The farmer who received a postcard which used a map instead of an address told The Grapevine how the viral image changed her life, saying she is just content “to have caused so much happiness”.
The above image, showing a letter sent to a farm in North Iceland using a crude map in lieu of an address, went viral last week after it was posted to Reddit, along with the information that the letter reached its destination. Since then, farmer Rebecca Cathrine Kaad Ostenfeld, the recipient, has been positively inundated with media attention.
Rebecca told us she has been answering phone calls and doing radio interviews with media outlets around the world, to the point where she has had to decline some of these offers. The attention has not been limited to the media, either. Tourists passing through the area – near her farm of Hólar í Hvammssveit í Dölum – have dropped by seeking autographs and selfies with her.
“I’ve been pretty surprised by all the coverage, but happy for it,” Rebecca told us. “I’m just glad to see a postcard cause so much happiness in the world.”
In fact, others have made copy-cat attempts at sending her postcards in a similar way, including one that came all the way from Moscow. Ever the good sport, Rebecca sent a postcard of her own in reply:
Rebecca’s farm also happens to be a petting farm, where the general public is invited to come visit and play with the animals.
Readers who are considering sending mail to Iceland in a similar fashion are advised to do so only with mail that does not need to urgently arrive at its destination.
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