Love Olivia x

Being a million miles away from my boyfriend in London, friends in Auckland and parents in Melbourne has gotten me thinking about letters.

Sure, Skype and Facebook have helped to keep me sane since I moved to New York, but I'm always so envious of my flatmate Julie when she receives letters and parcels in the mail with hearts and flowers drawn all over the pretty envelopes.

In a world where so many of us only communicate by text, telephone, email and even Twitter, the real thing is a prized asset.

Letter writing requires effort. Addresses have to be found, stamps bought, post boxes sought out, but mostly they are private, personal and intimate. They make you think about the love letters your great-grandparents sent to each other during the war, the pen-pals you had when you were in primary school and the long notes you wrote to your friends in Bio and Maths.

While your first love e-mail probably won't ring a bell, you'll always remember your first love letter (or in my case a poem penned by a 10-year-old whose mother then had his love for me immortalized in a poetry book - you know who you are), and you'll always cherish the Best Friends Forever letters written on Hello Kitty stationary when school feuds, family dramas and what-to-say-to-your-crush-at-lunch just got too hard.

An e-mail could never compete with intimate words written in personal handwriting, the excitement when something other than a bill arrives in the post box - and, there's no denying the appeal of Hermès and Tiffany and Co. stationary sets...

Excuse me while I try out my new found penmanship, keep an eye on the post Bruce.

An April 10, 1912-dated letter written on Titanic stationery

Lionel Trains confessed it was guilty of 75 years of male chauvinism after Caroline wrote this letter