Traveling Letter Set -- Test the Post Office

I thought it would be entertaining to find out how postal shipping times vary throughout the world. So this will be an International Swap.

Reading partners profiles in the past I have seen numerous times where they tell how terrible the shipping times are in their state. I am one of those that had to put this information on my profile page because the amount of days from when I click "SENT" to the date that it is actually postmarked can often be days if not a week. With the pandemic world around us they are closing a lot of the hubs around the country. I know that when I put a letter in our post office that it travels all the way to Cincinnati before it is postmarked. I was curious about times for other states. Hence this swap.

WHAT WE WILL DO:

See the picture above for example

HERE IS A LINK to a bigger sized picture so you can see the example better ------>>> Example

Take a letter set, one page or two depending on how many rounds you want to participate in.

Create a Log sheet like above with the following questions;

Round #: Swap ID, From: ______ to ___________

(this section is for where you are sending from to where you are sending to.)

Sent: (date)

Postmarked: (date)

Received: (date)

On the bottom of the last page of your log put:

Person # (however many ) Please return to : (Put your return address)

Also put your address on the envelope that goes with your letter set.

FIRST ROUND:(or joining new in future rounds)

Create the log above, see picture for example

Fill out the round number

Your swap ID

The City/Country you are mailing from

The City/Country you are mailing to (you'll know once your partner is assigned)

The Date you are mailing.

PLEASE PLEASE, Fill this out the DAY you mail. Please do not enter a date and then let the letter sit on your desk for a week. It ruins the whole point of the Post office test.

WHEN YOU GET YOUR MAIL FROM YOUR PARTNER:

Look at the postmark date and log it.

Log the date you receive the letter

You can partially fill out the next round information with data you know while waiting for the next swap partners to be assigned.

I will host this swap once a month so that we hopefully all have time to get our letters. If you miss the next round because you didn't get your letter in time, you can either start a new log or wait for the following round. Up to you :)

REASON I AM HOSTING THIS SWAP:

I thought it would be fun and educational to learn about the postal system around the world. I also thought a side benefit of this swap would be to help others understand that this world post pandemic is not moving as fast as it used to. So many people are obsessed with postmarked dates on letters and packages and they make a big deal and rate their partners down through no fault of their own. Swap-bot should be fun, not stressful.

PLEASE RATE YOUR PARTNER A FIVE IF THEY COMPLETE THE LOG LIKE THEY SHOULD . NO DOWN RATINGS FOR "LATE MAIL" THE ONLY RATINGS SHOULD BE FOR NOT FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS OR FOR A PERFECT SWAP. HEARTS ARE APPRECIATED IF YOU FEEL SO INCLINED.

NEW FOLKS ALLOWED WITH A WELL FILLED OUT PROFILE

NON PERFECT SWAPPERS ALLOWED AS LONG AS THEY HAVE CORRECTED THEIR ISSUES.

THIS IS AN INTERNATIONAL SWAP SO PREPARE FOR THAT WHEN MAILING YOUR SWAP.

Have a great day!!