kerouac

<i>I'll confess I sent some postcards to my family giving indication as to where I was going when I ended up in strange places...</i>

Oh I sent plenty of postcards and letters, but since they took 5 days to arrive, it wouldn't have been very much help in trying to track me down, although I would announce my intentions for the next destination.

PalenQ

postcards these days can cost up to $2 just to sen and 1$ to buy if you can find them - the old days of laundry lists of postcards is over thank God - and your budget is lower.

Cathinjoetown

I remember the days of postcards and airgrams--a phone call home would have to have been a dire emergency. I'll never forget a girl from Seattle who was so pleased with herself for buying enough stamps in London for her entire European vacation. You still can't do that!

PalenQ

Always amazed me that in the Euro zone at least why don't they have a European post office with stamps valid everywhere?

sandralist

The Eurozone is not a government. It has no constitution. It was controversial in the USA for the federal government to create a postal service, and it still is controversial

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postal_Clause

http://blog.constitutioncenter.org/2...s-post-office/

sandralist

(By saying it has no constitution, I am saying it has no authority to set up a trans-state postal system with uniform pricing, management, etc)

PalenQ

If they can have a common currency why not common post office - saving tons of money perhaps in duplication of services?

janisj

>>If they can have a common currency why not common post office - <<

Since Ecuador, El Salvador, Zimbabwe, the Micronesia Federation and several other countries use the US $ would you expect them to use the USPS?

bilboburgler

or the same airline or the same train company, maybe we should all buy coffee from one supplier. There is a name for these ideas.....

PalenQ

Since Ecuador, El Salvador, Zimbabwe, the Micronesia Federation and several other countries use the US $ would you expect them to use the USPS?>

janis as usual you missed my point - economy - those far-flung from America countries having a common postal service would not be economical.

NATO can join military forces why can't a Euro post office be done? Like UPS and FedEX and others already do in Europe - what if they all had separate devisions to work from?

What if each U.S. state had its own post office - similar to Europe perhaps.

tonfromleiden

>common currency why not common post office<

Common currency, but still with national symbols on one side of the coins. There are a few things we do together, mostly only when it's inevitable, after long discussions and nobody content with the outcome. It makes it a funny place.

janisj

no I didn't miss your point -- Like you, I can post silly irrelevant things too . . .

Tulips

We don't even have the same VAT on identical items. Or just try buying a car in another European country. Cost of stamps varies widely. It's sometimes cheaper for me to post a letter for Belgium in the Netherlands - even though I live in Belgium.

PalenQ

And it seems the Euro is not a strong as well thought - not monetarily but as a pan-European currency - nations like Greece forced to use the same value currency as Germany - losing their ability to devalue or revalue a unique currency that could help Greece with imports, etc.

Maybe the Euro will dissolve too? Britain does well without it s does Switzerland and Sweden and Norway.

anyway I understand the difficulties but just seems that some day countries like Holland and Belgium may benefit from a unified mail system - not sure and I'm a stamp collector (or was as a child) so like to see different stamps in each nation.

tonfromleiden

»... some day countries like Holland and Belgium may benefit from a unified mail system.«
Don't underestimate the nationalistic feelings. Not many Dutch would like having to use stamps with the Belgian king and the other way around.
Don't underestimate the national institutions. The Belgian and Dutrch postal workers have a totally different labour contract. (The Dutch one being by far inferior, I think.)

PS. To be irritatingly priggish: the country is called the Netherlands. The only time »Holland« was the official name for this part of the world, was at the beginning of the 19th century, when the French had a puppet regime over here. That's also the time when the town hall in Amsterdam was turned into a palace. After the French left, the Amsterdam city council where content to leave it that way. Reason? The maintenance costs!

sandralist

I don't think you are being priggish at all to point out that the name of the Netherlands is the Netherlands. Not Holland. The Netherlands. This is a travel board.

I would also like to point that the euro is not a pan-European currency. There are more countries in Europe who don't use the euro than those who do -- and most people are expecting that number to decline rather than increase.

Anyway, those interested in transnational postal unions might want to start reading here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Postal_Union

PalenQ

I know all about the Holland just being a part of The Negtherlands but many if not most Americans call it Holland and this is an American-dominated American-based forum - plus it's a lot easier to type (Holland) - heck the Dutch Tourist Board calls itself the Holland Tourist Board so tell your priggishness to those folks - why do they do it - because Holland is the name many foreigners use.

Holland.com: Tourism in the Netherlands
www.holland.com/
Welcome to Holland.com, the official website of the Netherlands Board of Tourism and Conventions, where you receive all the information for your visit to ...
‎Amsterdam - ‎Regions - ‎10x summer in Holland - ‎Home

Note they say "Welcome to Holland" so as long as your own country NL uses Holland so much I think it is OK for us to do the same?

And what about the Holland-American line boat company - Holland is used more than TheNL here so quit being so didactic when the Dutch themselves use it in publicity.

PalenQ

I do note the approbation of using Holland for The Netherlands this causes in Dutch folks and have decided to try to use The Netherlands unless I default back to Holland without thinking.

Dank u very wel.