“I just have to grab a postcard!” I called to my new friends on our early adventures through Oxford City Centre.
Souvenirs can become expensive and packing space can become limited with one suitcase and one carry-on bag for a semester spent in a different country. Prior to beginning my adventures in Oxford, England, for the spring 2026 semester, I had decided that with each new place that I visited, my souvenir of choice would be a postcard: a simple, cheap, all-encompassing piece of memorabilia to represent my travels. Thus began my search for a postcard from each city, each country that I found myself exploring.
Postcard and image taken of Stonehenge, England
As I chose from a selection of postcard within every tourist trap and gift store that came across my path, I began to appreciate postcards more as I thought about all that they represented; the photos that I take on my phone and my digital camera capture the breathtaking sites that Europe has to offer, but those photos could disappear in an instant. It is human nature to see a gorgeous landscape, castle, monument, and capture the moment in any way possible, either to look back on in the future with nostalgia or to share with others. My camera roll is entirely swamped with the buildings of Oxford, castles from Wales and Scotland, sunsets from all over the United Kingdom, and with a deeper appreciation, I can look beside myself at the stack of postcards that I have collected of the same places: memories that will not disappear.
Postcard and image taken of Cardiff Castle, Wales
Collecting postcards has taught me to appreciate even the smallest of beauties in everyday life; from castles to landmarks to buildings from centuries before me, there are endless wonders to discover and the opportunity to interact with another part of the world is a remarkable experience. Though it costs me just one GBP to purchase these postcards, I look at the images and the priceless memories of each trip come flooding back: the wind whipping our hair at Stonehenge, making the solo journey to Cardiff Castle, watching the sunset on a hill in Edinburgh with the group of friends that I have made this semester, and more stories to share for years to come.
Postcard and image taken of Edinburgh Castle, Scotland
Take the photos, make the memories, buy the postcards: a physical representation of the experiences of traveling. Appreciate the simple things in life.
Ivy S. is an english literature and creative writing & publishing double major with a film minor, and is studying abroad at St. Clare’s, Oxford.
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