Write a letter to the future
It's pretty simple.
Step One
Write a letter. It can be as short or as long as you want. It can be to someone else or yourself. It can be public or private.
Step Two
Choose the date you want the letter to be delivered to the recipient. This could be tomorrow or in a few years—your choice!
Step Three
That's it! Everything else is automated. So, sit back, relax, and read letters by other people. Or, you can support the site.
Is it really free?
Yes. Future Postbox is completely free—it's a side hobby of The Postman who runs the site. That said, the site does cost money to run and The Postman has some lofty dreams of where it could all go:
· Imagine being able to send messages based on geography, temperature, or factors other than just time!
· Imagine sending different types of media: Videos, documents, voice messages, and more!
· Imagine having your own app and account where you can keep track of all the letters you've sent and received!
Perhaps one day, but that all costs money and The Postman is a volunteer. If you'd like to support the site visit Future Postbox's support page.
What do you write?
Whatever you like! People use Future Postbox for lots of different reasons. Some use it as a time capsule of thoughts and feelings, some use it as a way to set or track goals, some use it to say the things that are too hard to say face-to-face, and others use it as a daily journal. If you're after more inspiration, you can read letters others have written. NB: There are some limitations on explicit content (see below).
I used to be able to upload images! What happened?
In short: cost. The Postman runs this site without income and the cost of collecting and hosting images became too expensive (I'm looking at you, Webflow!) . If you already wrote a letter that included images, rest assured your letter will still be delivered with the images attached.
Are there any limits on content?
Future Postbox is a place of love and good vibes.
· The Postman will not tolerate any form of cyber bullying, trolling, or illegal activity.
· Letters may be screened and The Postman reserves the right not to send, delete, or forward your letter to any relevant authorities.
· Anyone under the age of 18 should seek permission to use Future Postbox from their parent or guardian.
· Please refer to the Data and Privacy Policy for more information.
Is it automated?
Yes! As of October 2023, Future Postbox is now completely automated. In the past, The Postman manually sent every letter. This was not only tedious but resulted in some occasional issues with consistency of delivery (The Postman apologises to anyone affected). So, the service should now be a lot more reliable! Oh, you may wish to add the email address thepostman@futurepostbox.com to your safe senders to avoid messages going to spam.
What's the difference in privacy options?
· If you select "This letter can be public", your letter can be read by others via the read page. If you've made your letter public, but later change your mind, send an email to The Postman with your details and it will be removed from the public page.
· If you select "Keep this letter private", then it will only be sent to the intended recipient.
What does The Postman do with your data?
The Postman is extremely cautious with your data. Primarily, it's used to:
· Get the letter to where it needs to go.
· Provide you (extremely infrequent) updates about Future Postbox.
For more information, please read Future Postbox's full Privacy Policy.
A glimpse at what other people have written.
December 29, 2011
From:
Damon Klotz
To:
Damon Klotz
Date to be sent:
December 29, 2012
So it’s your birthday. You’re 23 today. Or when you open this letter you’ll actually be 24! Happy Birthday! What a crazy year you’ve had. Then again every year for the past few years has been crazy. Full of highs and lows. Yet for every challenge that is sent your way you to seem to not only face it but thrive upon it. The year started with a bang. You had an amazing opportunity to travel the world with someone who means the world to you and love dearly. Walking hand in hand you saw some of the most amazing sights you’ll ever see and have experiences that you will never forget. After having the privilege of travelling through Europe twice by yourself you thought countless times about how special it would be to see this sights with the girl of your dreams. She probably doesn’t realise how special this trip was to you. Not content with just roaming the hills of Italy and the countryside of England to top the trip off you even managed to speak at a conference in London. This gave you the chance to meet with industry influencers in the recruitment and HR space from around the world and take your career to the next level. After the excitement of January and February the following months were a really tough time. Family challenges reached an entirely new level. More responsibility was pushed your way. Work had usually been your release during times like this. Time to knuckle down and push to the next level. But your energy was being sapped by other avenues. You also has the realisation that you were being limited by your current workplace and weren’t doing the best possible work. So you did what you do best, dug in and started to think about where your next opportunity could come from. Your hard work and dedication to personal development over the past few years meant you were ready to take up an exciting opportunity in a new space of digital marketing. Since taking this role in August you have thrived as you’ve had the ability to be a key decision maker and instigate change in a global organisation whilst still being able to balance all the other projects that you take on. On a personal level you also reached a huge milestone this year. After living independently in Far North Queensland for two months in 2010 you set yourself the goal of leaving home in 2011. This was a tough decision as you felt your three younger brothers and single mother relied so heavily on your contribution (both financially and emotionally) and your support. But you knew that trying to be everything for everyone wasn’t sustainable any longer. So in July this year you moved out with one of your mates from school, you two couldn’t be anymore different but your differences make living together a laugh and quite easy. For a long time you read a lot about young entrepreneurial types living their dreams and believed that organisations could generate profit whilst still working with a purpose beyond money and actually creating social change in the community. So I congratulate you on opening up your own consulting and speaking business whilst also volunteering as a social change entrepreneur. I know you didn’t think you’d have this opportunity to do all this great work so young but that’s no reason to feel guilty about the opportunities that have presented themselves because of your hard work and dedication. Feeling guilty will only hinder your chance to create real change in this world. You’ve always had the ability to use your own inevitable death as a motivator for life. This was probably due to the fact that you attended far too many funerals in the first 15 years of your life and had to deal with the death of your best friend in primary school due to cancer. You read an article recently written by somebody who worked in palliative care about the top five regrets of the dying. 1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. 2. I wish I didn’t work so hard. 3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings. 4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends. 5. I wish that I had let myself be happier. Over the past few months you have struggled with two of these regrets and you know exactly which ones they are. So what are you going to do differently in 2012? I’m hoping that you took action and weren’t paralysed by change to ensure that when you open up this letter you can read it knowing that you have ticked all five of those boxes in 2012. Good luck and don’t forget that I’m proud of you.
February 1, 2013
From:
Jessi McKay
To:
Allen Hood
Date to be sent:
February 1, 2014
Dear Allen, I love you. Your Jessi (of the past) <3
