This man traveled 32,000 miles to deliver 20 postcards. He’s not done yet.
Jonny Beardmore, a naturally friendly guy, has a novel way to meet more people. Earlier this year, he loaded up a carry-on bag, left his London home and embarked on a yearlong journey across seven continents with the goal of hand-delivering 50 postcards to their intended recipients. One was to Steve in Belize from Denise, professing her love.
Unfortunately, by the time Beardmore arrived, the couple had broken up. “We had a grand time though," he says of spending an afternoon and evening with the now-split couple who remain friends. Beardmore, a consultant, was inspired by a 200-year-old “post office’’ tradition in the Galápagos Islands.
Sailors on multiyear adventures once left letters in a makeshift mailbox consisting of a wooden barrel for their loved ones, hoping they would be collected and delivered by passing ships. Today, people leave postcards there as a quixotic lark, wondering if someone will actually deliver them. Beardmore has taken it upon himself to be that someone.
His quest is inspiring but challenging. Security guards at gated communities won’t let him through. Addresses are vague: “Six miles north" of a post office read one.
He encounters language barriers, suspicion, barbed wire, and big dogs, but remains undaunted. If someone isn’t home one day, he returns. So far, Beardmore has delivered around 20 postcards in South America, Central America and North America and traveled 32,000 miles.
Next planned stops include Iceland, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, before ending in the U.K. March 1, 2025, a year after his start date. The adventure is in part a tribute to his dad, Eric, who had Motor Neuron Disease, a common form being ALS, and died in 2022.
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