.”
He doesn’t just pick the next best card and write a universal greeting. “For me, it’s very important that the overall harmony is right: the design of the card, the matching stamp and postmark – not simply of an anonymous letter distribution center, but a real post office. A little work of art then? “It’s certainly something I’m passionate about,” he says. His stamp collection is extensive, his postcards are sorted by design – landscapes, people, art cards, railways and much more – and he even travels throughout Switzerland to collect special cantonal postmarks.
A vibrant community
For Thomas, Postcrossing is more than just a hobby: “We’re a vibrant community, with us you’ll find people of all ages and professions – from students to professors, from housewives to nurses.” Including himself: Thomas has worked for many years as an IT engineer at Swiss Post and is responsible for the administration of Jira and Confluence – important tools for project management and internal collaboration. A postcard enthusiast, he even organizes meetings where postcrossers from Switzerland and Europe can meet in person.
Love by postcard
Thomas has a very special history with Postcrossing: he got to know Melina, a 49-year-old woman from Dortmund, via this digital platform. They began writing to each other in 2023 with a postcard that Thomas wrote in the middle of the night – a card that deeply touched Melina. For over a year and a half, they exchanged postcards, e-mails and video calls. “We finally met in person in Nuremberg – and today we live together in Faulensee by Lake Thun.”
For the IT engineer, one thing’s certain: “A postcard is more than just a piece of paper – it’s a piece of lived humanity.” According to Thomas, the magic of a postcard lies in its ability to connect people, create friendships and open people’s hearts – especially in an increasingly digital world.
