HOW DO WE GET MAIL WHILE TRAVELING?
Next week will mark 2 full years since we left the United States to live abroad, and one question we often get is, “How do you receive mail when you no longer live at a fixed address?” In other words, how do we receive an important document if the only way we could get it is through the mail since we are constantly moving around and don’t actually have a true mailing address? In this blog I’m going to do my best to answer that question, and to explain what we use. But the short answer is, we actually do have a mailing address and we get mail regularly through it.
It’s true that in most cases things are now done electronically (such as bank statements and travel bookings for example) , so the requirement to receive a physical form of communication is not quite as necessary as it once was. However, there are times when the only way we are notified of something is by receiving it through the good old-fashioned U.S. Postal system. Two examples I can think of off the top of my head are credit cards, and identification cards (such as a driver’s license). Also, at the end of each year, I receive a rebate from my life insurance policy which comes to me in the form of a paper check. How does that get to me…and how do I get it cashed?
Before we left the U.S., we knew that we needed a way to still be able to receive mail even when we had no idea where we might be at a particular time. We’d done some research and had learned that there were companies that provided “virtual mailboxes”. A virtual mailbox is a place that provides customers with an actual physical address. (The one we use is in Florida). Mail is sent to that address and processed by the company. They in turn send an email message to the mail recipient to notify them that they’ve received mail. Usually the company will scan the envelope so that the recipient can see who the mail is from. If it’s important, the recipient has the option to have the mail electronically scanned and then sent to them by email so that they can read the documents that were enclosed in the envelope. If, however the recipient deems the mail not important, or “junk”, they can select the option to “trash” that envelope. The virtual mailbox company then simply shreds the envelope and its contents.
But what if their mail turns out to be important enough that the recipient needs to obtain the entire physical contents of the envelope? Well, then they simply select the option to “forward” that mail to them wherever they might be at the time. We most recently used this option when we were in Mexico. I had a credit card that was sent to me using my address in Florida and I needed to have it forwarded to me in Mexico. So I requested that the entire envelope be forwarded to our AirBnb. For a reasonable fee, the virtual mailbox company forwarded the mail to me (along with a tracking number). A few days later, I had the credit card in hand!
We also used this same company to forward mail last April when we were notified that we had received mail. We were just about to leave Ecuador to go to Pennsylvania to visit my mom before getting on our transatlantic cruise to Europe. We didn’t have enough time left in Ecuador to have the mail forwarded to us there, so we simply had it forwarded to my mom’s address. By the time we arrived in Pennsylvania, our mail was at my mom’s apartment waiting for us!
The company we use for our virtual mailbox will also deposit any checks that we might receive at my request. When I get my rebate for my life insurance each year, the rebate check is sent to my address in Florida. The company electronically notifies me that I have mail, and I then have it scanned. Once I ascertain that it’s a check, I simply select the option to deposit my check into my bank. The check then gets forwarded to my bank, and is deposited into my bank account. It doesn’t require my signature, and doesn’t cost me anything extra to do this. It’s just a service that my virtual mailbox company provides.
There are many companies that provide this service. I don’t want to formally recommend one because we’ve only used two of them. I can say this though. The first one was terrible! We used it during our first year of traveling and had a lot of problems with it (they were very slow at notifying us when we got mail, and took them forever to scan it or forward it to us when we requested that service). So we switched to a different company, and now we couldn’t be happier!
The company we use now is called physicaladdress.com. It provides us with an actual mailing address that we use for all of our correspondence. The cost is about $125.00 USD per year. Our experience with them has been great! They provide quick service and have always been very good at doing exactly what they say they will. Our annual subscription with them was just due the other day and I was happy to sign up with them for another year!
To find companies that provide this service, simply do a google search for “virtual mailboxes”. Many of them will have several locations throughout the U.S. so you can select an address that best suits your needs. It is important when deciding which company you want to use, to look closely at the services they provide as they’re not all the same. Some will cost more than others and some will have hidden “fees” that might add up quickly if you ever need to use those features. Those things are what led us to choose Physicaladdress.com. They provide all of the services that we need, and there weren’t any hidden fees. So search around and find the one that works best for you!
Other options to get your mail while traveling include using a friend’s or family member’s address if they agree to allow you to do that. One of my friends allowed me to use her address to receive a package that Michelle’s parents sent to us from Australia while we were traveling around the U.S. a few years ago. (This was during the time that our first virtual mailbox company was not working very well for us and we didn’t trust them to receive and forward this package to us). So my friend agreed to receive our package and then she forwarded it to us once we had gotten to our next travel destination. All she charged me for this great favor was a Starbucks coffee card, and I thought that was more than reasonable! 🙂
In closing, if receiving mail is a concern, rest assured that this is a problem easily overcome. Other than the few problems we had with our first company, the virtual mailbox has been great for us! Our address is recognized by banks and it’s even listed as our address on our driver’s licenses. Mail has not been a problem for us, and with just a little research and effort, it won’t be a problem for you either if you decide to live this nomadic lifestyle.
Have a great day everyone! Happy New Year…and safe travels!!!