Today marks the fourth anniversary of this blog, and I wanted to give a warmhearted thank you to the thousands who subscribe, who have commented, and sent me kindness from around the world. Thank you for letting me into your lives, for being patient with me and my finicky, inconsistent entries. Special thanks to the photographers who are the either yin or yang to my prose, especially Alison Scarpulla and Aëla Labbé, whose photographs I believe I've featured here more than any others. If it wasn’t for you, the readers, I’d keep this all in a private diary. I once vowed to never write again, at the age of thirteen (yes, I was a dramatic little thing), and perfectly kept this vow for five years. It is only because of this blog that I began to write again, and now I can’t imagine my life, if I didn’t still write. Thank you for believing in me, for seeing something in me that I don’t always see in myself. I am indebted and grateful and honored, and I hope I have given you something to cherish, as well, even if only a smile. You are worth more than gold.
As for this strange giveaway, yes, well, I don’t know if this even constitutes as "giveaway" or if its desirable, but I thought since I will be on a hiatus from blogging June through August (I will probably squeeze in one more entry before I go), as I vagabond across India, Nepal, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, I could send one reader a series of six postcards, one from each country I visit, and perhaps a small souvenir or two. I can’t promise they’ll be most eloquently written, however, postcards are a lost art that need reviving, and it’s wonderful to receive old-fashioned, tangible mail and parcels. So, if you’re interested leave a comment, and I’ll contact the “winner” before I depart in June (very soon). If you don’t have a blog I can contact you through, please leave me your email address or some way I can contact you.
Photo by Alison Scarpulla & Aëla Labbé
60 comments:
oh this is simply wonderful!!! I would definitely LOVE that!
And while we're on this topic, I actually wouldn't mind sending you a postcard or two when you're back home, from wherever I'm at. I couldn't agree with you more, that postcards and written letters definitely need to live on!
Also, thank you so much for leaving a comment on my blog the other day. I've been rather busy lately which was why I haven't replied to it yet. I am so honoured that you would even check my blog out, and even more so that you would leave a comment.
Please keep writing. I wish you the greatest inspirations (even if it's only so that I'll be able to read your writings :P) as well as a wonderful trip. xxx
yay, i'm glad you went with the postcard idea, i think it's lovely! i would be so very happy to be considered :) congratulations again on 4 years of blogging susanna!
jordanharper13@gmail.com
this is an awesome giveaway! i'd love to win.
caityfitz@gmail.com
Alicia here!(: I am sooo thrilled that you are having your very own strange giveaway, which is so very unique as well. I don't ever sign up for giveaways and yours is a first!
I would love to receive postcards handwritten by you, something that seems to be dying off in this world would be this small act of showing that you care about someone.
Do visit my blog too: hereisalicia.wordpress.com
and email me at: maddsinn@live.com.sg
I'm glad you returned to writing!(:
Look forward to hearing from you!
xoxo
This is so lovely giveaway. :) I love postcards from strange and far far away countries.
zejzen@gmail.com
What a great inspirational idea! Wish you a nice trip!Kisses from Hungary ;)
This is a beautiful idea! I know that I've never made contact, but I've been a reader for two years now, checking in here and there to gain inspiration and strength for my own writing. I had a strange feeling of déjà vu reading your story above- I myself vowed to quit writing in my early teens (and focus on my artwork), but I found something within words and punctuation that encapsulates me like vessels and beacons, and far more profoundly than inks and paints. Writing is the itch you can never quite get out of your skin, isn't it?
One day I'll be brave enough to post my work for the world, but until then I'd love a pen-pal (especially someone that has been such a catalyst in my work!). I'll be going through some weighty changes this summer (my first apartment, a new job, my first summer in NYC) and I would love a constant in the flux, something to look forward to and treasure and keep close. I admire your work so much, and hearing about your travels in the most magical of places would help me to trek on in my own pursuits (although far more mundane!).
Haley
stark.haley@gmail.com
I think that's such a unique giveaway! I think traveling is a wonderful thing,and glad you are going to share that by sending post cards :) i think it's lovely! XX
romopriscilla@gmail.com
So sweet!!
Sdirigoyen@gmail.com
this is probably the best giveaway I've seen in the blogosphere. how lovely to receive words from faraway lands.
happy travels!
Rhianna
(rhiannabrooke@gmail.com)
a lovely idea, as much as e-mail is easier, post is far more special abd exciting. unless it's bills...
As a collector of postcards, I would love to win very much. :) Your blog is beautiful.
