happytortoise

Hello,

I am originally from India and I have been living in the US for almost a decade now. I am new to Postcrossing (joined in December 2024) and recently joined Swap Bot (February 2025).

I love baking, sewing, crocheting, geocaching, fencing (Saber), kickboxing, birdwatching, volunteering (tutoring, planting, forest restoration etc.), solving puzzles and reading (I prefer murder mysteries/cozy fiction/sci-fi/health genres).

I love animals a lot and I follow a vegan lifestyle.

On a regular day, I love taking care of my plants, crocheting while listening to audiobooks and gulping all the food I make.

I speak English, Hindi and Tamil - Tamil being my mother tongue. I can read Hangul (at an extremely slow pace) and learnt basic German when I was in middle school, I'm hoping to become proficient in more languages (besides the three I speak) to understand and appreciate different cultures better. I'm hoping to travel internationally more often to experience other cultures, to try their cuisine and to grow as a person.

Thank you for reading, I hope you have a wonderful day!

Animal Farm, Magpie Murders, Kiki's Delivery Service, The Little Prince, Harry Potter (all books), The Hummingbird's Gift, Little Women, The Adventures of Tintin, The Silent Patient, A Molecule Away from Madness

Little Women (2019; I haven't watched the others), Parasite (2019), My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service

The Adventures of Tintin, Sherlock, Murdoch Mysteries, Stranger Things

Sewing, crocheting, baking

What I do

I always try and send postcards/letters the very same day when I receive details about the recipient and honor their preference in my choice of postcard/text/decoration. Please let me know in case you're unhappy with what you've received so I can incorporate your feedback into what I send in future to you or to another person through the platform. If for some reason the postcard/letter I send doesn't arrive, please notify me, I don't want to make someone feel disappointed and I would not mind sending two instead of one.

What I like

I appreciate decorations (washi tape/stickers/drawings) and handmade postcards if you're interested in these. You could keep it simple if that's what you prefer. I'm not picky at all and I would appreciate anything you send.

At the time of writing this text, I find myself looking for postcards/cards with the following themes to send to others but please feel free to send any cards you would like to, I would love anything you send :

• local scenery,

• local touristy spots,

• a place you visited,

• architecture,

• book covers,

• doors/windows,

• stained glass,

• roads/road signs (I love dead ends!),

• people in local outfits or simply a portrait of a person,

• advertisements (I love vintage ads!),

• world war pictures,

• typewriters,

• phone booths

• candles/lamps,

• clocks

• Olympics,

• bicycles,

• birds/animals/insects,

• cats/dogs,

• fruits/vegetables/flowers,

• maps,

• Tintin,

• Little Prince,

• Harry Potter,

• physics/chemistry/biology/technology related

• studio Ghibli illustrations,

• Snoopy

• handmade/self-printed (I highly appreciate these and would love some inspiration for my own self-printed postcards! Please send something you think you'd be happy to receive),

• any festive occasion (except Valentine's day) postcards year round (I wouldn't mind if you send a Christmas themed postcard in February :) ),

• watercolor/oil painting

• any vintage designs

What I don't like much

I don't want to be asking for too much, if the only cards you have are one of the following, feel free to send them but if you have something that matches my preferences, I would love to receive something from that list over these.

• US State postcards - please feel free to send this if you only have this to send but it's just a personal preference that I don't like this as much as the preferences in the list above.

• Random stickers - While I like decorations on the PC/letter itself, I don't like the freebie stickers unless it's a part of the swap's theme itself. Please share the freebies with someone who would appreciate it more.

• Valentine's day cards - I don't like cheesy/romantic cards

• Religious cards (as my religious beliefs may or may not align with yours)

• Political cards (as my political opinions may or may not align with yours)

• Anything with meat/fish/eggs/dairy/honey in it (I want to cherish whatever you send, I would love it more if it aligns with my values and that looking at the cover and the note brings me joy!). For recipe related swaps, please omit/substitute these ingredients if you can.

Ideas for what you could write about

• Your hobbies - I'm looking to pick some new hobbies!

• Your favorite quote (English translation if possible)

• Your favorite fun fact or anything you learnt recently that fascinates you

• Your favorite books - so that I may add them to my reading list

• Your favorite movies/music

• Your favorite travel destinations

Don't worry about writing in a language I know, I'd be excited to learn something new by trying to translate what you write!

What I do

I rate as soon as I receive the swap. I always give a heart unless a swap requirement isn't met for example missing stamps for traveling PCs when the swap says that you need to add a stamp. Even in these cases I rate a 5 because it's very likely that this was unintentional.

I would reach out to individuals if I haven't received anything after over a month.

As long as you give me a heads up about being late, I'll still rate you a 5 because I understand that life happens.