Call me old-fashioned, but I have been loving postcards and sending them when travelling or on special days for years. If you know me, you may find this a bit incongruous with my Chandler-like personality, but somehow (thankfully I am a piscis), I have got the hobby of collecting postcards, or more precisely, collecting written postcards from my friends, families and me myself.

這可能很老式，但我多年來一直喜歡明信片，并且會在旅游的時候或者特別的日子給自己寄明信片。如果你認識我，你會覺得這樣的習慣跟我那犯二青年的個性不太符合，不過謝天謝地我是個雙魚座，然后不知為何就開始了收集明信片這個習慣，尤其是朋友、家人以及自己寄給自己的明信片。

I have heard about the time capsule and a couple of my friends write letters to them future selves. Well, I do the reversed version. I also know a lot of people who write down their travel stories and keep an account for every single day in the trip. Well, I do the simplified version.

我聽說過時間膠囊，而且有些朋友會給未來的自己寫信，嘛，我的做法可以說是反過來的。我也知道很多人會寫游記，把旅途的每一天記下來，嘛，我的做法算是簡化版的。

OK, I am finished being glib.

好吧，停止耍嘴皮子。

Seriously, I consider sending postcards to myself as a way of capturing my feelings and thoughts of some specific moments. I have always thought about showing my treasured postcards to my future family and telling them the stories of those trips and experiences.

認真地講，我認為給自己寄明信片是一種定格瞬間感受和想法的好辦法。我總會想，以后可以拿著明信片給未來的家人講我旅行的故事和經歷。

First of all, a postcard itself tells a story. Some postcards are scenic snapshots or photographs; some are paintings or sculptures, famous ones or created by unknown artists; some are famous quotations, poems or lyrics. It is already interesting to learn the story of the postcard itself.

首先，明信片本身就已經是一個故事了。有的明信片是風景照或照片，有的是畫作或雕塑(名作或者出自無名藝術家之手)，一些是名言、有名的詩句或歌詞。了解明信片的故事本就是一個很有趣的過程。

To me, postcards made of old photographs that show images of old buildings and people’s live in old times are the most attractive ones.

對于我來說，記錄老建筑或過去人們的生活的明信片是最吸引我的。

In 2012, I went to Yinchuan for a trip and found a set of postcards which was issued in the late 1980s. At that time, I visited some of the places that were captured on those postcards. Those places had changed a lot and I could tell the changes by comparing with those old postcards. It was amazing, wasn’t it?

2012年，我在銀川旅游，找到了一套1980年代末期發售的明信片。在銀川的時候，我去了幾個明信片上展示的地方。那些地方變化很大。對比明信片，我能看出那些變化。那真的很棒，不是嗎?

Then, after writing something on a postcard – words, phrases, sentences or even short passages, it will turn into something more special.

然后，在明信片上寫點字，可以是幾個詞、句子、或是小短文，那么明信片就會變得更加特別。

I still remember the first time I sent a postcard to myself. It was five years ago, during the trip to Yangzhou and was also the first time I traveled alone. One of the girls I met in the youth hotel was an experienced solo traveler who shared a lot with me about her travel stories. For the very first time, I wished to keep that meet-cute in my mind. Then, I got the idea of writing a postcard and sending it to myself.

我還記得第一次給自己寄明信片時的情形。那是五年前，我去揚州旅行，那也是我第一次一個人的旅行。當時，在青旅遇到的一個女孩在獨自一人的旅行方面經驗很豐富，跟我講了很多。那是我第一次想要把那個偶遇刻在腦海里。然后，我便有了寫張明信片寄給自己的想法。

Since then, I have started my great project of collecting postcards.

從那以后，收集明信片的“偉業”正式開始了。

On the boat cruising in fjords in Norway, I kept my fingers crossed, wishing to see dolphins. In a friend’s home in London, I showed her the pictures I took in Tate Modern. At a sidewalk café in Rome, I told friends that Gelato was really delicious. All these memories are carried by the postcards I sent to myself.

在挪威穿越峽灣的船上，我祈禱看見海豚;在朋友倫敦的家里，我給她看在泰特現代美術館拍的照片;在羅馬街邊的咖啡館，我告訴朋友冰淇淋特別好吃。而明信片承載著這一切的記憶。

I am not collecting postcards, I am taking down wonderful moments in life.

其實我并不是收集明信片，而是記下生活中每一個精彩的瞬間。