That's such a neat idea! I would be so excited to win!
And congrats on 4 years! That's such a long time. A big accomplishment!
ahhhhhh this is amazing! awesome giveaway! and congrats for the 4 years! i've been following you since almost a year and I'm so happy i found you!
have so much fun in your trip!
michellelartigue@hotmail.com
Lovely give away:) Your writing is a very special gift . Thank you for sharing!
samirashram@gmail.com
Such a lovely giveaway! Thank you for sharing your heart through your words, and have an amazing trip in Asia.
anna
(laughingsun@gmail.com)
This is an amazing idea!! Have fun in your big trip and absorb all that wonderful culture! :)
just in case i am lucky enough to be given those wonderful postcards, my mail is: catarinaguedes226@hotmail.com
I JUST found your blog maybe a month ago, but I love it!!
I hope you have the best time on your summer adventure!
-Haley
elizabethhaleytyson.blogspot.com
I would absolutely love to be a recipient of one of your postcards! I keep reading your plans on tumblr, and I'm oddly getting a little excited myself. I know you'll have the most amazing time. Fingers crossed I can get a little piece of your adventure in my letter box xxx
I would say congratulation but it feels odd to say such a thing about the obvious hard work you put into your writing. As a reader I genuinely appreciate your willingness to continue to share the magic of your words. Instead I'll say congratulations on being able to continue with your writing. I know sometimes it's not the easiest thing.
Postcards are an amazing treat. I'd love to have them!
Sasha
dichotomousdarling@gmail.com
I have absolutely no idea how I found your blog but I absolutely love it. I find it extremely inspiring and artistic!! Keep it up :)
to echo some previous comments, you have come to occupy a unique space in the web. thank you for writing and sharing. safe and happy travels,
shirley.temple.of.doom@gmail.com
Are you kidding?! That would be the best prize ever! Have a safe trip and lotsa fun!
Still Wonderful Pictures on Your Blog... Congratulations ad Take Care...
Jean-Christophe
adore (a)
migle.krizinauskaite@gmail.com
Congratulations for the anniversary of this wonderful blog and enjoy your hopeful trip. :)
Such a simple, but such a powerful idea. Getting postcards from a 'stranger' is an exciting thing, but knowing those cards would be infused with your beautiful words makes it even more tempting!
I always find great pleasure in finding a new post on your blog and it sometimes confuses me that even though I consider myself (merely) a visual person, your words often have an even stronger impact on me, than the pictures on your blog.
Thank you for those innumerable times your blog has given me inspiration and new points of view and pure pleasure!
Here you weren't sure how many people would reply and you already have almost 30 takers. This is a great idea - I send people postcards whenever I'm away. Letters and postcards really are lost artforms. It would be so interesting, too, to get postcards from different parts of the world. You've helped inspire me to travel to more places than I may have otherwise, and to not be afraid of traveling alone (as I'm sure you have for many people), so this is a perfectly fitting giveaway.
I posted my facebook URL since we're friends on there and I'll check that more than my tumblr account. :]
That's such an amazing and special idea. It's actually much better than giving away some clothes or something like that.
Have fun!
(francoiseroemen@yahoo.com)
lovely! I'm from Asia myself, Malaysia to be specific. Why don't you drop down to Malaysia? It's south from Thailand, super near. And also, i've been to India before, which part are you visiting? in case you want information, drop me an email at elliya88@hotmail.com
Would love to help.
You'll have the best time shopping in India especially for clothes, dirt cheap. no kidding.
Btw, great giveaway. =)
That's such a neat idea! I'm interested.
elizabethkempinski@gmail.com
Susanna, you have to know I would love to receive postcards from you. Even if I do not win, I will continue to visit regularly for inspiration, beauty, wonder.
Oh I would love to win this! I am so glad you began to write again, your words are magical xx
Matilda - thetruffler@gmail.com
This is so lovely! And a much better idea than my "dlog" when you come to think of it :)
I wish you a very enjoyable & safe travel. I hope your eyes, ears and mind will be delighted by the everyday encounters with nature and people.
It would be an honor to get postcards from you, no matter how rapidly they will be written and composed.
ronniekphoto@gmail.com
I love the idea of invigorating the art of postcard-writing for a give-away. I have never travelled to those parts of the world (not yet atleast) so I'd love to experience them through your eyes and words.
heleen.deboever[at]hotmail.com
Yes, yes. Yes, please. :)
What a beautiful idea, dear.
