Pen-Pal Groups

What follows is a list of resources for acquiring Pen-Pals. Pen-Pals and travel share a strong bond, the wellspring of which is an interest in foreign places and peoples. Needless to say, if you're interested in getting to know people worldwide, a pen-pal is one way to do that. 

This list was compiled and was maintained by Bernd Wechner. It is one of a set of similar lists which can be found on the World Wide Web at:

http://bernd.wechner.info/Travel

PLEASE NOTE: These lists are dated. I ran out of time to maintain them years ago. I make no pretense of being able to do so into the future. They were a nice idea and popularly received and I leave it on line for historic reasons mainly. Do not expect it to be accurate or relevant today. You may still of course find some pertinent ideas and tips in them if you're lucky. DO NOT send me a request to exchange links.

Finally, I regularly receive questions regarding these lists, usually for more information. It is very unlikely that I have more information, and such requests unfortunately are a low priority in my mailbox. That's life.

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soc.penpals

Check this USENET newsgroup out, if you're looking for a penpal on the net. Otherwise you might try posting an ad somewhere in the soc.culture or rec.travel hierarchy.

The Wonderful World of Pen Pals

An on-line pen pal service run by the Home School World. It seems to be aimed primarily at children.

 

http://205.186.59.2/Penpals/Penpals.html

Pen-Pal Connection

The Liceo Scientifico "L.B. Alberti" is an Italian school which provides and on-line pen-pals database. Aimed at on-line pen-pals, not the snail-mail type.

 

http://alberti.crs4.it/pen-pal/

Esperanto Koresponda Servo

A Pen-pal service for esperantists. A wonderful tool for practicing and learning this international language.

 

http://members.aol.com/enrike/ekseo.htm

 

E-mail: enrike@aol.com

Koresponda Servo Mondskala

A global pen-pal service for esperantists. This is an off-line service.

 

c/o Francois Xavier Gilbert 
B. P. 6, 
55000 Longeville-en-Barrois 
Francio

The Page

A bi-monthly newsletter for making friends (serious palling as they call it) aimed primarily at the American market.

 

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/3907/ 

c/o Barbi Warnest 
P.O. Box 130965 
Roseville, MN 55113 
USA 
E-mail: tzine@isd.net

Signal International PenPal Magazine

Looks like a fairly comprehensive Pen Pal service if a little cryptic in its presentation. The publisher is very fond of short hand, bulleted points.

 

http://www.sci.fi/~signal

 

P.O. Box 150, 
15111 Lahti, 
FINLAND 
Fax. 358-3-7334799 
E-mail: signal@sci.fi

Retire.net's Pen-Pal program

An online email pen-pal matching service. Open to people of all ages, though the sites focus is on retired folk.

 

http://www.retire.net/penpal/

Liquid Letters - Plant Pen Pals

Organises key-pals (electronic pen-pals) and snail mail pals. They also have a Planet Pen Pals Zine. 

http://www.angelfire.com/ak/anakee/penpals.html 

E-mail:  anakee@angelfire.com

Brian's Pen Pal Club

A purely on-line pen pal club, which I've not had time to check out to be frank but which requested a listing here. 

http://www.angelfire.com/pa/ppalclub

International Pen Friends

A healthy international database to draw on. Will provide a list of interested pen-friends in the regions you're interested in.

 

P.O. Box 340, Dublin 12, IRELAND (Head Ofice) 
P.O. Box 41044, Bethseda MD 2084, USA 
10401 Grosvenor Pl, Suite 712, Rockville, MD 20852, USA 
34775 McMillan Court, Abbotsford, B.C. V2S 5W4, CANADA 
P.O. Box 1324, Kitchener, ON, N2G 4G8, CANADA, ers01@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca

Pen Friends International

Sends out a quarterly newsletter containing the names and address of all new subscribers each quarter.  Also performs data searches to find people that match what they are looking for based on age, status, sex, and interests. I'm not sure if this is any way related to the International Pen Friends groups above. 

P.O. Box 80122, 
Indianapolis, IN 46280-0122. 
USA 
E-mail: pfinter@aol.com

The Texas Friendship Connection

A healthy international database to draw on. Will meter out a pen-friend every now and then in the regions you're interested in.

 

P.O. Box 532214 
Grand Prairie TX 75053-2214 
USA

The Free Letter Exchange

Periodical mailout of penpals from throughout the world aged from 18 to 30 approxiametly. The newsletter is presented with graphics, jokes, etc. Lotsa fun with travel facts and misc. articles!

 

The Free Letter Exchange 
P.O. Box 25002 
Mission Park R.P.O. 
Kelowna, BC V1W 3Y7 
Canada

The Letter Box

The Letter Box is a magazine of sorts published quarterly which includes names, addresses and descriptions of people keen for pen pals.

 

c/o Trish Rucker 
P.O. Box 37 
Decatur, GA 30031-0037 
USA 
email: trish.rucker@ehbbs.com

Travel View 1

Another pen-pal organisation, the name of which would seem to suggest they have a leaning towards travellers.

 

c/o Linda Yurkosky 
531 Edmonton Avenue, 
Penticton, BC V2A 2H1 
Canada

Overweight/Diet Friendship club

Overweight? Join this diet pen pal club. For information please send a large self addressed stamped envelope to:

 

c/o Judy Kerns 
371 Valley View Rd. 
Claysville, PA. 15323-9418 
USA 
email: fredie@pulsenet.com