Thinking of getting a penpal. Is this a good idea?
By lee333angel
@lee333angel (37)
United States
February 14, 2011 7:12am CST
So I live way out in the country, my town only has about 800 people living here. I have been so bored most days wishing I could talk with someone. I came across something about penpals by snail mail (postal mail). I started to look up people to write to. These are women from all over the world, Germany, England, Africa, etc. It sounds like a great idea to me but I have been seeing people warn about people wanting money or gifts from there penpal. This has me worrying about writing to someone because all I'm looking for is a friendship with someone to write with.
Has anyone had a penpal before? Do you think it's a good idea to try writing to some of the people I have found? Any advise on what I should look out for?
Thanks for any help I can get.
2 people like this
3 responses
@tiffnkeat (1673)
• Singapore
14 Feb 11
You seem to have access to internet. All the lotters in here are your pen...er...keyboard friends. Why use snail mail when you can have tens of responses in here. You can also private message to the ladies your email so that the exchange is private and email is definitely faster...and you save on postage.
Cheers.
@lee333angel (37)
• United States
15 Feb 11
I do have the Internet but it is only on my iPhone. Really hard to use for long letters or emails. I have been trying my best using it for mylot. I do e-mail people now but it's fun getting a letter in the mail from someone. To me it's a little more special. Anyway thank you for putting mylot in that kind of view. I'm sure I can make good friends on here too.
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
14 Feb 11
I have had many snail mail penpals in the past. I have had many positive experiences with my penpals and I even got the chance to meet some of them. My longest friendship lasted 11 years and we shared letters, pictures, presents etc. I had penpals from my own country as well as other countries and I learned something about other countries and cultures that way.
I have only had one bad experience with a penpal. He wanted to get a visa to my country and that was the only reason why he was interested in my friendship. He also asked for gifts and other things and I decided to end the "friendship" after a few letters. That was not a nice experience, but I definately don't regret getting penpals, because I have had so many other positive experiences 
I don't think that you should let of the fear of bad experiences stop you if you want to find a penpal. If one of your penpals start asking for money or gifts or starts "fishing" for an invitation to your country quit writing to them, and find someone else. Some people lose interest in writing after a few letters, but don't get discouraged if you write a few letters and never hear from them again. Find someone else to write to if the friendship ends very quickly. You might have to try more than once if want to find a longlasting friendship, but I definately think that it is possible to find honest penpals who are only looking for friendship.
I don't think that you should let of the fear of bad experiences stop you if you want to find a penpal. If one of your penpals start asking for money or gifts or starts "fishing" for an invitation to your country quit writing to them, and find someone else. Some people lose interest in writing after a few letters, but don't get discouraged if you write a few letters and never hear from them again. Find someone else to write to if the friendship ends very quickly. You might have to try more than once if want to find a longlasting friendship, but I definately think that it is possible to find honest penpals who are only looking for friendship.@lee333angel (37)
• United States
15 Feb 11
Thank you for the advice. I have 4 people I am going to try and maybe I can find somone who really is looking for a friendship.
@sheyuriii04 (29)
• Philippines
14 Apr 17
I think there is no problem with that. I am joining penpal sites before. You will know if that particular person wants money from you. If he or she is always talking about money and having a hard life, you can also ask if she is working or not just to make sure. If that person started to hoard some money to you, you can always ignore their messages. And don't give too much information