And I wish you the safest travels.
ekcherry@yahoo.com
how lovely! I'd love postcards. I wish you the best with your travels (this is breathingvioletfog from the other blogging universe)
Even if I do not win this contest, I would still enjoy to be your pen pal - to return the long-hand "favor," so to speak.
This is such a lovely idea. I'm so happy that I stumbled across your blogs in the last few months because you're such an inspiring person, and you embarking on your summer of freedom gives me hope that i can do the same one day. Thank you for sharing.
We follow each other on tumblr (I'm anautarchia), and I'm also reach-able at laueking@yahoo.com
Much love and happiness as you set out on your journeys! Be well.
I'd be interested. Amazing idea :)
our.youth @hotmail.co.uk
what a lovely idea! :) jonghyun @ live.com
Precious princess.
Hey! As far as I know the Elephants in the temples are treated well which is what our local guides and lonely planet books told us but it is more out in the hills that it can be a bit dodgy so id try and avoid that! You can book the elephant ride with your tour guide at angkor at the beginning of the day and they take you between two of the temples. Its a wonderful place you'll definitely enjoy it! x
Forgive me for any unintentional sexist implication, but I've always felt outnumbered, and perhaps overwhelmed, by uncritical, ecstatic female authors "exchanging their souls" in the comment section. Consequently I have hitherto never left a comment. Criticism and excuses aside, time has come for some blandishment. I adore your words, which have the same effect on me as those of Rimbaud. Dear Susanna, I would feel most privileged to receive the distilled sensations of your adventure.
robertsimonthompson@gmail.com
Congratulations on the anniversary of your extraordinary blog.
oh it would be an honour to receive postcards from you! i hope those six countries give you enough adventures to write about for years. i'm sure they will. i just wanted to let you know that you are an amazing Wild One, and that i admire you for doing what you do, just following your heart and heading in the direction it tells you. one day i shall do the same! love from, alexis
I would love that!
kathrynsora@gmail.com
kathrynsora.tumblr.com
First of all congratulations on this milestone, and bon voyage on your trip. It sounds splendiferous!
This 'giveaway' sounds amazing, postcards are indeed such treasures. I'd love to receive one, but either way am content following your beautiful blog. It is so simply powerful, that your words can reach so far, inside of people and across the globe. Adoration from Australia x
everytime i read your words i am reminded of the beauty that is still around in the world, and i would be grateful to receive greetings from you personally from your adventurous trip to asia. i wish you an inspiring and wonderful journey.
zamereon@gmail.com
Susanna, I would love the opportunity to receive postcards and trinkets from Asia. What an original and creative giveaway! I too love sending postcards and would love to mail one to you from my trip to Alaska. Is there an address that you wouldn't mind sharing? Please email me at aliciajhchon@gmail.com. I look forward to your email!
Having loved your blog from the beginning because of your beautiful way with words, I would love to receive a piece of written love from you. My blog is: http://dogwoodblue716.blogspot.com
Even if I am not one of the lucky winners, I hope that your travels are safe and full of fantastic adventures! jennifer
this is very exciting...
I have admired your blog for quite a while and equally inspired because of your beautiful and poetic way with words. I would love to receive a written piece of love from you in your travels. My blog is: http://dogwoodblue716.blogspot.com/
However, if I don't win this giveaway, I hope that your travels are full of fantastic adventures.
~namaste~
jennifer
Wow I've been dreaming to visit those countries but haven't had the chance maybe someday and receiving a little treat from those countries from you would indeed be a pleasure!
Email: aura0027@yahoo.com
Tumblr: loudlittlefreak.tumblr.com
Not sure if it's too late, but very interested in the postcards if you're still taking people :)
I've missed your entries so much dear. I myself have been a terrible inadequate blogger. I've abandoned my most beloved hobby. Seeing this inspired me to never forget my true passions. Hope all is well love (: Wonderful as always !
Louisdiamondshoes.blogspot.com
Nice pictures
Saving Thousands of People Hundreds of Dollars a month. Join the club today. Just click -> http://www.saversclub.us
lovely writing.
beautiful images.
-Lena
creakingfloorboards@gmail.com
Cathcy ones. It gifts, it seems t me thousands of emotions. Confusing, really.
freelancemommyblog
I just discovered your blog today and you have inspired me to follow my long time goal of traveling around the world. I would love to part of your postcard giveaway. It will be a memento of what I can do with my life; what I really want to do.
Happy and safe travels!
-Lily
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